White House: Netanyahu Invitation Does Not Mean Biden Less Concerned Over Judicial Reform

The White House clarified that President Joe Biden’s invitation today to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu does not indicate a decrease in concerns over the Israeli government’s controversial judicial reform push.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby emphasized, “That doesn’t mean that… we have less concerns over these judicial reforms or less concerns over the extremist activities and behaviors of some members of the Netanyahu Cabinet. Those concerns are still valid. They’re disturbing. The president had a chance to reiterate… our concerns about all that in his phone call with the prime minister.”

According to a White House readout of the conversation, the leaders discussed “a broad range of global and regional issues of mutual concern” and Biden “underscored his iron-clad, unwavering commitment to Israel’s security and condemned recent acts of terror against Israeli citizens.” The two also “consulted on our close coordination to counter Iran, including through regular and ongoing joint military exercises. They noted that U.S.-Israel partnership remains a cornerstone in preventing Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon.”

Regarding judicial reform, Biden stressed the “need for the broadest possible consensus, and that shared democratic values have always been and must remain a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

The statement also highlighted the Biden administration’s concerns regarding the “continued settlement growth,” which, according to him, is led by members of Netanyahu’s government. However, he praised Israel’s “willingness to consider new steps to support Palestinian livelihoods, and recognized promising steps by the Palestinian Authority to reassert security control in Jenin and other areas of the West Bank.”

In response to a reporter’s question, Kirby said, “There were attempts to schedule the call between Biden and Netanyahu for weeks… [Biden] just came back from travel, Prime Minister Netanyahu had some issues he had to deal with back home.” He added, “It will certainly be a topic of discussion… It is of concern. The president has made our concerns over it public, clearly, but there’s an awful lot of other issues which I fully expect will come up in the meeting with President Herzog tomorrow. The destabilizing activity of Iran… Potential for additional protest now in Iran now that the morality police is back on the street…”

A statement by Netanyahu’s office described the call with Biden as “long and warm” and “focused on bolstering the strong bond between the nations; thwarting threats from Iran and its proxies; expanding the circle of peace; and the continued efforts to deescalate and stabilize the situation in Judea and Samaria,” using the West Bank’s biblical name. The statement further read that Netanyahu updated Biden on a bill to crimp judicial oversight of government decisions that is slated to be passed next week by the Knesset and “on his intention to reach wide public support for the rest of the reform during the summer recess.” It also read that “President Biden invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet soon in the United States. The Prime Minister accepted the invitation and it was agreed that Israeli and American teams will coordinate the details of the meeting.”

{Matzav.com}