Biden Calls Netanyahu a Liar, Upcoming Book Reveals

Photo: Jim Watson Agence France-Presse According to the book, during a phone conversation in April, Joe Biden asked Benjamin Netanyahu what his strategy was.

Agence France-Presse in Washington

Published yesterday at 4:35 p.m.

• United States

For US President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a “liar” “only interested in his political survival”, reports a forthcoming book by veteran journalist Bob Woodward, the extracts of which were revealed Tuesday by American media.

A chronicler of the White House's backstage for half a century for the Washington Post, Bob Woodward revealed with Carl Bernstein the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Nixon in 1974.

In his book War, to be published on October 15, it describes in particular the futile efforts of President Joe Biden to stop the war that Israel is waging in the Gaza Strip after the deadly attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Bibi, you have no strategy

— Joe Biden, in a telephone conversation in April

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Since the beginning of the conflict, American diplomacy has shown its inability to influence the way its ally is conducting the war.

According to the book, during a telephone conversation in April, Joe Biden asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu what his strategy.

“We have to enter Rafah,” the Israeli leader replied. “Bibi, you have no strategy,” Joe Biden retorted, using the Israeli leader's nickname.

The American president then reportedly complained to his advisers, claiming that the Israeli prime minister was a “liar” “only interested in his political survival.”

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Contrasting reaction from Kamala Harris

In early September, Joe Biden publicly stated that Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to reach an agreement for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Despite his complaints, the American president has so far refused to use the lever of arms deliveries to Israel to influence the policy of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, apart from suspending a bomb delivery in May.

According to the Washington Post, Vice President Kamala Harris makes a few appearances in Bob Woodward’s story, supporting Joe Biden’s positions, but with a non-determining role in his foreign policy.

In July, following a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, Kamala Harris adopted a harsh tone on the way Israel was conducting the conflict in Gaza, promising not to “remain silent” in the face of Palestinian suffering.

Public statements that contrasted with the tone of private discussions, where the approach was much more cordial, suggests War. The contrast in the remarks of the Democratic presidential candidate on November 5 would have thus provoked the astonishment and anger of Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Bob Woodward.