JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold talks with the United States President Joe Biden in Washington on Tuesday, his office said Sunday.
Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday at 12 p.m.”
The prime minister was due to give a landmark address before the US Congress on Wednesday as he battled growing demands that Israel promptly agree to end its war with Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, will break a tie with England’s Winston Churchill by addressing the two chambers for a fourth time — which no foreign leader has done before.
However, analysts say that tensions generated by the Gaza war between Israel and its principal military and diplomatic backer might not be so easily smoothed over.
Many families of the Israelis seized by Hamas also staged protests in Israel, further complicating Netanyahu’s position at home and apparently prompting Washington to fret that a mounting civilian death toll on Gaza would fuel anger there.
Biden and Israeli ministers suggest a mediator deal with Qatar, Egypt and the US In May, one plan put forward outlined a six-week ceasefire followed by the return of some Israeli prisoners in exchange for Palestinians jailed in Israel.
“Those negotiations are down to the short strokes,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday. “They’re in those last final, 10 yards and driving toward the goal line.”
But Hamas has said Netanyahu is looking to scuttle a deal and Blinken says he wishes “to land the agreement — when Prime Minister Bennett comes back [to Washington].
Netanyahu cautioned that an anticipated meeting with US President Joe Biden was still “not set in stone.”
Netanyahu for his part has been talking about a military solution all along, claiming that only imposing further pressure on Hamas can help to extract the hostages and defeat their captors this way.
‘Far from holding it up, this dual pressure is speeding the deal along,’ Netanyahu told troops in Gaza on Thursday.
Another 85,284 people have been wounded in Gaza and about two-thirds of the dead were civilians and only a handful militants — numbers that Hamas also quoted.
Biden itself maintains a public commitment to Israel. But he had stepped up Zotz in May, accrediting an offencive on the southern city of Riffah and suspending for a while deliveries oh heavy bombs to Israel. For instance, supplies of 2,000-pound bombs are embargoed.
The mood was so tense that Middle East analyst Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations said, “Never before has the atmosphere been so fraught.
In a commentary, Cook said: “There is clearly tension in the relationship – particularly between the White House and Israeli prime minister”@
Republicans in the US forced an invitation for Netanyahu to address Congress, but he is losing ground with Democrats.
“Democrat Brian Schatz of Hawaii, one of the Jews in the Senate, said he would boycott Wednesday’s speech, “I refuse to sit and listen to political rhetoric that will do nothing to even bring a peaceful resolution,” at which Schatz.
After that, during which Israel was invited to Congress, Netanyahu said he would “speak to the American representatives of the American people, the highest political authority.” Cook said Netanyahu has two goals following his trip to Washington.
First of all, he needs to demonstrate that his actions had not “undermined” US-Israeli relations. Second, Netanyahu “will try to relocate the conversation from Gaza in order to believe in the threat that Iran and its “patrons” have for both Israel and the United States,” Cook added.
Officials say the US has defended Israeli interests despite tensions and continues to play a pivotal role in mediation efforts, with defence relations viewed as central.
Israel is under mounting international condemnation for a nearly 300-day war Washington Influence would be key United States support could prove crucial as Israel faces more and more criticism from the outside world thanks to the ever worsening impact of almost nine months of fighting.
In May, the International Criminal Court prosecutor requested a ruling from judges that could allow him to arrest Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. it stated. Three Hamas leaders are also wanted in the case, sentencing them warrants with a request as well.
Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives, which is controlled by their majority party, have also pushed for sanctions against ICC.
On July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and in a preliminary ruling last February it asked that country to make sure there is no genocide committed during its offensive against Gaza.
