‘Very concerned’ President Biden says Israel ‘cannot continue down this road’

U.S. President Joe Biden said he is “very concerned” about the judicial crisis in Israel, stressing that Israel “cannot continue down this road.”

“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. And I’ve sort of made that clear,” Biden said.

“Hopefully the prime minister will act in a way that he can try to work out some genuine compromise, but that remains to be seen,” the president added.

When asked about whether he would invite Prime Minister Netanyahu to the White House, Biden replied “No. Not in the near term.”

This comes after U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, said that Netanyahu would indeed be invited to the White House “soon”, possibly after Passover.

Netanyahu responded to Biden’s unusual statement, saying: “I have known President Biden for over 40 years, and I appreciate his longstanding commitment to Israel.  The alliance between Israel and the United States is unbreakable and always overcomes the occasional disagreements between us.”

“My 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. 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,” Netanyahu added.

Frictions between the US and Israel have increased since Netanyahu formed his government in late December, mainly over the Palestinian conflict and the judicial overhaul.

The White House has condemned a number of issues concerning Israel in recent months. US State Department spokesman Price called Finance Minister Smotrich’s comments about Huwara “disgusting” after he said the Palestinian town should be “wiped out.”

“These comments were irresponsible. They were repugnant. They were disgusting,” Price said.