President Joe Biden upped his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's role in the Israel-Hamas war but did not indicate any significant changes in U.S. policy toward its Middle East ally.
"I think what he’s doing is a mistake," Biden said in an interview with Univision that aired Tuesday night in response to a question about whether Netanyahu is more concerned about political survival than Israelis’ national interest.
"I don’t agree with his approach," Biden added in the interview, which was taped last Wednesday.
The remarks illustrate how Biden is increasingly willing to publicly criticize Netanyahu amid mounting criticism from progressives about Israel's handling of the war in Gaza.
Biden last month praised Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s speech that criticized Netanyahu and called for new elections in Israel. Schumer, D-N.Y., argued that Netanyahu allowed “his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.”
At the same time, Biden has also come under criticism for not backing up his comments with conditions on selling U.S. arms to Israel. NBC News previously reported the U.S. decision last month to send more weapons to Israel.
Last week, more than three dozen Democrats in Congress — including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California — signed a letter urging Biden to withhold arms transfers if "Israel fails to sufficiently mitigate harm to innocent civilians in Gaza, including aid workers."
In the Univision interview, Biden said he is calling for Israelis "to just call for a cease-fire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country."
