Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the United States during the Obama administration, on Wednesday slammed President Joe Biden for insinuating that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was purposely prolonging the war against Hamas for his own benefit.
"I think it shows disrespect for our democracy," Oren said on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast regarding Biden's comments.
Oren's remarks came in response to a TIME article published Tuesday. The magazine reported that "when asked by TIME if Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political reasons, Biden admits, 'There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.'"
Oren called Biden's comments "very inappropriate," considering Biden is the democratically-elected leader of America and he made disparaging remarks about the democratically-elected leader of an allied nation.
Oren also said that Biden's remarks are "even more irrelevant, because the prime minister of Israel is not the president." Any orders from Netanyahu to the army must go through the war cabinet, and then the broader cabinet for approval, so Netanyahu is unable to make major decisions by himself.
Notably, when Biden was asked a similar question on Tuesday afternoon, his response was different.
"Is Prime Minister Netanyahu playing politics with the war?" a reporter asked Biden at the end of his press conference on his border executive order.
"I don’t think so. He’s trying to work out a serious problem he has," Biden responded, according to the official White House transcript.
Related Story: Netanyahu Clashes with Democrats: ‘Schumer’s Statements are Wholly Inappropriate’
