David Friedman, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, said it's "despicable" and "insanity" that President Joe Biden will not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Friedman, who served during the Trump administration, made his comments on "The Caroline Glick Show" podcast.
Asked about Biden refusing to meet with Netanyahu, Friedman said: "I think it's the fault of the Jewish community. I think we are encouraging this. This idea that Biden can get away with not meeting with Netanyahu … we're sanitizing this.
"We're making it kosher because we, ourselves as the Jewish community in America, are making it perfectly fine not to meet with Netanyahu. And to me it's insanity. On one hand we preach about democracy and how important it is, and we refuse to meet with Israel's democratic leaders. It's just rank hypocrisy.
"You can disagree with their policies all day long, but not to meet with them and afford to them the recognition that they're entitled as ministers of the Israeli government is despicable."
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., vowed to invite Netanyahu to Capitol Hill in Washington if Biden continues to refuse a White House meeting, The Jerusalem Post reported.
"It's been too long," McCarthy told the Hebrew daily Israel Hayom on the first day of his two-day trip to Israel in early May. "If that doesn't happen, I'll invite the prime minister to come meet with the House. He's a dear friend, as a prime minister of a country that we have our closest ties with."
Biden has said he had no plans to host Netanyahu. It was viewed as criticism of a controversial push by Netanyahu's government to gain greater control over the Israeli Supreme Court.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.