WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahumet separately at the White House Thursday with President Joe Biden and likely Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss the war in Gaza and the possibility of securing a cease-fire deal.
Netanyahu’s first White House visit since 2020 comes a day after he gave a fiery speech to Congress and at a time of growing pressure in Israel and the U.S. to find an endgame to the nine-month war that’s left more than 39,000 dead in Gaza and some 1,200 dead in Israel. Dozens of Israeli hostages are still languishing in Hamas captivity.
Harris said in remarks after what she called a “frank and constructive meeting” with the Israeli leader that she supports Israel’s right to defend itself, but said, “how it does so matters.”
She expressed concern over the “devastating” humanitarian situation in Gaza and images of civilians killed in the conflict, saying, “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies.”
She echoed Biden in calling for a swift cease-fire to end the fighting, at least for a time, to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza and release some of the most vulnerable hostages from Hamas captivity.
White House officials say the negotiations are in the closing stages, but there are issues that need to be resolved.
“The gaps are closable,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. He added, “But it’s going to require, as it always does, some leadership, some compromise.”
Harris met with Netanyahu in her ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. She is also expected to press him on securing a deal to release the hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that launched the war.
“We have a lot to talk about,” Harris said as she welcomed the Israeli leader. “We do indeed,” he replied.
Thousands protested Netanyahu’s visit in Washington, and Harris condemned those who were violent or used rhetoric that praised Hamas.
Netanyahu, last at the White House when former President Donald Trump was in office, is headed to Florida on Friday to meet with the Republican presidential nominee.
The conservative Likud Party leader Netanyahu and centrist Democrat Biden have had ups-and-downs over the years. Netanyahu, in what will likely be his last White House meeting with Biden, reflected on the roughly 40 years they’ve known each other and thanked the president for his service.
“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.
A U.S.-backed proposal to release remaining hostages in Gaza over three phases is something that would be a legacy-affirming achievement for Biden, who abandoned his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. It could also be a boon for Harris in her bid to succeed him.
Following their talks, Biden and Netanyahu met with the families of American hostages.
For Harris, the meeting with Netanyahu is an opportunity to demonstrate that she has the mettle to serve as commander in chief. She’s being scrutinized 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 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.
In his speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu 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.”
“Remember this: Our enemies are your enemies,” Netanyahu said. “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. But he also noted action that 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 derided protesters who massed near the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, calling them Iran’s “useful idiots.”
Harris on Thursday said she was outraged that some protesters tagged areas near the U.S. Capitol with pro-Hamas graffiti, expressed support for the fighters, and burned a U.S. 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 massed near the White House on Thursday 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 criticized 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. White House officials said that her absence wasn’t a slight and was solely due to scheduling conflicts.
Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, also skipped the speech to campaign. Biden, as vice president, skipped an address Netanyahu made to Congress in 2015.
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 U.N. 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.
AP writer Ashraf Khalil contributed reporting.