Netanyahu reacts to Biden’s ‘come to Jesus’ hot mic moment

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on Fox & Friends Monday and was asked about President Biden’s so-called hot mic remark after the State of the Union address about having a “come to Jesus meeting” with the prime minister over the war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Fox News host Will Cain approached the topic by asking Netanyahu what a “come to Jesus meeting” means to him.

“I don’t know. I’m not familiar with the term, even though Jesus wasn’t born that far away from here,” Netanyahu responded. “I can tell you that if it means having a heart-to-heart conversation, we’ve had that plenty of times over the 40 years that I’ve known Joe Biden and over the 12 or 13 conversations that we’ve had since the beginning of the war.”

After delivering his State of the Union speech, Biden was caught on a hot mic telling Sen. Michael Bennet that he told Netanyahu, “You and I are going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting.”

Netanyahu was emphatic that Israel will not be “getting off the gas” in its Gaza attacks, stressing that defeating Hamas was the priority — keep in mind, the U.S. fought a 20-year war in response to 9/11.

“Well, I’m telling you that we’re not getting off the gas. I’m telling you that we have to take care of Israel’s security in our future, and that requires eliminating the terrorist army,” the prime minister said. “That’s a prerequisite for victory. That victory is important not only for us, it’s important for the civilized world as we’re fighting these barbarians.

“And that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to defeat Hamas,” he added. “We’re going to do what is necessary to minimize civilian casualties, do the humanitarian aid, something that we believe in. But we have to destroy this terrorist Nazi army. Otherwise, there’s no future for anyone in the Middle East.”

Biden said during a softball interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart on Saturday that Netanyahu was “hurting Israel more than helping.”

“What’s happening is he has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas,” Biden said. “But he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”

Netanyahu responded to Biden’s remarks in an interview with Politico.

“I don’t know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant by that, that I’m pursuing private policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he’s wrong on both counts,” he said.

Biden was asked by reporters on Monday if he has scheduled his “come to Jesus” meeting with Netanyahu — here’s how that went:

Tom Tillison

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