Former ADL director Abe Foxman on Tuesday slammed U.S. President Joe Biden for his “boycott” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In comments to The Jerusalem Post, the American Jewish leader called the Biden administration’s policy of isolating Netanyahu since he took office at the start of the year for his sixth term “misguided” and “bordering on hypocrisy.”
Foxman explained that the White House refusing to extend an invitation to Netanyahu “also sends the wrong message [not only] to Israel’s enemies, but also to its friends and allies. When friends disagree, they need to, and should, meet, speak to each other. This lack of invitation has become a politicized issue.”
He questioned why the White House welcomes to Washington leaders of countries with less democracy than Israel, calling it hypocritical.
“If you will, the president of the United States just welcomed the prime minister of India, a certainly flawed democracy with serious religious and civil rights abuses. He just welcomed Jordan’s King Abdullah to the White House—not exactly the paradigm of a democratic country,” he said.
“If MBS [Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia] indicated that he would want to come to Washington, he would receive a warm welcome. This boycott … undermines the [U.S.-Israel] relationship,” he added.
Foxman called on Biden to invite Netanyahu to the White House to discuss their differences.
Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday that he will be visiting China next month. Foxman said that the Israeli leader visiting Beijing before the U.S. was probably due to the lack of an invitation from the White House.
