On Sunday, Rep. Jim Clyburn mentioned that he and President Joe Biden are on the same page about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership. He said Biden “feels about the way I feel” that Netanyahu’s “leadership is not good for Israel.”
“I’ve talked to the president about this. And, of course, he is not going to be public with everything he says to Netanyahu,” Clyburn, D-S.C., told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “But I know this. He feels about the way I feel when it comes to Netanyahu. He is — his leadership has not been good for Israel.”
“We stand firmly with the people of Israel, but I’ve always had a real problem with Netanyahu, and that continues to be today,” Clyburn added.
Shortly after saying that Biden feels the same way he does about Netanyahu, Clyburn sought to make adjustments. He confirmed that he hadn’t asked the president whether he agreed with him.
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“He’s accepted my assessment [of Netanyahu]. I have not asked him whether or not he agrees with me. In fact, I just let them know, ‘This is the way I feel. I’m not running the country. You do what you feel is in the best interest of the country,'” Clyburn said Sunday.
His comments follow widespread reporting that Biden is growing very frustrated with Netanyahu and his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The POTUS has even allegedly gone as far as calling Netanyahu an “a–hole” in private, according to three people directly familiar with his comments. The president has also reportedly called Netanyahu a “bad f—ing guy,” Politico reported.
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That all happens behind closed doors, of course. Publicly, Biden has not condemned the Israeli prime minister as firmly as he has in private. However, at a press conference earlier this month, he called Israeli’s military operations in Gaza “over the top.”
“A lot of innocent people are starving. A lot of innocent people are in trouble, and they’re dying. And it’s got to stop,” Biden added at that press conference.
Netanyahu said he was unsure how to interpret that criticism. “I don’t know exactly what he meant by that,” Netanyahu said before going on to emphasize once more how Israel experienced an “unprovoked, murderous” terror attack on October 7 by Hamas.
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Those comments were widely seen as the president’s strongest rebuke of Israel and Netanyahu yet. On the other hand, Clyburn has been known to criticize Netanyahu publicly.
In January, he told The Washington Post, “I have never been a fan of Netanyahu, and I don’t think he’s good for Israel. I don’t think he’s good for the world,” however he was not speaking for the president at the time.
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