By Athena Papakosta

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected US President Joe Biden’s proposal to abandon the reform of Israel’s judicial system, stressing that his country can make its own decisions.

This is a rare case of public confrontation between two leaders – allies after the changes sought by the government coalition of the Israeli prime minister in the country’s judicial system.

When the American president was asked by reporters what he hoped to do, Mr. Netanyahu replied that he hoped to abandon the controversial reform, adding that Israel’s government “cannot continue on the same path.”

Benjamin Netanyahu reacted and emphasized via Twitter that “Israel is a sovereign state that makes decisions based on the will of its people and not on the basis of pressure from abroad, even if they come from the best of friends.” At the same time, one of his government partners, the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, said in a radio interview that “Israel is not yet a star on the American flag.”

However, Israel’s former prime minister and current opposition leader, Yair Lapid, who maintains a good relationship with Joe Biden, wrote on Twitter that “for decades, Israel has been America’s closest ally” to add that “in in three months the most extreme right-wing government in the history of the country destroyed this”.

On the same wavelength, the head of the “National Unity” party, Benny Gantz, who in turn “tweeted” that Biden’s position is an urgent wake-up call, adding that “the destruction of our ties with the United States, our closest friend and of our most important ally, is a strategic blow”.

For three months now, since Netanyahu has returned to the prime minister’s office, he has been waiting for an invitation from the White House but, for now, it has not come. When the US president was asked to answer a related question, he said that he would not invite him “immediately”.

Analysts comment that Washington’s stance looks like an assessment test of how satisfied or not the White House is with the Israeli prime minister himself and with the far-right governing coalition he has formed to rule the country. In particular, Middle School Institute researcher Nimrod Goren notes that “the White House appears to be questioning Netanyahu’s ability as prime minister and whether he is trustworthy.”

Relations between Netanyahu and Washington are not being tested for the first time. There have been several conflicts with former US President Barack Obama – and Vice President Joe Biden – over both Israel’s stance towards the Palestinians and the Iranian nuclear issue.

We remind you that in 2015 Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to the United States Congress, betrayed Washington’s trust by calling – behind its back but also in its… house – for the United States not to proceed with an agreement with Iran on the nuclear of the program.

Today, Israel is experiencing one of the worst political crises in its history with popular mobilization unprecedented and this public anger forcing Netanyahu to freeze until Passover his controversial reform which, according to its critics , will increase the power of parliamentarians over judges.

Last night Netanyahu speaking at the US Democracy Summit tried to calm spirits by saying that “the United States and Israel have occasional differences but their ties are strong.” For his part, the spokesman for the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said that “the wonderful thing about a friendship is that you can be so honest with each other.”

Tones have fallen, at least publicly, but the gap remains as Kirby spoke of honesty rather than changing Washington’s stance on justice reform being pushed by Netanyahu’s coalition. American skepticism remains visible and the Israeli prime minister has added yet another problem to his already loaded list.