Biden backs away from claim Netanyahu putting politics above ending war

By Jacob Magid

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4 June 2024, 9:48 pm 9 Edit

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

President Joe Biden speaks about an executive order in the East Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (AP/Alex Brandon)

Asked whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is playing politics with the war in Gaza, US President Joe Biden responds, “I don’t think so.”

“He’s trying to work out the serious problem that he has,” Biden says in response to a question shouted by a reporter after a White House speech regarding the migration crisis.

Earlier today, Time magazine published an interview with Biden in which the president was asked whether he accepts the allegation made by some that Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation.

Biden responded, “I’m not going to comment on that.”

But he subsequently added, “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”