President Joe Biden trashed Israel and the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a private fundraiser in Washington, DC, on Friday, after telling guests at the White House Hanukkah party the night before of his admiration for Israel.
The Times of Israel reported that Biden accused Israel of “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza. Biden provided no evidence.
Biden also said that Netanyahu had to replace members of his democratically-elected governing coalition, and accept a Palestinian state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lighting Hanukkah candles with IDF, soldiers, December 12, 2023 (Kobi Gideon GPO)
In July, Biden made similar comments when explaining why he refused to meet with Netanyahu since his election the year before, saying that he had “extreme” Cabinet members. Biden routinely meets with autocrats from a variety of nations across the globe.
The Times of Israel said:
US President Joe Biden says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to change his hardline government that has made it very difficult for the international community to back Israel in the war against Hamas. The president also says Israel is losing global support due to its “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.
“This is the most conservative government in Israel’s history,” Biden says during a campaign fundraiser in Washington, adding that the Netanyahu-led coalition “doesn’t want a two-state solution” — the path Washington has called for after the war with Hamas.
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Last month, Biden also used the word “indiscriminate” to describe Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. However, he was referring to the early stage of the war and indicated that the IDF has been more pin-pointed since. His comments at the fundraiser reveal that he no longer thinks that is the case.
On Monday night, as Breitbart News reported, Biden told guests at the White House that he “loved” Netanyahu, even though they did not agree on many things. Biden also said he was a “Zionist,” claiming “southern parts of the country” did not like that.
In response to Biden’s claim about “indiscriminate bombing,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told the Israeli press, in Hebrew, that Israel targets very carefully in Gaza, and has shown the U.S. proof to back that up. He noted that Israel had been especially careful in Gaza in the last several weeks, since it had a large number of its own soldiers on the ground.
The “extreme” members of Israel’s government are supposedly the religious Zionist parties, including national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Last month, Israel’s Army Radio reported that members of Israel’s left privately said they were thankful that Ben Gvir was in the government, after he threatened to quit if Netanyahu bowed to international pressure to stop the invasion of Gaza.
Netanyahu’s government now includes the center-left Blue and White Party, as part of an emergency national unity government.
Netanyahu has publicly opposed the U.S. insistence that Palestinians be rewarded with a state after the October 7 terror attack, and has also opposed the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza. His government is said to be drafting an alternative plan.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
