Biden Repeatedly Called Netanyahu an ‘A**hole’ Behind-The-Scenes: NBC News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks as he meets with President Joe Biden, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv. AP Photo/Evan Vucci.

President Joe Biden reportedly called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “asshole” on at least three occasions in a series of private conversations, insider sources told NBC News.

The alleged outburst of frustration, corroborated by five sources, comes amid escalating tensions between the two world leaders over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has seen the Palestinian death toll rise to more than 28,000, according to local health officials.

Biden is said to be exasperated with Netanyahu’s refusal to ease off the military campaign and his apparent reluctance to engage in long-term peace negotiations, with insiders revealing the president’s demands for a ceasefire being met with resistance.

Sources close to the president described Biden blasting Netanyahu for “giving him hell” and being difficult to negotiate with, dismissively referring to the prime minister as “this guy.”

“He just feels like this is enough. It has to stop,” one source disclosed.

In a 45-minute phone call on Sunday, the president reportedly warned Netanyahu that he should not send troops into Rafah, in southern Gaza, without “a credible and executable plan.”

Asked about the comments, a National Security Council spokesperson pushed back on the claims: “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.”

Biden has not gone so far as to criticise Netanyahu publicly and from a policy point of view continues to back Israel.