Despite Israeli claims of US invite, White House readout of Netanyahu-Biden phone makes no mention of it

The official White House readout of the phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released on Monday night following the conversation between the two leaders.

Almost immediately following the phone conversation, the Israeli press reported that Biden had invited the Israeli prime minister to meet in the U.S. However, the call readout makes no mention of an invitation.

The Prime Minister's Office released a statement which noted, “The Prime Minister responded positively to the invitation and it was agreed that the Israeli and U.S. teams would coordinate the details of the meeting.”

The statement's wording was very similar to that of U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, who said in a press conference that Biden had extended an invitation to meet with Netanyahu and the details were still pending.

“They have agreed that they will meet, probably before the end of this year, and all the details of the wheres and the whens are still being worked out,” Kirby said.

Kirby, who read the official readout of the call in the press conference, appeared to be surprised at the amount of interest by the press in the invitation, saying, “Everybody’s getting focused on the invitation and the meeting.”

In Israel, Biden's decision to not invite Netanyahu for an official White House visit has been an issue of ongoing discussion which began in December, when Netanyahu resumed his post as Israel's premier.

Many in the protest movement have claimed that Biden's lack of an invitation is proof that Netanyahu and his coalition are harming Israel’s international standing.

For coalition supporters, the lack of an invitation is seen as proof of the Biden administration’s disdain for Netanyahu. Some have speculated the tensions may go as far back as a speech Netanyahu made to Congress in 2015, where he challenged Obama’s Iran negotiations, calling it “a bad deal.”

On Wednesday morning, the New York Times published a piece by Thomas Friedman, alleging that President Biden told him he had discussed the judicial reforms with Netanyahu and told him to stop the legislation immediately, saying it lacks “even a semblance of national consensus.”  

“President Biden could not have been clearer in his message to Netanyahu in their conversation,” Friedman wrote. “'Stop now, don't pass something of such great importance without broad agreement because you will destroy something in Israeli democracy and something in connection with the United States that you may not be able to bring back,’" Friedman wrote in his op-ed.

Israeli National Security Council Director Tzachi Hanegbi disputed Friedman’s claims in the article, telling the local Israel Kan news outlet that “the things attributed to the president were not said at all in the conversation.”

Hanegbi said the judicial reform issue was on the margins of the conversation.

“The phone call between the US president and the prime minister was, as described by both sides, 'good, cordial and constructive.' The prime minister informed the president that in the coming week, the Knesset will complete the current legislation and that during the Knesset's summer recess, he will work to formulate a broad public consensus on the remainder of the process,” according to a statement from Hanegbi's office.

Hanegbi reported that Netanyahu told Biden the Knesset will approve the Reasonableness Standard Bill next week, before the Knesset recess at the end of July. The premier said he will try to achieve "broad public consensus" on judicial selection during the recess. Netanyahu also told Biden that he believes there will be no political agreement with the opposition.

According to Hanegbi, the U.S. president told Netanyahu he would "love to see him in the Oval Office," however, this detail was not mentioned in Kirby’s statement during the press briefing.

Several reporters questioned Kirby on location, asking whether the two leaders would meet at the White House or in another location, possibly the United Nations General Assembly in New York this September.

During their conversation, Biden reportedly praised the cabinet's decision to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, as well as the fact that no Palestinian civilians were killed in the recent counter-terrorism initiative, Operation Home and Garden.

Biden pressed Netanyahu for further action to strengthen the PA.