Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must stop the judicial reform legislation and build a broad consensus, US President Joe Biden told the New York Times‘s Thomas Friedman on Wednesday in a “clear and direct message to the prime minister.”
Biden, who is “deeply worried for the stability and future of Israel,” was quoted by NYT as recommending “not to rush…I believe the best outcome is to continue to seek the broadest possible consensus here.”
Biden’s statement given to NYT also expresses the president’s “respect for the enduring protests” which are “demonstrating the vibrancy of Israel’s democracy,” as well as a direct plea for Netanyahu not to pass “anything this important without a broad consensus,” in reference to the judicial reform.
According to the report, Biden warned Netanyahu that if the judicial reform is not passed with a broad consensus, “you are going to break something with Israel’s democracy and with your relationship with America’s democracy, and you may never be able to get it back.”
N12, citing a senior political source, reported that Biden’s quotes from Friedman’s NYT article “were not spoken during the phone conversation between Biden and Netanyahu.” The judicial reform issue was an afterthought during the leaders’ call, N12 further reported, as per the senior source.
President Isaac Herzog meets with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, July 18, 2023 (credit: REUTERS/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN)Biden, Netanyahu’s strained ties
Biden and Netanyahu spoke on Monday evening for the first time in months, as the US president invited Netanyahu to meet in the United States at an undisclosed date. The phone conversation came amid friction over Israel’s judicial reform process, Iran, and accelerated West Bank settlement activity, and amid President Isaac Herzog’s White House visit.
Last week, Biden called the current Israeli government “the most extreme” in 50 years, citing its ministers’ support for expanding West Bank settlements and its opposition to a Palestinian state.
This is a developing story.
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