US President Biden calls on Netanyahu to shelve the legal revolution (Twitter)
The morning after the ousting of Defense Minister Yoav Galant, US President Joe Biden delivered a personal and secret message to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu demanding to stop the legal revolution legislation and try to find a compromise - according to two American sources familiar with the matter.
A little while later, Netanyahu decided to delay the legislation.
why is it important
The secret message that Biden sent to Netanyahu shows that the American president was directly involved in the pressure campaign that the White House conducted on the issue publicly and through quiet channels, in order to convince the prime minister to stop the legislation.
Behind the Scenes
Netanyahu's decision on Sunday evening to fire Defense Minister Yoav Galant shocked the White House and set in motion a series of urgent consultations among President Biden's advisers regarding a possible American response, a senior US administration official said.
According to one American source, the ideas raised in those consultations was to cancel Netanyahu's participation in the White House Democracy Summit that is taking place this week if the Prime Minister does not stop the legislation.
The idea did not gain widespread support among Biden's advisers, and in any case it was not needed in the end.
Netanyahu spoke at the summit today and stated that he is working to achieve a compromise regarding the legal reform.
In the same discussion at the White House, it was finally decided on two moves - public and secret.
First, Biden's advisers decided to issue a statement to the media on behalf of the spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House in which it will be emphasized that they are concerned about the situation and call on Netanyahu to promote a compromise.
At the same time, American sources said, the White House decided to deliver a personal and secret message from President Biden to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Biden's advisers asked for his approval for the move and he gave a "green light".
The American sources said that on Monday morning the US Ambassador to Israel Tom Neides delivered Biden's secret message to the Prime Minister's office.
According to the sources, Biden's secret message was worded more sharply than the public message given to the media.
Biden emphasized in his message to Netanyahu that he expects him to stop the legislation.
On Tuesday before returning from North Carolina to Washington, Biden hinted at these developments.
"They can't continue down this path and I've pretty much made that clear (to Netanyahu)," Biden said.
"I didn't tell him that directly. I sent a message through our ambassador."
A senior Israeli official said that on Monday afternoon, a few hours before Netanyahu delivered his address to the nation, the Prime Minister's Office informed the American ambassador that the legislation would be delayed.
The spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House, Adrienne Watson, told Walla: "The private message that President Biden delivered was the same message that they heard from us all the time - we urge the Israeli leadership to find a compromise as soon as possible."
More in Walla!
Biden released a message and clarified how serious the crisis between Israel and the US is
To the full article
what are they saying
Former US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, who today works as a researcher at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said that Biden is an old friend of Netanyahu and is committed to an alliance with Israel.
"But the president left no doubt about what is at stake as part of the Israeli government's legal plan - Israel's security, its economy and its reputation as a democracy with checks and balances and an independent judicial system. If these are compromised, it will harm relations between Israel and the United States and harm American interests," said Shapiro .
Shapiro added that this was the message that the American government has been conveying to the Israeli government regularly in recent days and it helped convince Netanyahu to suspend the legislation.
In the news center
Yesterday evening, Biden decided to turn his private message to Netanyahu into a public message and told reporters that he hopes the Israeli prime minister will withdraw from his plan to weaken the justice system.
He also clarified that Netanyahu is not expected to be invited to the White House in the near future.
Biden's public statement that showed the severity of the crisis between the countries created political waves in Israel and provoked sharp criticism against Netanyahu from the opposition leaders.
The Prime Minister responded with an unusual message towards one o'clock in the morning in which he emphasized that Israel is an independent country that makes decisions based on the will of its citizens and not on the basis of external pressure.
This morning several Knesset members and ministers from the Likud attacked Biden in tweets on Twitter and in radio interviews.
Member of Knesset Nissim Vatori from the Likud even claimed that Israel does not need the United States to maintain its security.
the situation picture
At noon, Netanyahu tried to start and cool down the tensions.
The Prime Minister's Office issued a directive to the ministers of government and members of the Knesset of the Likud not to express themselves in the media on the issue of relations with the United States.
Two senior officials in the prime minister's office told Walla that Netanyahu is not interested in a crisis with the Biden administration.
According to one of them, like Biden - Netanyahu himself also wants to reach an agreement with the opposition on the legal plan in order to put this issue behind him.
According to another senior official in the Prime Minister's Office, Netanyahu wants to calm the situation "and stabilize the ship" because he understands the reality that has arisen and the security threats that need to be focused on now.
Why for the sake of it?
"There is a possibility that the coalition and the opposition will not be able to reach a broad agreement on legal reform and then the plan to weaken the Supreme Court could come up for a vote at any moment. Under these circumstances, a meeting between Netanyahu and Biden, whose presidency is characterized by the defense of democracy, will be a very difficult thing to hold," said Shapiro.
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The legal revolution