Biden said planning to call Netanyahu to express concern over judicial overhaul

US President Joe Biden plans to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today for talks likely to focus on US concerns over the government’s judicial overhaul, the Walla news site reports.

The Prime Minister’s office declines to confirm the call.

The report says that the call will be a chance for Biden to make clear his opposition to the policies of Netanyahu’s hardline government.

The call comes hours before President Isaac Herzog is set to depart for the US, where he will meet US President Joe Biden and address a joint session of Congress.

Netanyahu is said to be angry over Biden’s refusal to invite him to the White House.

In late March, Biden said Netanyahu would not be visiting the White House in the “near term” amid Washington’s frustration with his government’s judicial overhaul plan. Days earlier, Israel’s ambassador to Washington was summoned to the State Department for a dressing down over violations of commitments regarding policy toward the Palestinians.

Biden last week said Netanyahu’s coalition has some “of the most extreme members” he has seen in Israel, lamenting that they back unrestricted settlement growth and do not recognize any Palestinian right to the territory.