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Biden says Netanyahu must change, Israel losing global support
(www.reuters.com)
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WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Israel is losing support over its "indiscriminate" bombing of Gaza and that Benjamin Netanyahu should change his hardline government, exposing a new rift in relations with the Israeli prime minister.
Biden's remarks, made to donors to his 2024 re-election campaign, were his most critical to date of Netanyahu's handling of Israel's war in Gaza.
They are a stark contrast to his literal and political embrace of the Israeli leader days after Hamas militants' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
Biden, who often speaks off the cuff at his fundraising events, spoke at a Washington hotel to a crowd of about a hundred that included a number of Jewish attendees.
The sharp comments came as Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, prepares to travel to Israel for talks with the Israeli war cabinet.
Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday that Israel had received "full backing" from the U.S. for its ground incursion into Gaza and that Washington had blocked "international pressure to stop the war".
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