Tensions are increasing between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to a new report at Axios, a frustrated Biden hung up on Netanyahu after a dispute about how to handle tax revenues the Israeli government collects for the Palestinian Authority.
I wrote earlier this week about a report that Biden allegedly talked Netanyahu out of a "preemptive strike" on Hezbollah that Israel was reportedly planning in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. That report comes at a time when Biden needs to be seen as more of a competent leader, and Netanyahu shot it down.
Now we learn from "unnamed sources" that the two had a call last Saturday in which Biden was basically trying to tell Netanyahu what to do, and when he wasn't going for it, Biden hung up on him. U.S. officials are now dinging Bibi, terming it one of the most difficult and "frustrating" conversations the two have had.
The phone call was part of an attempt to resolve the question of how to get that tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority in light of Israel's very legitimate concern that the money would just go to fund attacks against them. The PA refused to accept any of the money unless they got it all. But, they say that if they don't get the money, there might be a collapse in the West Bank. So the U.S., Israel, and the PA, according to Axios' report, worked out a deal where Israel would give Norway the disputed portion of the funds until the parties worked out a long-term answer. Supposedly Bibi agreed and then changed his mind to appease hardliners in his coalition government -- or at least that's the Biden administration's narrative.
According to the U.S. and Israeli officials, Biden told Netanyahu that he should face the hardliners in his coalition on this issue like he is dealing with political pressure from Congress about the war in Gaza.
After a few minutes of discussion,Biden told Netanyahu he expects him to solve this issue, added that "this conversation is over" and ended the call, the U.S. official and source with knowledge of the call said.
"The feeling was that the president is going out on a limb for Bibi every day and when Bibi needs to give something back and take some political risk he is unwilling to do it," one U.S. official said.
Another U.S. official who spoke to Axios tried to downplay the tension, saying that Netanyahu didn't turn down the Norway idea but was simply trying to work out the details.
It's not hard to see why, in the wake of Hamas' barbaric ambush attack, Netanyahu would not be fully jazzed about giving the money to the Palestinian Authority. Moreover, if they're trying to maintain a unified front, it doesn't help when the Biden team seems to be leaking things against Netanyahu to try to force his hand.
Biden himself has been making comments that haven't been helpful such as terming Israel's response to Hamas as "indiscriminate" and saying they need to change the government. “They’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place,” Biden said.
RELATED: Biden Throws Israel Under the Bus in a Big Way - Says Israel Has to Change Its Approach, Government
One has to wonder in the midst of all this if the Biden team is trying to undercut Netanyahu within his government since his is a right-wing government. That would be incredibly bad in the light of everything going on. But they should stop leaking things behind the scenes and try to come together to help Israel crush Hamas -- that's the aim here, not "changing government" or making bad comments about Netanyahu.
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