Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to make a highly anticipated visit to the White House on Thursday to meet with President Joe Biden and likely Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, in an important moment for all three politicians.
Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, his first since former President Donald Trump left office in 2020, comes at a time of increasing pressure on the three countries to find a solution to the nine-month-old war that has killed more than 39,000 people in Gaza. Dozens of Israeli hostages — and the remains of others who died in captivity — still languish in Hamas hands.
Biden is pushing for Israel and Hamas to endorse his proposal to release the remaining hostages in Gaza in three phases — a welcome achievement for the 81-year-old Democrat who dropped his reelection 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 to resolve.
After their midday meeting, Biden and Netanyahu will meet with the families of the American hostages.
Harris, who will meet separately with Netanyahu later, is trying to demonstrate that she has the courage to assume the role of commander in chief. She is also under 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 seek to paint her as insufficient in her support for Israel.
A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under White House ground rules, said there was “no difference between the president and the vice president” on Israel. Harris’ last one-on-one meeting with Netanyahu was in March 2021, but she has participated in more than 20 calls between Biden and Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, is trying to navigate this delicate political moment, facing pressure from hostage families demanding a cease-fire to repatriate their loved ones and from far-right members of his ruling coalition urging him to oppose any deal that could prevent Israeli forces from eliminating Hamas.
In a fiery speech Wednesday to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Netanyahu forcefully defended Israel’s conduct during the war and lambasted the International Criminal Court’s accusations of Israeli war crimes. He argued that Israel, in its fight against Iran-backed Hamas, was effectively preventing “American troops from deploying 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 fight is your fight. And our victory will be your victory.”
Netanyahu used his speech to praise Biden for his administration’s support following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. But Netanyahu also highlighted steps Trump took during his four years in office that benefited Israel, including recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, confronting Iranian aggression and moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Florida on Friday to meet with Trump.
Mr. Netanyahu also castigated protesters who gathered near the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, calling them “useful idiots” of Iran. The U.S. Secret Service has stepped up security at the White House ahead of Mr. Netanyahu’s visit, erecting additional fencing and barriers near the White House campus.
Trump and his Republican allies criticized Harris, who was attending events in Indiana and Texas on Wednesday, for missing Netanyahu’s address to Congress.
The vice president is the president of the Senate and typically co-chairs such an event with the speaker of the House. But there have been other instances in recent history where the vice president has failed to speak at such speeches. Biden, then vice president, failed to speak at a speech Netanyahu gave to Congress in 2015.
“Whether Harris likes the Israeli prime minister or not, whether she respects him or not, she should be there,” said Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who hosted a news conference with her 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 inconvenience and was due solely to scheduling conflicts. Harris spoke Wednesday with the historically black sorority Zeta Phi Beta before flying to Houston ahead of a speech to the American Federation of Teachers on Thursday. Sen. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, also skipped the speech to campaign.
“The vice president has been unwavering in her commitment to Israel’s security,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Harris has consistently expressed support for Israel. In early 2017, she made her first foreign trip to Israel, and one of her first acts as a senator was to introduce a resolution opposing a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel.
She also spoke 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 ties to pro-Israel groups, including the conservative American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the liberal J Street.
Harris has been largely in sync with Biden throughout the conflict, but at times she has been the frontrunner for tougher Biden administration rhetoric on Israel.
She used a high-profile speech in Selma, Alabama, in March – a day before she met with Netanyahu’s rival and Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz – to denounce “starving” Palestinians facing “inhumane” conditions and to urge Israel to do more to alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza.
Last year, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen criticized Harris after she appeared to gently dismiss Netanyahu’s plans to reform the country’s justice system. Speaking at an event hosted by the 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 would add, an independent judiciary.”
Cohen questioned whether Harris had even read the bills in question, saying, “I can tell you that if you ask her what bothers her about reform, she can’t tell you.”
Critics of Biden’s handling of the Gaza war will also be watching Harris’ interaction with Netanyahu and what she has to say in the coming days about the conflict.
Voters in battleground states where anger over Gaza has become a key issue are waiting to see if Harris will “turn the page on Biden’s disastrous policies,” said Layla Elabed, a leader of the “uncommitted” voters movement who has threatened to withdraw their support for Biden over Gaza.
“We hope Harris will do what is necessary to save lives and our democracy and to uphold U.S. international law,” Elabed said.
