After four months of disconnect, Netanyahu speaks with Biden by phone, finally receives US invite

It's been seven months since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reassumed office and only now has he received the long-awaited invitation from U.S. President Joe Biden to have a meeting “soon."

According to the Prime Minister's Office on Monday, Netanyahu has already accepted the invitation that came just a few hours prior to Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s departure to Washington. 

Herzog is scheduled to meet with Biden at the White House on Tuesday at 1:10 p.m. EST and deliver a speech to Congress on Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST.

The Israeli president's invitation to Washington to mark 75 years since the establishment of the State of Israel, was scheduled a long time ago. The invitation was first extended by former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and was renewed by current speaker, Kevin McCarthy.

Nevertheless, the fact that Herzog is visiting the U.S. Capitol before the Israeli prime minister underscores the rift between Biden and Netanyahu. 

The two leaders spoke on the phone for the first time in four months on Monday and marked the third time they've spoken since Netanyahu reassumed office in December. Their conversation was “warm and long,” according to Netanyahu’s office.

The Prime Minister's Office said the call focused on the strong alliance between the United States and Israel, the Iranian nuclear threat, expanding the circle of peace in the Middle East and recent efforts to calm and stabilize the volatile situation in the West Bank. 

In addition, Netanyahu debriefed Biden on legislation around the judicial reform as his coalition is set to advance the Reasonableness Standard Bill for final a final vote next week. Netanyahu expressed his intention to try to reach a broad public consensus on other aspects of the reform process. 

The Biden administration has been critical of the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul plan. Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides revealed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he called on Netanyahu to “tap the brakes, slow down” and seek consensus with opposition lawmakers.

One week ago, when Biden was asked by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria about inviting the Israeli prime minister to the White House, he referred to Netanyahu's cabinet as “one of the most extreme’ he has ever seen in Israel. 

Against this backdrop, Israeli media outlets reported that Netanyahu’s meeting with Biden could potentially happen in September – on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York – and not necessarily at the White House, a point not mentioned in the Israeli readout of the call. 

"The Prime Minister responded positively to the invitation and it was agreed that the Israeli and U.S. teams would coordinate the details of the meeting," read the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Last week, New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman wrote that Biden would “inevitably” reassess the U.S.-Israel relationship. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal's editorial board accused Biden of treating Netanyahu worse than Iran.