Israeli PM Netanyahu clashes with Biden over criticism of judicial overhaul plan

JERUSALEM — Israeli leaders engaged in a rare public clash with the United States on Wednesday after President Joe Biden criticized their contentious judicial overhaul plan.

Biden ignited a political firestorm with his suggestion that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should “walk away” from his proposal to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court and warned that the country “cannot continue down this road.”

Netanyahu and his allies responded defiantly to the direct rebuke from Washington, asserting that Israel would make its own decisions. Opposition leaders seized on the open feud as a sign that the now-paused changes threatened the country’s crucial friendship with the U.S. — and, with it, Israel’s security.

Israel judicial reform protests.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv over the weekend as months of protests culminated in a day of mass unrest.Ahmad Gharabli / AFP – Getty Images

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Biden said he was “very concerned” about Israeli democracy after months of protests that have pitted Netanyahu’s right-wing government against hundreds of thousands of demonstrators on the streets, as well as business leaders and military reservists.

Netanyahu announced this week that he was pausing the proposed legislation and opening negotiations with opposition parties. But he has also promised far-right members of his governing coalition that he will pass the judicial overhaul in some form by the summer.

“Like many strong supporters of Israel, I’m very concerned. And I’m concerned that they get this straight. They cannot continue down this road,” Biden said.

Speaking in unusually direct terms about a U.S. ally, Biden said he had no intention of inviting Netanyahu to the White House “in the near term” and appeared to question whether the Israeli leader sincerely wanted to compromise.  

“I hope he walks away from it,” Biden said of the plan. “Hopefully, the prime minister will act in a way that he is going to try to work out some genuine compromise. But that remains to be seen,” he said.

Netanyahu responded with a series of tweets just before 1 a.m. Jerusalem time. “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,” he said.

His allies were less restrained and accused the Biden administration of interfering in Israel’s domestic politics.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister and leader of the far-right Jewish Power party, told Israeli radio that Biden “needs to understand that Israel is no longer a star on the U.S. flag. We are a democracy and I expect the U.S. president to understand that.”

Another minister tweeted that Biden had “fallen victim to fake news.” He later deleted the tweet.

Israeli opposition parties pointed to the public clash as evidence of the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and Israel under Netanyahu’s leadership.

“For decades, Israel was the USA’s closest ally. The most extreme government in the country’s history ruined that in three months,” said Yair Lapid, the Israeli opposition leader.

Speaking hours later at the U.S.-led Summit for Democracy, Netanyahu struck a more conciliatory tone.

While “Israel and the United States have had their occasional differences,” the alliance between them was “unshakable” and “nothing can change that,” he said.

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