Biden growing frustrated with Netanyahu: ‘He is hurting more than helping Israel’

U.S. President Joe Biden accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of hurting more than helping Israel, marking a new low-point in the relationship between the two leaders.

Netanyahu “is hurting Israel more than helping Israel, by making the rest of the world, as contrary to what Israel stands for,” Biden told MSNBC.

Biden’s remark came after the president was caught on a hot mic, saying he would have a “come to Jesus” meeting with Netanyahu soon.

“It’s an expression used in the southern part of my state meaning ‘a serious meeting’. I’ve known Bibi (Netanyahu) for 50 years, and he knew what I meant by it,” Biden said.

The president also repeated his warning to Israel not to go into Rafah, the southernmost part of Gaza, where the IDF estimates some 4,000 Hamas terrorists are still operating from.

Netanyahu fired back at Biden shortly after the interview was released, telling Politico that he didn’t know “exactly what the president meant.”

“But if he meant by that that I’m pursuing private policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he’s wrong on both counts,” Netanyahu said.

“Number one, these are not my private policies, only. They’re policies supported by the overwhelming majority of the Israelis. They support the action that we’re taking to destroy the remaining terrorist battalions of Hamas. They say that once we destroy the Hamas, the last thing we should do is put in Gaza, in charge of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority that educates its children towards terrorism and pays for terrorism. And they also support my position that says that we should resoundingly reject the attempt to ram down our throats a Palestinian state,” he added.

Biden and Netanyahu have been at odds several times since October 7, with the president reportedly growing frustrated with Netanyahu over the amount of Palestinians killed and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.