President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have had several public disagreements in recent weeks as Israel continues to move through Gaza in its war against Hamas.
The latest dispute between the two world leaders came over the weekend when Biden claimed Israel going into Rafah was a “red line,” something Netanyahu brushed off. Here are three times Biden has bashed Netanyahu recently as the war in Gaza continues to rage.
Bibi ‘hurting Israel more than helping’
Biden stunningly claimed Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping” during an interview with MSNBC on Saturday. The comment was made after Biden drew a “red line” by saying he does not support an invasion of Rafah.
“It is a red line, but I’m never going to leave Israel,” Biden said. “The defense of Israel is still critical, so there’s no red line. I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them.”
Biden also took direct aim at Netanyahu in the interview, saying that “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”
Netanyahu responded to Biden’s comments in an interview with Politico released on Sunday by saying he would cross the “red line” and called the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas his “red line.”
“We’ll go there. We’re not going to leave them. You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is? That Oct. 7 doesn’t happen again. Never happens again.”
Biden hot mic after State of the Union
While Biden was mingling with lawmakers following his State of the Union address last week, the president told Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that he would have a “come to Jesus” meeting with Netanyahu.
The remarks were caught on the C-SPAN broadcast following the speech, with Biden referring to Netanyahu by the Israeli leader’s nickname: “Bibi.”
“I told him, Bibi, and don’t repeat this, but you and I are going to have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting,” Biden said. “I’m on a hot mic here. That was good.”
During his speech earlier in the night, Biden had dedicated most of his time discussing the Israel-Hamas war to humanitarian aid to people in Gaza rather than Israel’s war effort.
Biden’s ‘over the top’ comment
In February, while taking questions from the press after special counsel Robert Hur’s report expressed concern over his mental acuity, Biden took a question about the war in Gaza and offered his sharpest criticism of Israel’s handling of the conflict up to that point.
Biden told reporters he thought Israel’s response had been “over the top” and discussed how he had been attempting to get humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.
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“I’m of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in the Gaza Strip has been over the top,” Biden told reporters.
Shortly after the comments, a report from NBC News suggested that Biden vented frustrations with Netanyahu in private.