US President Joe Biden on Tuesday commented on the recent goings on in Israel.
“Like many strong supporters of Israel, I'm very concerned. I'm concerned that they get this straight. They cannot continue down this road. I've sort of made that clear,” said Biden, according to a CNN report.
Biden also added he will not be inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in the near term.
Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council commented on US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides' statement that Netanyahu would soon be invited to the White House to meet Biden.
“As Ambassador Nides said, there is no plan for Prime Minister Netanyahu to visit Washington. Israeli leaders have a long tradition of visiting Washington, and Prime Minister Netanyahu will likely visit at some point," the official said.
Nides was interviewed on Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) following Netanyahu's announcement that the government's planned judicial reform legislation would be frozen until the next Knesset session.
"I slept well last night," Nides said. "I congratulate the Prime Minister on the announcement. As President Biden has said several times, we are in favor of compromise and dialogue."
He said that Netanyahu will be invited to the White House in the near future. "He will obviously come and I'm sure it will be relatively soon, I guess after Passover. There is no question whether he will come and meet Biden. They have been friends for 40 years."
On Monday, the White House welcomed Netanyahu’s announcement that the legislation of the judicial reform will be paused for the time being.
"We welcome this announcement as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, according to AFP. "A compromise is precisely what we have been calling for."
"Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support," she added.
Meanwhile, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the United States remains concerned about the situation in Israel and President Joe Biden has shared his concerns about a proposed judicial reform directly with Netanyahu.
"We remain concerned by the recent developments," Kirby said, as quoted by Reuters, adding that Israel had been invited to a US-organized Summit for Democracy later this week.
Kirby added that Biden has been "very forthright" with Netanyahu about his concerns. Asked if Biden was worried that Israel would devolve into civil war, Kirby said he was not.