Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted comments Tuesday that appeared to be responding to criticism of his government by President Joe Biden.
“Since the start of the war, I have been leading a diplomatic campaign to block pressure designed to end the war prematurely, and to secure strong support for Israel,” the Prime Minister tweeted. “We have had considerable success. Today, a Harvard CAPS -Harris poll was published, which shows that 82% of the American public supports Israel, meaning that four out of five US citizens supports Israel and not Hamas. This will help us continue the campaign until total victory,” he added. (RELATED: Netanyahu Pushes Back On Margaret Brennan’s ‘Grenades,’ Claims Israeli People Are ‘United’ Behind His Plan)
We have had considerable success. Today, a Harvard CAPS -Harris poll was published, which shows that 82% of the American public supports Israel, meaning that four out of five US citizens supports Israel and not Hamas.
This will help us continue the campaign until total victory.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 27, 2024
Netanyahu was referencing a Feb. 2024 Harvard CAPS-Harris poll that showed 82 percent of the American public supported Israel over Hamas, and 68 percent of the public thought Israel was trying to avoid civilian casualties in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The poll was conducted from Feb. 21 to Feb. 22 and surveyed 2,022 registered voters.
Netanyahu’s comments appear to be in response to Biden’s remarks Monday, where the president suggested Israel was going to find itself lacking support from other nations on account of its government. “Israel has had the overwhelming support of the vast majority of nations,” Biden said. “If it keeps this up with this incredibly conservative government they have … they’re going to lose support from around the world,” CNN reported.
“In the meantime, there are too many innocent people that are being killed” Biden said, while acknowledging Israel has been slowing down attacks.
Biden has reportedly referred to Netanyahu several times during the course of the Israel-Hamas War as an “asshole.” Biden also said the prime minister had been “a pain in my ass” and “killing me lately,” three people familiar with his comments told NBC News.
Biden hung up on Netanyahu during a heated phone call in December over Israeli concerns that the release of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority would end up in Hamas’ hands, Axios reported. In that same month, Biden reportedly characterized certain Israeli operations in Gaza as “indiscriminate bombing” to donors and warned that Netanyahu ought to replace his own government to regain world support.
Biden’s stance toward Israel has Muslim communities in America displeased with him, and his support among that demographic has dropped since the onset of the war.
Several Muslim leaders appeared in Dearborn, Michigan, a swing state, back in December to voice their ire with the president and come up with plans to stifle his re-election campaign.
“We’re looking into finding ways to build a mechanism of coordination between all the swing states so that we’re constantly working together to ensure that Muslim Americans will come out in all of these states, and that Mr. Biden will lose each and every one of them,” Hassan Abdel Salam, a professor at the University of Minnesota, said during the Dearborn rally.