A senior official in the administration of President Joe Biden has told Israeli daily Haaretz that Netanyahu is ungrateful towards the US and disregards the significant amount of aid it has provided to Israel throughout the past 10 months of war, reports Al Jazeera.
The official also described the last two conversations between the two men – one during a White House meeting some 10 days ago, the other over the phone last week – as difficult and tense, according to Haaretz.
“Biden realised that Netanyahu was lying to him about the hostages,” the official told the publication.
“He’s not saying it publicly yet, but in the meeting between them, he specifically told him, ‘Stop bull*****ing me.'”
The official said the US is preparing to help Israel in the face of an Iranian and Hezbollah response to last week’s assassinations in Beirut and Tehran but stressed there would be no support for actions that further expand the scope of the conflict.
“Netanyahu is trying to prolong the war instead of focusing on how to get to a hostage deal,” the official said. “It’s making it harder for us to continue supporting Israel over time.”
Haaretz said the Israeli prime minister responded to the reports about the tense discussions with Biden through a press release attributed to his office that said: “The prime minister does not interfere in American politics and will work with whoever is elected president, just as he also expects the Americans not to interfere in Israeli politics.”
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
