Did Biden call Netanyahu a**hole? US Prez seemingly furious with Israeli PM over Gaza war
Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden
United States President Joe Biden has apparently grown frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip, but he believes that supporting Israel is the right policy.
NBC News mentioned in its latest report that Biden called Netanyahu a**hole more than once during private conversations and has been expressing his anger and frustration.
Such allegations that Biden used abusive words for the Israeli PM are not new as recently, reports emerged that Biden lost his cool and called Netanyahu a "bad f**king guy".
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However, the White House refutes the reports, with Biden's spokesperson Andrew Bates saying that the "president did not say that, nor would he".
Citing five people who are directly familiar with Biden's comments, the US-based media outlet reported that during those conversations, the US president was infuriated because of his inability to persuade Israel to change its military tactics in the Gaza Strip.
The unidentified sources told the outlet that Biden has stated that he is attempting to persuade Israel to agree to a ceasefire, but Netanyahu is "giving him hell" and impossible to deal with.
As quoted, one of the sources said that Biden feels that the military campaign in the Gaza Strip is "enough" and "it has to stop".
The report alleged that Biden has referred to the Israeli PM as "this guy" in private chats about his encounters with him, and has called him an "a**hole" on at least three occasions.
As per the report, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that the two leaders have a respectful relationship.
"The president has been clear where he disagrees with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but this is a decades-long relationship that is respectful in public and in private," the spokesperson said as quoted.
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Israel-Hamas War
The war between Israel and Hamas militants began when the Palestinian Islamist group launched an unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to official figures released by Israel.
Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and launched a massive military offensive in Gaza that the territory's health ministry claims has killed at least 28,340 people, mostly women and children.
Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
(With inputs from agencies)