Biden jokes he was '12' when he first met Israeli PM Golda Meir during Netanyahu visit to White House

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Biden jokes he was '12' when he first met Israeli PM Golda Meir during Netanyahu visit to the White House

The president discussed his long history with Israeli prime ministers in a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday.

While meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office Thursday, President Biden joked that he has known leaders from the Jewish state as far back as his childhood. 

"Mr. President," Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting, "we've known each other for 40 years. And you've known every Israeli prime minister for 50 years from Golda Meir. So, from a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish-American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the State of Israel. And I look forward to discussing with you today and working with you in the months ahead on the great issues before us."

Biden answered, "I look forward to as well. By the way, that first meeting with Prime Minister Golda Meir, she had an assistant sitting next to me, a guy named Rabin. That's how far back it goes. I was only 12 then. Anyway, thank you all for being here." 

Biden was referring to Yitzhak Rabin, who served as prime minister of Israel from 1974-1977 and again from 1992 until he was assassinated in 1995. 

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While meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office Thursday, President Biden joked that he has been meeting with leaders from the Jewish state as far back as his childhood.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Biden actually met with Meir and Rabin in 1973, when he was a 30-year-old senator, a story he's told frequently. Three years ago, he incorrectly claimed he was a "liaison" between Israel and Egypt during the Six-Day War, which occurred in 1967, when he was still in law school. 

"I have known every, every prime minister well since Golda Meir, including Golda Meir," Biden said during a menorah lighting in 2021. "And during the Six-Day War, I had an opportunity to, she invited me to come over because I was going to be the liaison between she and the Egyptians about the Suez."

He actually met with Meir just prior to the October 1973 Yom Kippur War.

"And I sat in front of her desk," he added at the time. "And she had a guy, her staff member, to my right. His name was Rabin. And she kept flipping those maps up and down. She had that bevy of maps, sort of kept it, and it was, it was so depressing what she was, about what happened. She gave me every detail."

Biden's team confirmed to Fox News Digital Thursday he was joking about his age. 

Both leaders ignored reporters’ shouted questions about a potential cease-fire and the anti-Israel protests after the brief meeting. 

Netanyahu’s address to Congress Wednesday led to anti-Israel protests in the capital, with some marching through the streets shouting "Free Palestine" and others waving Hamas flags, burning the American flag and painting graffiti.

A Christopher Columbus statue outside Union Station was tagged with the warning "Hamas is coming." 

Netanyahu slammed the demonstrators during his address, calling them "Iran's useful idiots."

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the chamber of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol July 24, 2024, in Washington, D.C.  (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

"I have a message for these protesters. When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you, you have officially become Iran's useful idiots," Netanyahu said.

"Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming ‘Gays for Gaza.’ They might as well hold up signs saying ‘Chickens for KFC.’ These protesters chant ‘From the river to the sea.’ But many don't have a clue what river and what sea they're talking about."

A person spray-paints the base of the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain as pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest near the U.S. Capitol during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's joint meeting of Congress July 24, 2024, in Washington, D.C.  (Andrew Thomas/AFP via Getty Images)

He addressed a nearly full House chamber, which included members of Congress and special guests like freed Israeli hostages who were taken by Hamas Oct. 7 and billionaire Elon Musk, among others.

Among those in the chamber was Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Israel's harshest critic in the House of Representatives. Tlaib has called for Netanyahu to be arrested by the International Criminal Court. She staged a silent protest for much of his speech, holding a double-sided sign that said "guilty of genocide" on one side and "war criminal" on the other.

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The Biden administration is also planning to discuss a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza as the war continues. 

Fox News' Chris Pandolfo, Elizabeth Elkind and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.