President Joe Biden was caught on a hot microphone speaking harshly against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the two men will need to have a “come to Jesus meeting.”
Biden made the comment Thursday night on the House floor after his State of the Union address while speaking with Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The incident was another sign of Biden’s growing frustration with Netanyahu, as the president comes under pressure from home and abroad to do more to address the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian people.
The UN has warned that the Gaza Strip faces famine conditions and Israel has not helped as much as it could to bring food and medicine to the area, citing concerns that the Hamas terrorists they are fighting will take the supplies.
President Joe Biden (second right) speaks with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (left), Secretary of State Antony Blinken (second left), and Senator Michael Bennet (right, back to camera) as makes his comments about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the House conversation, which was broadcast live by television cameras that had recorded Biden’s speech, Bennet congratulated Biden on his address to the nation and urged him to continue pressing Netanyahu on the humanitarian crisis.
Blinken nodded his head.
Biden responds by using Netanyahu’s nickname, saying, “I told him, Bibi, and don’t repeat this, but you and I are going to have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting.”
Biden’s bodyman, Jacob Spreyer, then leans in and whispers to the president, apparently warning Biden that he is on a hot microphone.
“I’m on a hot microphone here,” Biden says after Spreyer speaks to him. ‘Good. That’s good.’
Biden has already ordered US airlifts of aid to the Gaza Strip. And, in his speech, he announced that he is ordering the military to build a port on the coast of Gaza to bring relief to the population there.
‘“The United States is leading international efforts to bring more humanitarian assistance to Gaza,” he said.
He noted that the temporary dock “will allow for a massive increase in humanitarian assistance coming to Gaza.”
That doesn’t mean there will be American military personnel on the ground in the war-torn region.
White House officials did not offer a timeline for when the pier will be built or where exactly it will be located, but said its construction will allow more shipments of food, medicine and other essential items to be delivered to the 2.2 million Palestinians.
They said the White House will coordinate with the Israelis on security on the ground and with the United Nations and humanitarian groups on the delivery of aid.
Biden’s bodyman Jacob Spreyer (left) leans in to warn the president about the hot microphone.
President Joe Biden has been showing his frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Above, the two men meet in Tel Aviv in October.
The temporary dock will allow hundreds of additional trucks of assistance to be dispatched each day, officials said. It will be an additional route for humanitarian aid, which is currently limited to two land crossings into the southern part of Gaza.
Other countries will participate in its construction, but it is not clear whether Israel will do so.
Construction of the project could take 30 to 60 days and would involve hundreds or thousands of U.S. troops on ships near the coast. It will also require armed escorts and other protective measures.
Some of Biden’s own Democrats have been frustrated by his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.
During that section of Biden’s State of the Union address, Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Alyanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush displayed “lasting ceasefire now” signs.
The president has seen a worrying number of Democrats vote “uncommitted” in primaries in key states like Michigan and Minnesota, most of which are unhappy with his treatment of the Palestinians.
In Minnesota on Tuesday, nearly 20 percent of the state’s Democratic voters voted uncommitted. The week before, more than 100,000 voters in Michigan voted the same.
Famine has not yet been declared in Gaza, but 20% of households suffer from extreme food shortages, 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition and 2 in every 10,000 people die every day “due to absolute famine or interaction of malnutrition and disease,” stated the World Food Programme.
In his speech on Thursday, Biden called on Israelis to do more to alleviate suffering even as they try to eliminate Hamas. He called the situation in Gaza “heartbreaking.”
“I say to Israel that this humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip,” Biden said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was enraged when his war cabinet member Benny Gantz (above), his potential political opponent, met at the White House.
Palestinians rescue a man and his children from the rubble of a house destroyed after an Israeli airstrike in the town of Al-Zawaida in the Gaza Strip.
The White House has gone from full support for Israel to showing its frustration with Netanyahu. The administration is pushing for a ceasefire in the region to remove hostages and receive critical aid.
Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris met with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz at the White House, in a move that angered Netanyahu.
Gantz, a centrist political rival of Netanyahu who frequently criticizes the prime minister, sat down with several senior Biden administration officials during his trip to Washington, D.C., including Harris, Blinken, the National Security Council’s Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, and Jake Sullivan, the White House. national security advisor.
He also met with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders.
Gantz, who polls show could be a formidable candidate for prime minister if a vote were held today, is seen as a political moderate. If he If intense fighting subsides, Gantz will leave the government, increasing pressure to hold early elections.
Netanyahu was reportedly furious with Gantz’s White House meeting.