JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington, D.C., on Monday evening in preparation for a speech to Congress on Wednesday. He will hold his first meeting with President Joe Biden on U.S. soil since the Iran-backed terror movement Hamas massacred nearly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, including about 30 Americans, and took about 250 hostages.
The two leaders have sharp differences over Israel’s prosecution of the war in the Gaza Strip, home to Hamas. A clear example is Israel’s decision to defy Biden and seek military control of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the last major stronghold of a Hamas camp and a hostage held by the U.S.-designated terrorist entity.
Caroline Glick, an American Israel commentator and former adviser to Netanyahu, told Fox News Digital that “Biden’s meeting with Netanyahu found the two leaders on opposite ends of the spectrum. Like the vast majority of Israelis, Netanyahu remains committed to Israel’s war goals of destroying Hamas as a military and political entity, returning all hostages, preventing Gaza from threatening Israel in the future, and completely changing the strategic balance in northern Israel. , in favor of Israel, allowing the 80,000 Israeli residents of border towns with Lebanon to live freely.
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Carolyn Glick, an American Israel commentator and former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Fox News Digital: “The meeting between Biden and Netanyahu found two leaders on opposite sides. position. (AP | Getty Images)
Glick, who lives in Jerusalem, said that “the ceasefire that Biden seeks cannot achieve these goals. During their meeting, Biden will pressure Netanyahu to abandon Israel’s war goals and accept a ceasefire.” Tanyahu will seek to secure arms supplies to ensure Israel has everything it needs to win.
Netanyahu said the May incursion into Rafah prompted Hamas to soften its negotiating position in talks this month on a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
Israel’s prime minister has delivered boilerplate diplomatic language on his government’s relationship with the Biden administration, language that has sometimes catered to anti-Israel elements within his far-left base, according to senior observers of the relationship.
Netanyahu is expected to meet with Biden on Thursday to discuss war goals. According to the Times of Israel, the prime minister said on Monday as he left Israel for Washington that the meeting was “an opportunity to discuss with him how to advance a goal important to both of our countries in the critical months ahead: the realization of the release of all our hostages, defeat Hamas, confront Iran’s axis of terror, and ensure that all Israeli citizens can safely return to their homes in the north and south.
Biden continues to push for a ceasefire to stop the war and has asked Netanyahu to provide concrete plans for a post-Hamas Gaza.
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A woman holds a sign at a protest calling for the hostages to be brought back. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital spoke with Israelis in the Jewish state, roughly equivalent to New Jersey, about the complex dynamics of Israel’s relationship with the United States and what Netanyahu’s trip means for both democracies, especially Netanyahu. It comes as Nyahu prepares to address parliament on Wednesday.
“Right now I think it’s extremely important for Bibi to go to Congress and tell those who are pro-Israel that we need help. My fear and loathing is that the Democratic Party, especially the current president Joe Biden, doesn’t like Israel. ” said Dov Yitzchak Neal, who lives in Gush Etzion in the Judean Mountains. The international community refers to the biblical region of Judea and Samaria as the West Bank.
Neal said that since Israel is the only democratic country in the Middle East, “the United States must support this country because this country has American values.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with IDF soldiers on the front lines ahead of expected ground operations. (Benjamin Netanyahu/@netanyahu)
Dalia, who lives in Tel Aviv, Israel’s second-largest city, agrees with Neil.
“Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. It is an ally of the United States. The relationship and friendship between the two countries are of vital importance, and I hope that this relationship will remain forever. Biden has been relatively supportive and relatively operative,” she said. It also lambasted members of the hardline left-wing Democratic “squad” in Congress for their anti-Israel views.
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“The United States needs to recognize that Israel is its biggest ally in the region and at the forefront of the fight against radical Islamic terrorism,” said David Binay, who also lives in Tel Aviv.
“I don’t think Biden is doing enough for Israel. I think he needs to do more for us,” said Zwia, who was sitting in the center of the famous Jerusalem market. “United with us against Iran, Lebanon and Gaza because, at the end of the day, Iran will attack the US too, not just us but most of them… I don’t know about the government.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – JUNE 15: Thousands of Israelis demand the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the immediate release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas on June 15, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Anti-government protests have erupted over the past eight months amid frustration with Netanyahu’s government and its failure to secure the release of the remaining 120 Israeli and foreign hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. Events happen almost every week. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)
On the eve of Netanyahu’s address to Congress, a bipartisan group of former Israeli national security officials, former diplomats and academics sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said they had “serious concerns about Netanyahu’s visit.”
The letter states in part, “This visit puts his personal political viability ahead of our common interests. Netanyahu has lost the support of the Israeli people and is trying to prop up his power through a show of force in the United States.” Domestic Alliance. The letter also claimed that “he remains unwilling to develop postwar plans and continues to destabilize the national security of Israel and the United States.”
When asked about Israel’s war with Hamas at a press conference earlier this month, some pro-Israel voices were angered by the president’s response.
“At the press conference, Biden turned the conflict between Israel and Hamas on its head. He made no condemnation of Hamas or its supporters, and did not mention the more than 100 hostages, including eight Americans. Still held by the Israeli government.
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President Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 20, 2023 in New York. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Retired Israeli Brigadier General. Gen. Amir Avivi told Fox News Digital, “When President Biden does not make it clear that Hamas has maliciously committed mass murders in Israel and that Israel has the right to defend itself and completely destroy Hamas, it is would empower Hamas. He pointed out that Israel needs the support of the United States to defeat Hamas and ensure the release of the hostages.
The State Department referred Fox News Digital to the National Security Council, which did not immediately respond to media inquiries.
