Joe Biden said on Tuesday that, unlike Washington, the Israeli government “does not want” a two-state solution with the Palestinians and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “change” his government.
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The latter, in turn, reported on Tuesday about “differences of opinion” with the American head of state about their long-term vision after the end of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
“This is the most conservative government in the history of Israel,” said the American president.
This is the first time since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that the 81-year-old Democrat has publicly expressed his differences with the Israeli executive.
Joe Biden, speaking to Democratic Party donors, called on Benjamin Netanyahu to “strengthen and transform” the executive branch to find a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He also felt that Israel, which is intensively bombing the Gaza Strip, was gradually losing the support of the world public.
On Monday evening, Joe Biden said at a reception at the White House on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah that Israelis must be “cautious” because “public opinion in the world can change at any time.”
He also returned to his notoriously difficult relationship with the Israeli prime minister.
The American president said on Monday evening that Benjamin Netanyahu had a photo on his desk that showed him with Joe Biden when he was a young senator.
The 81-year-old Democrat said he wrote the following sentence on the photo: “Bibi (the Israeli leader's nickname), I like you very much, but I don't agree with anything you say.”
“And that’s still true today,” Joe Biden added to representatives of the Jewish community he had invited to the White House.