Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his long-awaited White House visit to meet with President Joe Biden and likely Democratic nominee vice president Kamala Harris at an important moment for all three politicians.
Mr Netanyahu’s White House visit, his first since before Donald Trump left office in 2020, comes at a time of growing pressure on all three to find an endgame to the nine-month war that has left more than 39,000 dead in Gaza.
Dozens of Israeli hostages are still languishing in Hamas captivity.
Mr Biden greeted Mr Netanyahu in the Oval Office, where the Israeli leader thanked the president for his service.
The conservative Likud Party leader Mr Netanyahu and centrist Democrat Mr Biden have had ups-and-downs over the years.
Mr Netanyahu, in what could be his last White House meeting with Mr Biden, reflected on the roughly 40 years they have known each other.
“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,” Mr Netanyahu told Mr Biden at the start of their meeting.
Mr Biden thanked Mr Netanyahu and joked that his first meeting with an Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, in 1973 soon after he was elected to the Senate came when he was only 12.
Mr Biden is pressing to get Israel and Hamas to seal a US-backed proposal to release remaining hostages in Gaza over three phases — something that would be a legacy-affirming achievement for the 81-year-old Democrat, who abandoned his re-election bid and endorsed Ms Harris.
It could also be a boon for Ms Harris in her bid to succeed him.
White House officials say that the negotiations are in the closing stages but there are issues that need to be resolved.
Following their midday talks, Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahu will meet the families of American hostages.
Ms Harris, who will meet separately with Mr Netanyahu later, is trying to demonstrate that she has the mettle to serve as commander in chief.
She is being scrutinised by those on the political left who say Mr Biden has not done enough to force Mr Netanyahu to end the war and by Republicans looking to brand her as insufficient in her support for Israel.
Mr Netanyahu, in a fiery address before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, offered a robust defence 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”.
The Israeli leader spent scant time discussing the ongoing negotiations.
