Joe Biden and “Bibi Netanyahu,” Bob Woodward reveals the president’s views on Israel’s war and its prime minister

According to excerpts published by CNN, which received a copy of Bob Woodward’s book War ahead of its scheduled release on October 15, Joe Biden expressed several inflammatory remarks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or “Bibi Netanyahu”, as he likes to call him.

“What’s your strategy, man?” Biden asked Netanyahu during an April phone call, Woodward reports.

“We have to go into Rafah,” Netanyahu said.

“Bibi, you’ve got no strategy.” Biden responded.

– from @realBobWoodward‘s upcoming “War” https://t.co/JZh83WMhy4

— Shalom Lipner (@ShalomLipner) October 8, 2024

Woodward claims that Joe Biden expressed comments about Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to one of his aides in a private conversation. Some of his remarks are said to have taken place in the spring of 2024, as Israel’s war in Gaza escalated.

In his book, Bob Woodward describes the extremely complex relationship between Biden and Netanyahu, especially after the barbaric attack of October 7, 2023, in which more than 1,200 men, women and children, including 46 Americans, were killed by Hamas, and Netanyahu’s initiation of the war on Gaza.

During a discussion between the two leaders in April, Joe Biden reportedly asked Netanyahu about his strategy regarding the conflict.

The Prime Minister reportedly replied that Rafah had to be entered, and Biden retorted: “Bibi, you don’t have a plan”.

While, according to Woodward, Biden managed to curb some of Netanyahu’s offensives in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel, he reportedly grew frustrated that the Israeli prime minister would act despite his advice to do nothing.

He reportedly called Netanyahu a “liar” in a private conversation after the latter decided to enter Rafah.

In another trade, Biden is also said to have referred to the world’s growing perception of Netanyahu in the face of the brutal intensity of the conflict, declaring “Bibi, what the f*ck?” and recalling that the world’s perception of Israel is increasingly that of a “rogue actor“.

According to another private conversation described in the book, Joe Biden said of Netanyahu:

“That son of a b*tch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad f*cking guy!”

The book War by Bob Woodward, the investigative journalist renowned for exposing the Watergate scandal that led to Richard Nixon’s resignation, will be available from October 15.

It also reveals a great deal about Donald Trump… but we’ll come back to that later.