Sullivan: Overriding focus of Netanyahu-Biden meeting will be hostage deal

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says the “overriding focus” of next week’s meeting between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be the hostage release and ceasefire deal currently on the table between Israel and Hamas.

“The President will focus his energy with Prime Minister Netanyahu on what it is going to take working together… and then the US working with the other mediators to get this deal done in the coming weeks,” Sullivan says during a fireside chat at the Aspen Security Forum.

Sullivan explains that the blueprint to the proposal was laid out by Biden in a speech in late May; the US then rallied global support for the deal and secured Israel’s commitment to it in June and then obtained a commitment from Hamas to the “broad framework” earlier this month.

“There are details to be worked through,” he acknowledges.

“As you heard from Secretary Blinken earlier today, we believe there is an opportunity to get it done,” he says.

“We are mindful that there remain obstacles in the way. Let’s use next week to try to clear through those obstacles and get to a deal,” Sullivan adds.

Asked how optimistic he is about a deal, Sullivan responds, “I have learned the hard way, never to use the word optimism in the same sentence as the Middle East.”

“We have our best opportunity now that we have had since the last brief hostage deal in November to get to an outcome. It is there for the taking.”

“The broad framework is well understood and broadly agreed. The real issue is can we work through the politics on both sides, the psychology on both sides and frankly, the practicalities of executing something as complex as a ceasefire in a circumstance like this,” Sullivan continues. “I believe the answer to those questions is ‘yes.’… We’re not going to rest until we have this thing in place, and sooner rather than later.”