00:00 The news overseas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu`s push to overhaul the
00:04 nation`s judiciary has not sat well with the White House and allies in Washington, D.C.
00:10 In addition, his government policies against the Palestinians are drawing pushback from
00:15 Washington.
00:16 Yet, though the Prime Minister Netanyahu has never received an invite to visit the U.S.,
00:21 Israeli President Isaac Herzog has filled in the gap and even got the chance to speak
00:25 to a joint session of Congress where he was warmly received and lauded, as Linda Gradstein
00:31 reports from Jerusalem for VOA.
00:36 From the multiple standing ovations during Israeli President Isaac Herzog`s speech to
00:40 the U.S. Congress, it looked like the U.S.-Israel relationship is stronger than ever.
00:46 But Herzog could not ignore the tensions that overshadowed the trip.
00:50 I`m not oblivious to criticism among friends, including some expressed by respected members
00:57 of this house.
00:59 I respect criticism, especially from friends, although one does not always have to accept
01:05 it.
01:06 In his White House meeting with Herzog, President Biden stressed his deep connection to the
01:10 Jewish state, calling the bond unbreakable.
01:14 But the very fact that it was Israel`s president, a symbolic figure and not the actual leader
01:18 of the government, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who was invited to the White House and to
01:23 speak before Congress, reveals the deep tensions between the U.S. and the current Israeli government.
01:29 Only the day before Herzog`s visit and seven months after Netanyahu came back into power
01:34 did President Biden invite Netanyahu to meet at an unspecified time and place.
01:40 In Israel, a prime minister is not a prime minister until he visits the White House.
01:45 And traditionally, this used to happen within weeks of one`s swearing in to the position.
01:54 President Biden has warned Netanyahu about undermining Israeli democracy by pursuing
01:59 a radical reform of Israel`s judicial system without broad public consensus and in the
02:05 face of widespread protests.
02:07 Biden has also voiced concerns about extremists in Netanyahu`s governing coalition.
02:12 The presenting problem in the relationship here is the reform, but I think there are
02:15 much deeper problems.
02:16 The much deeper problems relate to this government`s position toward the Palestinians, toward the
02:23 two-state solution that the United States still upholds, and the presence of ministers
02:29 like Ben Beir and Smuchach, who are utterly unacceptable to this administration and I
02:35 don`t think acceptable to any administration.
02:37 Throughout his visit, President Herzog tried to reassure American leaders that Israeli
02:41 democracy remains strong even if it is currently in turmoil.
02:45 Whether this will be enough to bridge the significant gaps between the Biden and Netanyahu
02:50 government policies remains a question.
02:53 Linda Gradstein for VOA News, Jerusalem.
