PM swats down any notion of tension with Biden over humanitarian pauses in Gaza
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplays talk of disagreement between him and Joe Biden after the US president told reporters that “it’s taken a little longer than [he] had hoped” to coax the Israeli premier to agree to a days-long humanitarian pause.
“Well, it’s taken a little longer than I had hoped,” Netanyahu responds after being played a clip of Biden’s remarks during a Fox News interview.
“I hoped we could do it very fast, but we have battled conditions on the ground, the safety of our own forces, the hostages we want to get out and the humanitarian corridors we want to [operate] — which as I said, Hamas is preventing by using its own fire… preventing Palestinian civilians from leaving,” Netanyahu says.
“It’s taken a little while, but I think we share a common goal, and I very much appreciate the support that President Biden has shown, the administration has shown, the American people have shown and Congress on both sides of the aisle,” he adds.
