Joe Biden suddenly decided it was time to phone Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu after he had put the kibosh on the creation of a Palestinian state this week after the war in Gaza is over. It had been a month since the two had a call with each other.

After the phone call, Biden suggested that Netanyahu was still open to the creation of a Palestinian state:

US President Joe Biden on Friday said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about possible solutions for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, suggesting one path could involve a non-militarized government.

Biden’s call with Netanyahu was the first in nearly a month, the White House said, noting the discussions focused on Israel’s ongoing strikes in Gaza.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with US mayors, Biden said Netanyahu was not opposed to all two-state solutions, and there were several types possible, noting that some United Nations members do not have military forces.

Biden was asked if he would reconsider conditions on Israel aid given Netanyahu’s comments rejecting a two-state solution.

“I think we’ll be able to work something out … I think there are ways in which this could work,” he said.

But this morning Netanyahu’s office pushed back on Biden’s comments by releasing a statement saying that Israel must maintain control of Gaza and thus there won’t be Palestinian sovereignty. In other words, no Palestinian state:

“In his conversation last night with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu repeated his consistent position for years, which he also expressed at a press conference the day before: after the elimination of Hamas, Israel must remain in full security control of the Gaza Strip to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, and this conflicts with the demand for Palestinian sovereignty.”

As I’ve said all along, Biden will quickly become an enemy to Netanyahu and Israel when they refuse to leave Gaza and create a Palestinian state. And it’s already starting to happen.