Netanyahu to meet with Harris and Biden at crucial moment for US and Israel

WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a long-awaited visit to the White House on Thursday to meet the president Joe Biden and likely Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris at an important moment for all three politicians.

Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, his first since his former presidency Donald Trump left office in 2020 comes as pressure mounts on all three states to find an endgame in the nine-month war that has lasted more than 39,000 dead in Gaza. Moreover, dozens of Israeli hostages – and the remains of others who died in captivity – continue to languish in Hamas captivity.

Biden pushes to get Israel and Hamas to reach a deal his proposal to release the remaining hostages in Gaza in three phases – something that would be an achievement that cements the legacy of the 81-year-old Democrat, gave up his re-election bid earlier this week and endorsed Harris. It could also be a boon for Harris in her bid to succeed him.

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

After their noon talks, Biden and Netanyahu will meet with the families of the American hostages.

Harris, who will speak separately to Netanyahu later, is trying to show she has the courage to serve as commander in chief. She is also facing scrutiny from those on the political left who say Biden has not done enough to force Netanyahu to end the war and from Republicans who want to brand her as inadequate in her support for Israel.

A senior administration official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said there is “no distance between the president and the vice president” on Israel. Harris’ last one-on-one conversation with Netanyahu took place in March 2021, but she has participated in more than 20 phone calls between Biden and Netanyahu.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, is trying to navigate his own delicate political moment. He is under pressure from the families of hostages who are demanding a ceasefire to bring their loved ones home and from far-right members of his governing coalition who are demanding that he oppose any deal that would prevent Israeli forces from taking out Hamas.

Netanyahu, in a fiery speech before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, offered a robust defense of Israel’s conduct during the war and slammed International Criminal Court allegations of Israeli war crimes. He argued that Israel, in its fight against the Iranian-backed Hamas, effectively “kept American boots on the ground while protecting our shared interests in the Middle East.” The Israeli leader spent little time discussing the ongoing negotiations.

“Remember this: Our enemies are your enemies,” Netanyahu told U.S. lawmakers. “Our struggle, it is your struggle. And our victory will be your victory.”

Netanyahu used his speech to praise Biden for his administration’s support after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. But Netanyahu also went out of his way to note actions Trump took during his four years in office that benefited Israel, including recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, confronting Iran’s aggression and moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Netanyahu will travel to Florida on Friday to Meeting Trump.

Netanyahu also lashed out at protesters who gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, calling them Iran’s “useful idiots.” The U.S. Secret Service has beefed up security at the White House ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, erecting additional fencing and barriers around the White House campus.

Trump and his Republican allies criticized Harris, who held rallies in Indiana and Texas on Wednesday, for skipping Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.

The vice president is the presiding officer of the Senate and would normally co-chair such an event with the speaker of the House. But there have been other instances in recent history where the vice president has skipped such speeches. Biden, as vice president, skipped a speech Netanyahu gave 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 Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, who hosted a news conference with fellow Senate Republicans that focused largely on Harris’ absence from the speech. “It’s a disgrace.”

White House officials said her absence was not an insult and was due only to scheduling issues. Harris spoke to the historically black sorority Wednesday, Zeta Phi Betabefore flying to Houston to speak at the American Federation of Teachers on Thursday. Senator JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee also skipped the campaign speech.

“The vice president has been unwavering in her commitment to Israel’s security,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

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

She also spoke about her personal ties to Israel, including memories of raising money to plant trees in Israel as a child, placing a mezuzah on the front door of the vice president’s Washington residence (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 aligned with Biden throughout the conflict, but she has also occasionally championed tougher Biden administration rhetoric toward Israel.

She delivered a high-profile speech in Selma, Alabama, in March — a day before meeting Netanyahu rival and Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz — to criticize Palestinians who are “starving” in “inhumane” conditions and to urge Israel to do more to alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza.

Last year was Israel Secretary of State Eli Cohen criticized Harris after appearing to gently rebuke Netanyahu’s planned overhaul of the country’s judiciary. Speaking at an Israeli embassy in Washington, Harris said shared values ​​were “the bedrock of the U.S.-Israel relationship” and that democracies were “built on strong institutions, checks and balances, and, I might add, an independent judiciary.”

Cohen questioned whether Harris had even read the bills in question. He said, “I can tell you that if you ask her what bothers her about the reform, she’s not going to be able to tell you.”

Critics of Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza will also be watching Harris’ interactions with Netanyahu and what she has to say about the conflict in the coming days.

Voters in electoral battlegrounds where anger over Gaza has become a key issue are waiting to see whether Harris will “turn the page on Biden’s disastrous policies,” said Layla Elabed, a leader of the “non-committed” movement of voters who threatened to withhold his support from Biden over Gaza.

“We hope Harris does the right thing to save lives and save our democracy and uphold U.S. international law,” Elabed said.