Ongoing efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza will take center stage during Israeli Prime Minister’s scheduled meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, according to administration officials.
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that ceasefire talks were on the final stretch. The president and prime minister will try to close some “final gaps,” he said. “We believe it’s in the closing stages and a deal is closeable.”
He reiterated comments by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who said on July 19 that a hostage-for-ceasefire deal would be the “overriding focus” of the meeting.
Biden himself in his Wednesday speech announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race signaled that bringing a halt to fighting in Gaza would remain a top priority for his remaining tenure.
“I’m going to keep working to end the war on Gaza, bring home all the hostages, to bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war,” he said.
Netanyahu will ask that any ceasefire deal include written assurance that Israel can resume fighting until it meets its war objectives, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu said that the ceasefire plan Israel had agreed to with the United States would allow Israel to retrieve the hostages “without infringing on the other objectives of the war.”
The prime minister has stated those objectives as victory over Hamas, ensuring that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel, returning the hostages and returning northern residents safely to their homes.
Netanyahu is also expected to discuss Iran’s role in backing Hamas, Hezbollah and other terror groups.
During his address to Congress on Wednesday, the Israeli premier said, “In the Middle East, Iran is virtually behind all the terrorism, all the turmoil, all the chaos, all the killing.”
Citing U.S. intelligence, he said Iran was also funding the antisemitic and anti-Israel protests in the United States.
Netanyahu and Biden will reportedly also discuss his proposal for a regional defense alliance, which he touched on in his address to Congress.
The alliance would build on existing ties brought about via the Abraham Accords, he said. He pointed to the U.S. and “more than half a dozen nations” successfully foiling Iran’s April 14 missile attack on Israel as a “glimpse of that potential alliance.”
Thursday’s meeting will mark the first time Biden has hosted Netanyahu at the White House since the longtime Israeli premier returned to office following the Jewish state’s November 2022 election.
The two leaders met in September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Netanyahu is also scheduled to meet on Thursday with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden has endorsed for the Democratic nomination.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump plans to host Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday, the Republican presidential candidate said on Tuesday.
“Looking forward to welcoming Bibi Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump stated. “During my first term, we had peace and stability in the region, even signing the historic Abraham Accords, and we will have it again,” he added.
Before his speech Wednesday, Netanyahu met with leaders of both houses of Congress, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Also participating on the Israeli side: Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, prime minister’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman, Israeli National Security Council chief of staff Tzachi Hanegbi and Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog.