Netanyahu says Biden has ‘issues’ with all Israelis, not him personally

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the perceived crisis in relations between him and US President Joe Biden is in fact a “disagreement” between Biden and all Israelis.

In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu said the vast majority of Israelis oppose the establishment of a Palestinian State.

“You don’t have an issue with me. You have an issue with the entire people of Israel. They’re really united as never before, united to destroy Hamas, and ensure that we don’t have another Palestinian terror state like the one that we had in Gaza that could threaten the State of Israel,” said Netanyahu.

Asked if the “differences” with the US president affect the prisoner exchange talks with Hamas, Netanyahu said that “as long as the world realises that Israel and the United States are united, there is no problem”.

“Disagreements between the US and Israel make it harder to defeat Hamas,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli army claimed it was investigating the possibility of successfully assassinating the deputy commander of the military arm of Hamas and the third most wanted man by Israel, Marwan Issa, after striking a “target” in the Nuseirat refugee camp which turned out to be a tunnel, claiming “the presence of intelligence information” about Issa’s presence at the location.

“We are on our way to absolute victory. On the way to this victory, we eliminated No. 4 in Hamas. And 3, 2 and 1 are on the way. They are all doomed to death, and we will reach all of them,” Netanyahu said.

According to Israeli classifications, the No. 1 leader in Hamas is Yahya Al-Sinwar, No. 2 is Muhammad Al-Deif, No. 3 is Marwan Issa, and No. 4 is Saleh Al-Arouri, who was assassinated in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut in January.

Read: Netanyahu categorically rejects Palestinian Authority rule in Gaza