WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Israel "cannot continue down this road," after his administration put significant pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to postpone the planned judicial overhaul.
“Like many I'm very concerned. I'm concerned that they get this straight. They cannot continue down this road. I've sort of made that clear,” Biden said.
When asked about Israeli democracy, Biden said he doesn't believe it's reached an inflection point: "I think it's a difficult spot to be in, and they got to work it out. We're not interfering. They know my position, they know the American Jewish position."
The president added that Netanyahu will not be invited to the White House "in the near term," putting a fine point on the matter of timing concerning a potential visit from the Israeli prime minister to Washington.
In his first response to Biden’s comments, Netanyahu wrote a series of tweets, in which he said that he appreciates the president’s “longstanding commitment to Israel,” but pointedly added that “Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”
The Israeli leader also said that his “administration is committed to strengthening democracy by restoring the proper balance between the three branches of government, which we are striving to achieve via a broad consensus.”
The Biden administration has been defined by its desire to focus on maintaining the supposed viability of a two-state solution, prioritizing its engagement with Israel accordingly. However, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provoked huge mass protests across Israel on Sunday after dismissing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, U.S. officials were left with no choice but to intentionally center on his efforts to overhaul the judiciary.
The heavy U.S. pressure campaign detailed Monday by The New York Times, led by U.S. ambassador to Israel Tom Nides and Brett McGurk, the top Middle East official in the White House, represented the Biden administration’s full evolution concerning the governing coalition’s plans to irretrievably damage Israel’s standing as the only democracy in the Middle East.
Nides told Israeli media that Netanyahu will receive a long-desired invitation to the White House, likely sometime after Passover. While U.S. officials have sought to downplay any controversy around the lack of invitation, a potential Netanyahu visit is widely considered contingent on whether Israel can maintain calm during Ramadan.
U.S. officials, meanwhile, are acutely aware of the optics of Netanyahu appearing at Biden’s Summit for Democracy, set to begin Tuesday. He is still slated to participate with 120 other world leaders, preaching about the economic benefits of democracy – despite the adverse impact his desired policies have already had on Israel’s economy.
Reps. Jason Crow, Andy Kim and Chrissy Houlahan - three national security-oriented House Democrats - sharply criticized Netanyahu.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent decisions would weaken democratic institutions, endanger the diversity of views and voices in Israel, and undermine regional and national security,” they said.
“The overwhelming protests make clear that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s actions lack popular support. We stand in solidarity with the peaceful protestors who are decisively and collectively taking to the streets,” they added, urging Netanyahu to permanently halt the overhaul.
Responding to Biden's comments, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar tweeted "that it is sad that Biden has fallen victim to the fake news from Israel" about the judicial overhaul. Within minutes, however, the tweet was deleted and, in a follow-up tweet, he explained that he did so "out of respect for the importance of our relations with our greatest ally."
"It is heartbreaking to see the damage that has been caused by the fake news campaign surrounding our justified legal reform," Zohar added.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar's deleted tweet reads: 'Sad that Biden has fallen victim to the fake news from Israel about the justified judicial reform'
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, a key pro-Israel Democrat, also released a statement on recent developments in Israel. While welcoming Netanyahu’s decision to delay the legislation, Hoyer added that, “in the meantime, no one should seek to inflame the situation or empower extremists.”
The former House Majority Leader and one of Israel’s most important allies in the Democratic Party went on to say that “whether in the United States or Israel, maintaining strong checks and balances on individual branches of government is critical to the endurance of any democracy – and, in its current state, this proposed legislation does not achieve that result. Similarly, upholding the rights of all citizens must always remain a priority.”