‘It’s A Healthy Relationship’: White House Describes Current Relations Between Biden & Netanyahu

4 months ago

During Thursday’s White House press briefing, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby was asked about President Biden’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00John, the meeting with the hostage families this afternoon, as you referenced, can you

00:05just give us a sense of what message the President and the Prime Minister want to bring to those

00:10families?

00:11What are they going to say?

00:12I won't speak for the Prime Minister, but the President intends to tell them how seriously

00:18he's still committed to getting this deal in place and getting their loved ones home.

00:22He's going to tell them that we're going to maintain the contact with them that we have

00:25had, that there's not going to be a gap in communication as we get closer here, hopefully,

00:31to the end, and that he's not going to rest until all their loved ones are back.

00:36The pool was in the Oval Office briefly for the beginning of their meeting, and the two

00:39men were friendly and cordial, and President Biden was joking about how old he was when

00:45he first had a meeting with a previous Prime Minister.

00:48But we know that there have been tensions between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President

00:52Biden.

00:53Can you talk a little bit about the state of their relationship right now?

00:57It's a healthy relationship, and by healthy, I mean they're not going to agree on everything.

01:03They haven't.

01:04They haven't, through the long political lives that both of them have enjoyed, always agreed

01:09on everything.

01:10They come from two different political traditions, but they know one another.

01:15I know I'm speaking for President Biden, that he's very comfortable in the relationship

01:22that he has with the Prime Minister and the ability that he has – he would do it anyway,

01:26but certainly with Prime Minister Netanyahu, the ability that he has to be candid and honest

01:32and lay it all out there.

01:33And he'll do that today.

01:34China?

01:35Did the President watch the Prime Minister's speech yesterday or see anything that he chosen?

01:44I don't know if he – I don't know if he watched it.

01:46I don't know that.

01:48And you didn't – do you have a sense of his reaction?

01:51I don't.

‘It’s A Healthy Relationship’: White House Describes Current Relations Between Biden & Netanyahu

Category

Transcript

Recommended