Washington.-Joe Biden will meet Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday with the sole aim of speeding up the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which will allow the release of hostages held by the terrorist organization and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The meeting in the Oval Office will be complex, given the obvious political signal: Netanyahu made a speech on Capitol Hill that goes against the minimum conditions being negotiated in the Middle East for an immediate ceasefire.
The Israeli prime minister has confirmed his decision to keep troops in Gaza during the truce, while Hamas is demanding that the ceasefire requires the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from the Strip.
This clash of positions – which threatens the final result – is aggravated by a proposal that Netanyahu suggested during his speech at the Capitol. The prime minister suggested that once Hamas is exterminated, the experience of the United States with Germany and Japan at the end of World War II should be repeated in Gaza.
That is to say, Israel should deploy an occupation force for a reasonable period of time to ensure that its borders do not suffer a new terrorist attack. Netanyahu’s idea has already been rejected by Qatar and Egypt on behalf of the Arab world, and there is not a single possibility that it will be accepted by the White House.
Biden rejects Netanyahu’s position and during the meeting in the Oval Office will demand that the prime minister move in the context of the proposal he presented at the end of May. That initiative was taken as a start by Hamas and received the support of the United Nations Security Council, the G7 and the main Arab states of the Middle East.
The US president has outlined a diplomatic proposal that includes a phased truce, the release of hostages, humanitarian aid and a negotiation process that should lead to the reconstruction of Gaza alongside a Palestinian government without Hamas or other terrorist groups.
Netanyahu endorsed Biden’s initiative, but then added certain amendments that put the talks in a de facto impasse. The Israeli prime minister is playing on Biden’s political weakness – he is already a Lame Duck – and on his ideological closeness to Donald Trump, who will receive him tomorrow at his residence in Mar o Lago (Florida).
The Israeli prime minister met Trump in the 1980s, when he was Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. And from that moment on, the relationship between the two had the dynamics of a roller coaster. There were years of daily contact, and moments of endless friction. But in the final sum, the current Republican candidate benefited Netanyahu.
During the Trump administration, at Netanyahu’s request, the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, accepted that the Golan Heights – claimed by Syria – are part of Israeli territory, and negotiated the Abraham Accords, which marked a major diplomatic agreement with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
In this context of power, politics and diplomacy, Netanyahu will arrive at the Oval Office with a firm position and little intention of backing down in the face of pressure from Biden. The Israeli prime minister is thinking about Trump and has already done the math: there are six months left until a new president takes office in the United States.
Netanyahu ratified his strategic alliance with Washington on Capitol Hill and identified Iran as a common enemy. But this geopolitical outlook does not mean that the Israeli prime minister has changed his perspective regarding Hamas and the eventual ceasefire in Gaza.
Netanyahu has his own agenda, which at the moment does not coincide with the roadmap proposed by the Democratic administration.
Biden will host the prime minister at 1 p.m. Eastern time, followed by a meeting between Kamala Harris and Netanyahu, also scheduled for later at the White House.
The vice president has a more critical view than Biden regarding Israel’s war strategy in Gaza and said that the war “caused a humanitarian tragedy.”
Harris did not attend the Capitol to hear Netanyahu speak, despite being required to lead the special session as Vice President of the United States. Harris, who is also a presidential candidate, chose to travel to Indianapolis to hold an election campaign event.
Netanyahu has taken note of the matter and assumes he will have a tense conclave with Harris.
Unlike Biden, who met him in DC when he was just an official at the Israeli embassy, he never met the vice president and candidate alone. Different generations, different views of the world and power.
#Biden #welcomes #Netanyahu #White #House #speed #ceasefire #Israel #Hamas
2024-07-28 09:23:41
