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

While meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on 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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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 incorrectly claiming 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