War Cabinet member and the chairman of the National Unity Party, Minister Benny Gantz, will fly to Washington on Sunday for a series of meetings, but did not coordinate his trip with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ynet reported on Friday.
Sources close to Netanyahu clarified that Gantz’s trip is taking place without the Prime Minister's approval, and contrary to the government regulations, which requires "every minister to approve his travel in advance with the Prime Minister, including approval of the travel plan."
"The Prime Minister made it clear to Minister Gantz that the State of Israel has only one Prime Minister," the sources said, according to Ynet.
This visit comes at a particularly interesting time, as the negotiations for a hostage release deal are ongoing, and in the wake of reports in the US that the Biden administration is losing patience with Netanyahu's conduct in the war.
Recent reports claimed that President Joe Biden has been vulgarly letting out his frustration with his failure to convince Israel to change its military tactics in Gaza.
According to some sources, Biden referred to Netanyahu as “this guy." In at least three recent instances, Biden has called Netanyahu an “a**hole,” according to three of the people directly familiar with his comments.
Previously, Politico reported that Biden had privately called Netanyahu a “bad f***ing guy”.
Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates denied the report and stated: “The president did not say that, nor would he.”
Those reports followed an NBC News report which said that the Biden administration is laying the groundwork with other Israeli leaders in anticipation of a post-Netanyahu government.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)