This little sentence that Biden thought he would say in private has far from gone unnoticed.
The US president was surprised by reporters at the end of a speech as he vented his frustration over Netanyahu's reluctance to accept more humanitarian aid.
"I told him, 'Bibi,' and don't say it again, but 'you and I are going to have a frank conversation,'" the US president told a senator on the sidelines of his State of the Union speech , without knowing that he was within microphone range.
Also read: Why is it so difficult to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip?
Joe Biden had to explain himself to the press this Friday March 8.
After deploring that journalists had "drooping ears", the American president replied "Yes" to reporters who asked him if Benjamin Netanyahu should do more to allow the delivery of aid to Gaza.
The United States is Israel's main supporter, but the Biden administration has recently voiced sharper public criticism of the conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza, including insufficient humanitarian aid authorized by Netanyahu.
The Palestinian territory, bombed and besieged by Israel, is in the grip of famine.
In the midst of his re-election campaign, the Democratic president is facing pressure from part of his camp and the left to toughen his tone towards Israel.
The United States has been airdropping aid for a week.