WASHINGTON — President Biden has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States later this year, a move aimed at resolving the troubled friendship between two longtime allies.
The White House invitation was announced a day before the arrival of Isaac Herzog, President of Israel. Herzog plays a largely ceremonial role, so the decision to invite him in first had created some awkwardness. Biden had not extended a similar invitation to Netanyahu since the Israeli leader returned to power last year.
Tensions between Biden and Netanyahu have reached a boiling point, in part because of Israel’s months-long rift over court measures that will weaken the country’s Supreme Court. Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul program has fueled months of protests. A massive protest erupted in Tel Aviv over the weekend after the Knesset cleared a major hurdle last week to enshrine reforms in law.
The White House said Monday that Biden had urged Netanyahu to seek “the widest possible consensus” on judicial reforms in a phone call in which the two sides said the leaders had agreed to meet.
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The Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu “informed” his counterpart “of the bill which is expected to pass the Knesset next week and of his intention to garner broad public support for the rest of the reform during the summer holidays”.
“They have agreed to meet, probably before the end of this year,” National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said, “and full details of where and when are still being worked out. elaboration”.
Kirby said the call and scheduled meeting did not mean the White House was “less concerned” about judicial reforms or “some of the extremist actions” by members of Netanyahu’s government. “These concerns are still valid,” he said. “They bother”
Earlier this month, Biden said Netanyahu’s cabinet was one of the most extreme he had ever seen and that the United States is in regular talks with the Israeli government, “trying to suppress what is happening.” pass”.
“Hopefully Bibi will continue to move towards moderation,” Biden told CNN.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden urges Netanyahu to make reforms after calling his cabinet extreme