ISRAEL’S former prime minister has mocked Joe Biden, suggesting he fell asleep in a meeting with the country’s new leader.
Benjamin Netanyahu mocked the US President after a video of Biden apparently falling asleep while meeting Naftali Bennett went viral.
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Biden was awake for his first meeting seeking to reset US-Israeli relations over Iran’s nuclear advances.
But with his response cropped from the video – viewers now think the President was having a “senile” moment.
Shorter footage of Biden responding to Bennett was shown seconds after the clip had been cut.
In a Facebook video posted by Netanyahu on Sunday, an off-camera voice says: “You know, Bennett met with Biden.”
‘I heard. I heard Biden was attentive during this meeting. “He dropped his head in agreement,” Netanyahu said, dropping his head quickly and letting go of his own head, almost like a person falling asleep.
Netanyahu’s right-wing party, the Likud, have since come to his defense pointing out that the former prime minister was mocking Bennett not Biden.
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“In contrast to the distorted picture that was broadcast in the media, former prime minister Netanyahu wasn’t criticizing President Biden whom he’s known and considered a friend of Israel for 40 years,”
“His criticism was aimed only at Naftali Bennett who, during his visit at the White House, spoke at length about nothing,” the official Twitter account for the party posted.
Biden has a long history of gaffes, and has recently come under fire for slacking in his role as President.
Last week, the President was slammed after he took another long weekend at his beach house despite his administration facing a number of crises.
His decision to go holiday came as he faced a number of problems including the FDA rejecting his push for Covid-19 booster shots, the Pentagon admitting it killed Afghan civilians and France recalling its ambassador.
Biden is still facing questions over the chaotic pull-out of troops from Afghanistan.
The former President, Donald Trump has previously questioned the 77-year-old’s mental capacity as he appears to forget names and make simple errors – even claiming he has “dementia”.
During an emotional speech during Super Tuesday’s results, Biden confused his wife with his sister in March 2020.
A month before the November 2020 election, the Democrat mistook his opponent Trump for former President, George Bush, as he stumbled over his words and said he is fighting against”four more years of George”.
Netanyahu, 71, was largely on the same page as Trump’s Republican predecessor in the Middle East policy.
The 26-minute video covered a wide range of political issues and Netanyahu’s mention of the Biden meeting was only a short segment.
It was nevertheless a short segment that made headlines on Israeli news sites, with many accusing Netanyahu for mocking Biden.
In June, Netanyahu’s 12-year-old administration was overthrown by Bennett’s government, which included left-wing, centreist, right-wing and Arab parties.
Israel’s longest-serving leader, the conservative politician.
Netanyahu is now in opposition and has promised to govern once again.
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