The frosty exchange came a day after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a halt to his governmentās contentious legislation āto avoid civil war.ā
Exchange a rare bout of public disagreement between the two close allies and signals building friction between Israel and the US
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rebuffed President Joe Bidenās suggestion that the premier āwalks awayā from a contentious plan to overhaul the legal system, saying the country makes its own decisions.
The exchange was a rare bout of public disagreement between the two close allies and signals building friction between Israel and the US over Netanyahuās judicial changes, which he postponed after massive protests.
Asked by reporters late Tuesday what he hopes the premier does with the legislation, Biden replied, āI hope he walks away from it.ā The president added that Netanyahuās government ācannot continue down this roadā and urged compromise on the plan roiling Israel. The president also stepped around US Ambassador Thomas Nidesā suggestion that Netanyahu would soon be invited to the White House, saying, āNo, not in the near term.ā
Netanyahu replied that Israel is sovereign and āmakes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.ā
The frosty exchange came a day after Netanyahu called for a halt to his governmentās contentious legislation āto avoid civil warā in the wake of two consecutive days of mass protests that drew tens of thousands of people to Israelās streets.
āHopefully the prime minister will act in a way that he can try to work out some genuine compromise. But that remains to be seen,ā Biden said to reporters as he left North Carolina to return to Washington.
Netanyahu and his religious and ultranationalist allies announced the judicial overhaul in January just days after forming their government, the most right-wing in Israelās history.
The proposal has plunged Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs have all come out against the plan, saying it is pushing the country toward dictatorship.
The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nationās judges. It would also give parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the courtās ability to review laws.
Critics say the legislation would concentrate power in the hands of the coalition in parliament and upset the balance of checks and balances between branches of government.
Netanyahu said he was āstriving to achieve via a broad consensusā in talks with opposition leaders that began Tuesday.
Yair Lapid, the opposition leader in Israelās parliament, wrote on Twitter that Israel was the USās closest allies for decades but āthe most radical government in the countryās history ruined that in three months.ā
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