Netanyahu fires back after Biden says no White House invite for Israeli premier

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Israel could not continue on its current path, adding that he does not plan to invite Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in the near future.

Speaking to reporters, Biden was asked if he believed Israel was at an inflection point after the nationwide anti-government protests in the face of Netanyahu’s efforts to push through judicial reform legislation. “Well, I don’t know that they’re at an infection point, but I think it’s a difficult spot to be in, and they’ve got to figure it out,” Biden said.

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The president added: “I hope he [Netanyahu] walks away from it.”

Earlier in the day, Biden was asked if he would invite the embattled Israeli premier to Washington. “No. Not in the near term,” he responded.

And in a late-night post to Twitter, Netanyahu fired back at Biden. Reports have indicated that US pressure finally led to Netanyahu backtracking on his judicial reform plan, backed by the most right-wing government in Israeli history.

“The alliance between Israel and the United States is unbreakable and always overcomes the occasional disagreements between us,” Netanyahu said in his post. Pushing back on the narrative that he was undermining democracy, the veteran Israeli politician said his administration was committed to strengthening democracy by restoring the proper balance between the three branches of government.

“Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends,” he concluded, in what appeared to be a sign of worsening ties between the US and Israel.

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