U.S. President Joe Biden backtracked Tuesday on criticism he made earlier about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when he claimed in an interview that Netanyahu was prolonging the Gaza war for political reasons.
As Breitbart News reported, Biden told Time magazine that there was “every reason to conclude” that Netanyahu was prolonging the war against Hamas for self-interested political reasons. From the Time transcript (original emphasis):
Not at all. Some in Israel have suggested that Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation. Do you believe that?
Biden: I’m not going to comment on that. There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion. And I would cite tha as—before the war began, the blowback he was getting from the Israeli military for wanting to change the constitu—change the court. And so it’s an internal domestic debate that seems to have no consequence. And whether he would change his position or not, it’s hard to say, but it has not been helpful.
On Tuesday afternoon, after announcing an executive action on border security, Biden answered a question shouted by a reporter, who asked if he believed Netanayhu was “playing politics” with the war. Biden paused to answer.
“I don’t think so,” the president replied. “He’s trying to work out a serious problem he has.” Biden did not elaborate.
An Israeli spokesman said earlier Tuesday that it was inappropriate for Biden to comment on Israel’s internal politics.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.