Biden’s message to Netanyahu: Stop now or the damage to Israel and U.S. relations won’t be repaired
President Joe Biden meets with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the Oval Office at the White House on July 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. Photo by Getty Images
This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Following his meeting with Israel’s President Herzog at the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden has told The New York Times that he urges Israeli leaders to halt the judicial overhaul legislation, suggesting to “Please stop now. Don’t pass anything this important without a broad consensus,” in the words of senior New York Times commentator Thomas Friedman.
In an opinion piece published Tuesday, Friedman said that Biden expressed his wish for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to rush the judicial overhaul legislation. His message to Netanyahu and Herzog is, as summarized by Friedman: “You are going to break something in Israel’s democracy and with your relationship with America’s democracy, and you may never be able to get it back.”
Speaking with Haaretz, Israel’s National Security Adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, issued a denial, saying “the Prime Minister gave the President an update and told him the current legislation would be finalized this week, and that he would work for a broad consensus during the summer Knesset break.” Prior to that, Hanegbi said the President did not give an ultimatum for ending the legislation.
Biden also stated that the protest movement, which brought thousands of Israelis to the streets again on Tuesday, demonstrates “the vibrancy of Israel’s democracy, which must remain the core of our bilateral relationship.”
Ahead of his meeting with President Herzog, President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke in a phone call on Monday after months of tensions and growing condemnations of Israel in the president’s Democratic Party. It was the first time the two had spoken since March, and both agreed to meet in the United States later this year.
Last week, Thomas Friedman wrote in another opinion piece for the New York Times of what he saw as an inevitable “reassessment” of the relationship between Israel and the U.S., a “necessity before [Israel] truly does go off the rails.” Israeli and U.S. officials confirmed that there were currently no talks of a formal reassessment.
Amir Tibon contributed to this report.
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