Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted fiercely to President Biden’s harsh criticism on Wednesday over his government’s divisive plan to revamp the judiciary, saying that Israel was “a sovereign country” that would make its own decisions.

Netanyahu’s opponents in Israel accused him of endangering the long-standing and crucial relationship with the US, which could harm the country’s ability to face difficult security challenges, such as Iran’s nuclear ambitions, as weeks of quiet diplomatic pressure burst into a rare open dispute between the allies.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Netanyahu stated, “I have known President Biden for over 40 years, and I appreciate his longstanding commitment to Israel.” He further added, “Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”

When Biden told reporters that he was “very concerned” about the events in Israel, Netanyahu made his remarks, which were initially released by his office at the uncommon hour of around 1 am in Israel. The US ambassador to Israel said on Tuesday that Netanyahu might be welcome in Washington at some point, which prompted the President to make his remarks.

But Biden made it clear that there is no plan for any such invitation in the near term and also said that “They cannot continue down this road — I’ve sort of made that clear. Hopefully, the Prime Minister will act in a way that he can try to work out some genuine compromise, but that remains to be seen.”