Former US president Joe Biden (l) warmly greets PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, July 14, 2022. (Social media/Benjamin Netanyahu)
President Biden declined to publicly call for ceasefire between Israel and Hamas during 2021 Gaza War, new book claims, in order to foster trust with Netanyahu government.
By World Israel News Staff
President Joe Biden instructed senior administration officials to “smother” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “with love” during a conflict between Israel and Gaza early on in Biden’s presidency, a new book claims.
According to The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future, a book by Atlantic writer Franklin Foer set to be released next week covering the first two years of the Biden White House, Biden spoke frequently with Netanyahu during the 11-day conflict with Hamas terrorists in Gaza in 2021, dubbed Operation Guardian of the Walls.
The two leaders had six telephone conversations during the conflict, Foer wrote, which saw over 4,000 rockets and other projectiles launched from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, killing 13 people.
In excerpts obtained by The Forward, Foer writes that based on his past experiences with Netanyahu, Biden held back on criticizing the Israeli premier, even when he stridently disagreed with Israeli policy.
“Biden spent more than an hour conducting his inquiry in the spirit of friendship,” Foer writes regarding the White House’s response to an Israeli airstrike against a Hamas target in a 12-story building which also housed offices of The Associated Press and Al Jazeera. “But he was also trying to expose the shortcomings in Bibi’s thinking.”
It was during this time that Biden told his top advisers to “smother Netanyahu with love,” in a bid to encourage the Israeli leader to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, the book claims.
“Hey, man, we are out of runway here,” Biden told Netanyahu on May 19, during the fourth of their six phone calls. “It’s over,” Biden continued, referring to the Israeli operation.
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