(Jerusalem) US President Joe Biden, who criticized the conduct of the war in Gaza, “is wrong,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with the newspaper on Sunday Politico.
The American president said on Saturday that Benjamin Netanyahu was “doing more harm than good to Israel” through his conduct of the war in Gaza.
“I don’t know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant that I am pursuing a personal policy against the wishes of the majority of Israelis, and that I am going against the interests of Israel, then he is wrong on both points,” said Mr. Netanyahu.
“First, I am not pursuing a private policy, it is a policy supported by an overwhelming majority of Israelis. They support the action we have taken to destroy the Hamas terrorist battalions,” Mr. Netanyahu continued.
“They also support my position that we must categorically reject the attempt to impose a Palestinian state on us,” he added, as the two-state solution is pushed internationally.
“Israelis understand that otherwise we will have a repeat of the October 7 massacre, which will harm Israel, the Palestinians, harm peace in the Middle East,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
“So to say that my politics are personal and that I am not supported by the Israelis is false,” he asserted, repeating that “the vast majority of Israelis are united like never before, and understand this. which is important for Israel.”
The American president, increasingly frustrated with his Israeli ally, and criticized in the ranks of his Democratic voters for his hitherto unwavering support for the policies pursued by Israel, had unusually harsh words on Saturday for Mr. Netanyahu.
“He has the right to defend Israel, the right to continue attacking Hamas. But he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives lost because of the actions taken,” demanded the American president in an interview with the MSNBC channel, adding: “In my opinion, he is doing more harm rather than good to Israel.”
On Thursday, after a speech to Congress, microphones picked up an informal conversation in which Mr. Biden declared, regarding the need to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza: “He is going to have to fit it into the head “.
The war was sparked by a bloody Hamas attack in Israel on October 7 which left some 1,160 dead, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures.
The Israeli military operation of retaliation in Gaza left 31,045 dead in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.