White House spokesperson John Kirby called Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's assertion that President Joe Biden prefers "the line of" Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "offensive."

“I can’t think of anything more offensive or incorrect," Kirby told Channel 12 News correspondent Yonit Levy.

"The President has been clear since the 7th of October when Mr. Sinwar, and I'm glad we're talking about him by name, when he decided to violate a ceasefire that was in place on the 6th of October and slaughtered 1,200 Israelis," he continued.

"From that moment on, President Biden has been in full support of the Israeli people and the Israeli state's right and responsibility to defend itself and its citizens from any further attack. Hamas has made clear that they'd like nothing better than to conduct another slaughter like they did on the 7th of October, and that's why we're continuing to support in their self-defense needs," he said.

Ben-Gvir said in an interview with the New York Times published yesterday, “Presently, Biden prefers the line of Rashida Tlaib and Sinwar to the line of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir."

“I would have expected the president of the United States not to take their line, but rather to take ours,” he said, adding that Biden was “enormously mistaken” in attempting to pressure Israel.

According to Ben-Gvir, Biden has “constantly sought to impose restrictions on Israel and talks about the rights of the other side, who include, I remind you, many terrorists who want to destroy us."