Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, during an interview with Channel 13 on Sunday, discussed the lull in the relations between Israel and the US and stated that, in his opinion, President Biden must invite Prime Minister Netanyahu to the White House.
"I think that it's imperative that Netanyahu and Biden meet. It makes no sense that the leaders of the two countries won't meet and won't talk to each other, certainly at a time when we are working on very significant things. I think the administration understands the need for a meeting, and I believe it will happen," Herzog stated.
He added, "there was a good conversation between the Prime Minister and President Biden. During the conversation, they agreed to meet soon. We have been working on such a meeting for a while, there were such and such delays."
Herzog also denied reports that President Biden demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stop the judicial reform legislation during the phone conversation between the two.
"I did not hear a call from the administration during a diplomatic conversation to stop the legislation but more of a request to make an effort to reach a public consensus in Israel, they aren't really getting into the details of the legislation in Israel, and they aren't getting into the conversation with us what the limits to the reasonableness standard should be."
The ambassador was also asked about the possibility of normalizing ties with Saudi Arabia and answered: "From what I hear from the administration, it's not that they think incidents in Israel would for sure kill this move, but there is a fear that certain developments - a security escalation or incidents in other realms, would negatively affect the ability to reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia.