Axios: Biden hung phone to Netanyahu

US President Joe Biden hung up the phone of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their last conversation, Axios reports, in further evidence of the widening rift as a result of Israel's 100-day war in the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. website noted that the last time Biden and Netanyahu spoke was on December 23, when the incident occurred.

Axios said that before Biden hung up the phone, Netanyahu rejected his demand that Israel release the Palestinian tax revenues it is withholding.

The website quoted American officials as saying that Biden and senior officials in his administration are frustrated with Netanyahu, for refusing Washington requests related to the war on Gaza.

He pointed out that there is increasing evidence that Biden is losing patience with the Israeli official, confirming that the US administration is concerned that Israel will not stick to its schedule of moving to less severe operations in Gaza.

"An Unattainable Dream"
Citing a U.S. official, Axios said Secretary of State Antony Blinken made clear to Netanyahu and Israel’s war cabinet during a recent trip to Tel Aviv that Israel’s postwar plan “is a dream that cannot be realised.”

Blinken’s recent visit to Israel deepened “frustration” within the White House and the department, the U.S. website said.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that those it described as close to the US president believe that Netanyahu is prolonging the war for political and personal reasons.

In recent weeks, public disagreements have surfaced between Biden and Netanyahu over how to conduct the war in Gaza and the future of the Strip after the cessation of hostilities, but these have not reached a point of halting or changing the nature of U.S. support for Tel Aviv.

Biden said two weeks ago that Israel was losing global support for what he called its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, but he reiterated that Tel Aviv could count on American support and stressed that he supported "its right to defend itself."

The American president hinted at differences in his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stressing that the latter is in a "difficult position."

Source: Axios