Israel’s former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested during a Facebook video posted on Sunday that US President Joe Biden had fallen asleep when meeting the new Israeli leader Naftali Bennett last month.
A Reuters fact check previously debunked the thought that Biden dozed off, after social media users shared a video clip of the US president that they said showed him looking down and nodding off as Bennett spoke within the Oval Office .
The clip that was shared around was misleadingly cropped, consistent with the Reuters fact check. Seconds after the clip was cut, longer footage showed Biden skilled Bennett.
In a video Netanyahu posted on his Facebook page on Sunday, an off-camera voice says: “You know, Bennett met with Biden.”
“I heard. I heard that Biden was very attentive at this meeting. He dropped his head in agreement,” Netanyahu replied, letting his own head fall during a swift motion, as if to mimic someone falling asleep.
Netanyahu, 71, and head of the right-wing Likud party, was largely in lockstep with the center East policies of Democrat Biden’s Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
Netanyahu’s regard to the Biden meeting was a quick segment during a nearly 26-minute video that touched on a spread of political issues. But it drew headlines on Israeli news websites, several of which accused Netanyahu of mocking Biden.
In June, a replacement government of left-wing, centrist, right-wing and Arab parties led by Bennett replaced Netanyahu’s administration, ending the conservative politician’s 12-year run as Israel’s longest-serving leader.
