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full screen That was then. President Joe Biden is welcomed to Israel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in October 2023. File photo. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP/TT
Joe Biden is increasingly upset with Benjamin Netanyahu. At least three times, Biden has recently called his Israeli colleague a “shithole”, according to information provided to NBC News.
The US president is trying to persuade Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire in Gaza, but the Israeli leader “gives him hell” and is impossible to deal with, American NBC News reports, citing several sources close to Joe Biden.
According to NBC News, Biden has recently vented his growing frustration in private conversations on several occasions.
– He feels that this is enough. It has to end, says one of the sources about Biden’s thoughts on the Gaza war.
Biden’s way of talking about Netanyahu — a man he has known for decades — has been surprisingly candid, according to NBC News sources. On at least three occasions he is said to have called his Israeli colleague an “asshole”.
A spokesperson for the US National Security Council said in a statement that the two leaders have “a respectful relationship”.
“The president has been clear in his disagreement with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but this is a decade-long relationship that is respectful both publicly and privately,” the statement read.
Assessors believe, however, that Biden’s private actions indicate that the relationship between the men is approaching a breaking point. Biden has repeatedly said that Israel’s war on Gaza has gone into overdrive, and as recently as this weekend he urged Netanyahu not to proceed with the upcoming ground offensive against Rafah until Israel has a “credible and feasible plan.”
However, Biden’s frustration with Netanyahu has not yet made any major impact on US Israel policy, notes NBC News.