President Biden hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House on Tuesday, a meeting with the country’s ceremonial head that came amid tensions between Biden and the leader of Israel’s ruling coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
the second visit to the White House in the past nine months for Herzog, whose position is mostly symbolic but whose approach and tone are often more moderate than that of Netanyahu and the hard-line elements of the Israeli parliament. Netanyahu, although he is the elected leader of the country’s government, has not met with Biden since taking office for his current term in December.
In an attempt to ease tensions and possibly avoid the sense that he is snubbing Netanyahu, Biden on Monday spoke with the prime minister — with whom he has on occasion clashed publicly — and the two leaders“I was pleased to hear about your conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, which focused on our ironclad military and security cooperation,” Herzog said.
Speaking to reporters in Hebrew and English outside the White House, Herzog called the meeting “wonderful” and said Biden was a “huge friend of the state of Israel.”“Naturally, we also discussed the internal issues in Israel,” he said. “But I reiterated my commitment, as I said before, Israeli democracy is strong and resilient and we should definitely see the current debate in Israel with all its facets as a tribute to the strength of Israeli democracy.
Several members of the Israeli delegation reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, although White House officials indicated that anyone interacting with Biden, including Herzog, would have had to test negative beforehand.Herzog, a center-left politician, led Israel’s opposition against Netanyahu for years, but he lost a 2015 election amid a perception that he lacked charisma.
“Even a thousand smiles” during Herzog’s visit “won’t be able to hide the fact that the American administration has become extremely fed up with Netanyahu and is very anxious about what he is doing,” wrote Orly Azulai, Washington bureau chief for the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot.
Many Democrats pushed back sharply against Jayapal’s comment, and the congresswoman sought to clarify her remarks on Sunday, saying in
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