National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi told Kan 11 News in an interview on Saturday night that there is no disconnect between Israel and the United States, and that Israel is not in a position where it needs to request a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden.
“When Biden realizes that he won’t be attacked with criticism by inviting Netanyahu, he will do it,” Hanegbi said.
“In this matter as well,” Hanegbi continued, “we had a conversation with Biden personally and with his people. The President would like the cloud of the judicial reform not to overshadow such a meeting with Netanyahu. The Americans are having an intimate conversation with us like never before because they see what is happening with the Iranians. Right now, they are being attacked by the Iranians in Syria, they see the Iranian defiance throughout the region, they understand that cooperation with us will deter Iran.”
Commenting on the decision to suspend the legislation of the judicial reform, Hanegbi said, “Netanyahu announced that he is delaying the reform, he did not set a time period, he is not standing with a stopper. This calm is right and good.”
His comments come after Biden offered very harsh criticism of Israel, saying he is “very concerned” about the goings on in light of the judicial reform and adding, “They cannot continue down this road.”
Biden also added he will not be inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in the near term.
Netanyahu later responded to Biden and said, “The alliance between Israel and the United States is unbreakable and always overcomes the occasional disagreements between us.”
He also stressed that “Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”
Later, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked about the angry reactions of some Israeli officials at pressure from the Biden administration on the judicial reform issue and replied, “Israel is a democracy and a sovereign state, of course. And sovereign states make sovereign decisions.”
“Our whole point about this and our whole concern is that we’d like to see decisions made there with a good friend like Israel, that are in keeping with consensus and that can be done with the broadest possible base of public support. Because that’s one of the key components of a democracy, and Israel is a democracy. It’s one of the great things that our two countries share, some basic fundamental democratic institutions and principles,” he said.

Following the warnings by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and intelligence reports warning against an all-out multifront war, the head of the National Security Council said that he is “more relaxed” in relation to these assessments.
“Our dealings and our observation of all the arenas is something that has accompanied us for decades. There are periods when there are fewer threats in all the arenas, and there are periods like this time. And there is something we are doing called the consolidation of arenas, which means that in some arenas there is more defiance. It is still very minor, when all the parties are still deterred. Hamas has received 70% of its budget for years from Iran, the Islamic Jihad is in essence an Iranian organization. They have been coordinating with one another all these years,” said Hanegbi.