After months of estrangement, US President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, Monday, for a close meeting between the two in the United States in a telephone conversation.
Upcoming vote on judicial amendments
The call coincides with an escalation in protests in Israel and days before the upcoming Knesset vote on the Judicial Amendment Act.
Meanwhile, Biden is seeking to push Netanyahu to return to dialogue with the opposition, to reach a broad consensus on “reforming” the Israeli judiciary.
“Before Netanyahu was admitted to the hospital”
According to Israeli reports, the call began “before Netanyahu was admitted to the hospital” last Saturday, with senior US officials saying “Biden wanted to talk to Netanyahu even before he met Israeli President Isaac Herzog.”
In March, about a week before Netanyahu’s decision to fire Secretary of Defense Yoav Gallant (a decision he later retracted), the US president called the Israeli prime minister and expressed serious concerns about judicial law.
private message
The day after Netanyahu’s decision to fire Gallant, Biden delivered a personal message to Netanyahu through US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides asking him to stop judicial legislation.
A few hours later, Netanyahu announced the transfer of judicial legislation to the next session of the Knesset (the current summer session).
“most extreme”
In an interview with CNN two weeks ago, Biden considered Netanyahu’s government to be the most extremist in Israel since Golda Meir, criticizing some members of Netanyahu’s government for “their views on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.”
They are “part of the problem,” he said, “especially those people in the cabinet who say we can live anywhere.”
