MSNBC anchor Lindsey Reiser asked former Biden White House press secretary and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki how President Joe Biden’s “complicated relationship” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will come into play as the key ally faces what Netanyahu has already described as “war” after Hamas launched a devastating series of surprise attacks on Saturday.

As Reiser noted to Psaki, the attacks by Hamas against Israel come “50 years and one day after the Yom Kippur War,” which she said raises questions about how Israeli and American intelligence were caught off guard. Psaki agreed that this will be a question that has to be answered in the coming days and weeks, but emphasized that the president’s remarks show his commitment to fully supporting Netanyahu at this time.

“It is so important for people, not just in the United States, but around the world in Israel, to see him on camera,” she said. “He had similar sentiments that he stated in those remarks that were already in the written remarks. But that video is so important and standing with Secretary Blinken as well to show we’re on it. We have your back. We support the actions of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israelis at this moment in response to the attacks from Hamas.”

That led to Reiser asking about the “complicated” relationship with Netanyahu, who has faced a barrage of criticism from CNN and MSNBC, as well as Democrats including President Biden in recent months.

“How does the complicated relationship between Netanyahu and Biden play into this as well? We know that while this is an ally of ours in the Middle East, that there has been some some domestic turmoil that President Biden has not been in favor of, for example, judicial overhaul,” said Reiser. “How does that factor in?”

“Well, I would say there are tensions, have had ups and downs, Lindsey, for years,” Psaki said before adding that “we will see” if Biden’s “decades-long relationship” with Netanyahu is or is not “helpful.”

PSAKI: Remember when the president was the vice president and he planned a trip to Israel? Prime Minister Netanyahu at the time announced additional building in the West Bank at the time? So there have been ups and downs in that relationship and a great deal of tension over the course of time.

At the same time, Prime Minister Netanyahu is someone that President Biden has known for literally decades. And if you even go back to 2021, that relationship and the ability to have those open conversations definitely played a role in resolving that conflict, which is different. But my point is that despite the tensions, that long, decades-long relationship could be a helpful factor here. We will see.

Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.

The post ‘There Are Tensions’: Jen Psaki Asked On MSNBC How Biden’s Feelings About Netanyahu’s ‘Domestic Turmoil’ Factor In After Hamas Attack first appeared on Mediaite.

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