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It was an uncomfortable conversation between old friends.
When President Joe Biden spoke last weekend with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden relayed his concerns about a controversial plan that Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud Party are pushing to overhaul Israel’s judicial system and weaken the role of its Supreme Court.
Furor over the proposal spilled into the streets of Israel on Sunday as tens of thousands of Israelis protested outside parliament, workers launched a nationwide strike that paralyzed much of the country, and diplomats walking off the job at foreign ministries. The chaos followed Netanyahu’s firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who had called for a pause in the changes.
Netanyahu announced on Monday that he would delay the proposal, saying he wanted “to avoid a civil war” and make time to seek a compromise.
Netanyahu’s handling of the judicial overhaul ignited not only a political crisis for Israel’s new government, which took office in late December, but it also has turned into a crucial test for Netanyahu’s relationship with Biden – and a domestic issue for Biden, because a growing number of Democrats appear no longer willing to write Israel a blank check.
At the White House, administration officials stressed Monday that Biden feels a strong kinship with Israel and its people.
“U.S. support for Israeli security and democracy remains ironclad – that is continuing to be the case,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. “But we will always have those honest and frank conversations with our partners, with our friends as well.”
From friendly to frosty:Biden and Netanyahu’s decades long relationship tested by current crisis
Biden and Netanyahu have, in fact, been friends and allies for years. They met four decades ago, when Biden was a Democratic senator from Delaware and Netanyahu was a young diplomat.
