Israel accuses Biden of trying to oust Netanyahu’s government

ISRAEL has accused Joe Biden of attempting to overthrow Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as the rift between the two allies deepens.

Yesterday Israeli media circulated a statement by an unnamed “top official” that claimed the US president was trying to undermine the administration by demanding that a ground operation in Gaza’s south not go ahead.

Some broadcasters said the statement – which followed a US intelligence report this week that suggested the Netanyahu government could be replaced by a more moderate one – came from the Israeli prime minister himself.

“Israeli citizens, and not anyone else, elect the prime minister,” the statement said. “Israel is not a protectorate of the US but an independent and democratic country whose citizens are the ones who choose the government. We expect our friends to act to overthrow the terror regime of Hamas and not the elected government in Israel,” it read.

Media did not name the source but Israel’s Channel 12 said the statement came from “the most senior Israeli political source you can imagine”. The extraordinary outburst appears to have been triggered by the US intelligence report casting doubt on Mr Netanyahu’s “viability as a leader”. The Biden administration has made clear its frustration with his plans for a ground offensive in Gaza’s Rafah, the only pocket of land largely unaffected by fighting.

Yesterday, Mr Netanyahu received an unexpected boost when Benny Gantz, a member of the coalition government tipped as the next prime minister, backed the operation in Rafah. “The entire war cabinet is united over the need to continue the ground operation, including in Rafah, and to dismantle Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities,” he said in parliament.

But Mr Gantz, who undertook a foreign policy trip earlier this month, also called on the Israeli leadership to be smart and create “humanitarian solutions” before pressing ahead.

Mr Biden has been attempting to pressure Mr Netanyahu into scrapping the offensive on Rafah. Last week, he was caught on a “hot mic” after his State of the Union address saying the Israeli leader would have “come-to-jesus meeting” with him, which suggested he might make some of the US military aid conditional on IDF operations in Gaza.