PM Netanyahu meets Biden, Harris at crucial moment for US, Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House Thursday to discuss the war in Gaza with President Joe Biden and likely Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at an important moment for all three politicians.

Netanyahu's first White House visit since 2020, when former President Donald Trump was in office, comes at a time of growing pressure to find an endgame to the nine-month war that's left more than 39,000 dead in Gaza. Dozens of Israeli hostages are still languishing in Hamas captivity.

Biden greeted Netanyahu in the Oval Office, where the Israeli leader thanked the president for his service.

 

The conservative Likud Party leader Netanyahu and centrist Democrat Biden have had ups-and-downs over the years. Netanyahu, in what could be his last White House meeting with Biden, reflected on the roughly 40 years they've known each other.

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, Netanyahu told Biden at the start of their meeting.

Biden thanked Netanyahu and joked that his first meeting with an Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, in 1973 soon after he was elected to the Senate came when he was only 12.
 

Biden planned to use the meeting in part to press Israel and Hamas to seal a US-backed proposal to release remaining hostages in Gaza over three phases something that would be a legacy-affirming achievement for the 81-year-old Democrat, who abandoned his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. It could also be a boon for Harris in her bid to succeed him.

White House officials say the negotiations are in the closing stages but there are issues that need to be resolved.

Following their talks, Biden and Netanyahu will meet the families of American hostages.

Harris, who will meet separately with Netanyahu later, is trying to demonstrate that she has the mettle to serve as commander in chief. She's being scrutinised by those on the political left who say Biden hasn't done enough to force Netanyahu to end the war and by Republicans looking to brand her as insufficient in her support for Israel.

A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said there is no daylight between the president and vice president" on Israel. Harris' last one-on-one engagement with Netanyahu was in March 2021, but she's taken part in more than 20 calls between Biden and Netanyahu.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, is trying to navigate his own delicate political moment. He faces pressure from the families of hostages demanding a cease-fire agreement to bring their loved ones home and from far-right members of his governing coalition who demand he resist any deal that could keep Israeli forces from eliminating Hamas.

Netanyahu, in a fiery address before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, offered a robust defense of Israel's conduct during the war and lashed out against accusations by the International Criminal Court of Israeli war crimes. He made the case that Israel, in its fight against Iran-backed Hamas, was effectively keeping Americans boots off the ground while protecting our shared interests in the Middle East. The Israeli leader spent scant time discussing the ongoing negotiations.

Remember this: Our enemies are your enemies, Netanyahu told American lawmakers. Our fight, it's your fight. And our victory will be your victory.

Netanyahu used his speech to praise Biden for his administration's support in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. But Netanyahu also went out of his way to note action that Trump took during his four years in office took that benefited Israel, including recognising Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, confronting Iran's aggression and moving the U.S Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Netanyahu is set to travel to Florida on Friday to meet with Trump.

Netanyahu also slammed protesters who massed near the US Capitol on Wednesday, calling them Iran's useful idiots. The Secret Service beefed up security at the White House ahead of Netanyahu's visit, erecting additional fencing and barriers near the White House campus.

Harris on Thursday said she was outraged that some protesters tagged areas near the US Capitol with pro-Hamas graffiti, expressed support for the militants and burned a US flag at Union Station.

Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation, Harris said in a statement. I condemn the burning of the American flag. That flag is a symbol of our highest ideals as a nation and represents the promise of America. It should never be desecrated in that way.

Protesters on Thursday massed near the White House ahead of Netanyahu's arrival. The protesters chanted, Arrest Netanyahu, and brought in an effigy of the prime minister with blood on its hands and wearing an orange jumpsuit. A small number of counter-protesters wore Israeli flags around their shoulders.

Trump and his Republican allies criticised Harris, who had events in Indiana and Texas on Wednesday, for skipping Netanyahu's address to Congress.

The vice president is the president of the Senate and would typically co-preside over such an event with the House speaker, Republican Mike Johnson. But there have been other instances in recent history when the vice president has skipped such addresses. Biden, as vice president, skipped an address Netanyahu made to Congress in 2015.

Harris should be here whether she likes the prime minister of Israel or not, whether she respects him or not, she should be here, said Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who organised a news conference with fellow Senate Republicans that largely focused on Harris' absence from the speech. It is a disgrace.

White House officials said that her absence wasn't a slight and was solely due to scheduling conflicts. Harris spoke on Wednesday to the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta before flying to Houston ahead of an address to the American Federation of Teachers on Thursday. Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, also skipped the speech to campaign.

Harris has long spoken of her strong support for Israel. The first overseas trip of her Senate career in early 2017 was to Israel, and one of her first acts in office was to introduce a resolution opposing a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel.

She's also spoken of her personal ties to Israel, including memories of raising money as a child to plant trees in Israel, installing a mezuzah near the front door of the vice president's residence in Washington (her husband is Jewish) and her connections to pro-Israel groups including the conservative American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the liberal J Street.

Harris has largely been in lockstep with Biden throughout the conflict, but at moments she's been a front-runner for tougher Biden administration rhetoric on Israel.

She used a high-profile address in March in Selma, Alabama, a day before she met with Netanyahu rival and Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz to decry Palestinians starving in the face of inhumane conditions and to urge Israel to do more to alleviate civilian suffering in Gaza.