Biden: ‘We are very close’ to presenting final offer for ceasefire-hostage deal, but Netanyahu not doing enough
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Asked whether he’s planning to present a final hostage deal proposal by the end of the week, US President Joe Biden tells reporters, “We are very close to that.”
Subsequently pressed by reporters as to whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing enough to secure a deal, Biden responds, “No.”
The Israeli premier has come under fire for prioritizing a new demand to maintain IDF troops in the Philadelphi Corridor during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire deal to prevent weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza.
The security establishment has opposed Netanyahu’s stance, arguing that the IDF can return to the corridor if need be, and that the new demand risks blowing up the talks while leaving the hostages to die.
An Israeli official involved in the hostage negotiations lamented to The Times of Israel over the weekend that Netanyahu has over-relied on military pressure, while neglecting the need for parallel diplomatic initiatives, such as the hostage deal, which has cost captives their lives.
Biden is holding a Situation Room meeting later today with his top ceasefire negotiators to discuss next steps following Hamas’s murder of six Israeli hostages, including American national Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose bodies were subsequently recovered by the IDF.
Asked why he thinks this final proposal will be successful when previous offers have failed, Biden responds, “Hope springs eternal.”
“I’ve spoken to the American hostage, I spoke to his mom and dad, and we’re not giving up. We’re going to continue to push as hard as we can,” he says, referring to Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s parents Jon and Rachel.
