(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) President Joe Biden gave a startling response Tuesday after a reporter asked him about a potential hostage deal during a White House meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Neria Kraus, an anchorwoman at NewsIsrael13, posted video of her exchange with Biden, who questioned whether a mass of cameras behind her could hit her in the head.
“President Biden, do you think that you can get a hostage deal by the end of your term?” Kraus asked the lame duck president, who leaves office in 69 days.
“Do you think you could get hit in the head by the camera behind you?” Biden mumbled back in a response that, if not for its flat delivery, might have been an attempt to humorously avoid giving a direct answer.
I asked President Biden if he thinks that he can get a hostage deal done by the end of his term. He answered, commenting on the number of cameramen in the room: “do you think that you can get hit in the head by the camera behind you?” pic.twitter.com/B3DCJoHdaw
— Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) November 12, 2024
Kraus’s post noted that Biden was “commenting on the number of the cameramen in the room.”
Herzog considered his one-hour meeting with Biden to be “very productive,” CBS News reported.
The Israeli president told reporters in an exchange after the meeting that the Biden administration will continue to work toward “peace and stability” in Israel until Jan. 20.
“President Biden was very gracious, very open, very friendly, and we had an open and frank discussion,” Herzog said. “And the most important thing out of this discussion is, of course, the commitment of President Biden and the administration to work until Jan. 20, until the last minute, to achieve goals that are so important to peace and stability, and predominantly, security and security of the state of Israel in the Middle East.”
When the two met in the Oval Office, Herzog gifted Biden an artifact from the foot of Temple Mount in Jerusalem, according to the outlet.
Herzog described Iran as an “evil empire” after speaking of the death of two Israelis killed in Nahariya by rockets fired from Lebanon.
“First and foremost we have to get the hostages back,” Herzog said.
That afternoon, Republican President-elect Donald Trump announced the selection of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as the incoming U.S. ambassador to Israel.
🚨STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP pic.twitter.com/QRiV2J7Ef8
— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) November 12, 2024
“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years,” Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.