From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 18, 2024
White House says Biden, Netanyahu discussed Rafah, humanitarian aid to Gaza
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Joe Biden just got off the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House confirms, in what was their first conversation since February 15 amid an increasingly public split regarding the war in Gaza.
The two “discuss[ed] the latest developments in Israel and Gaza, including the situation in Rafah and efforts to surge humanitarian assistance to Gaza,” the White House says, adding that a readout on the call will be issued shortly.
This was their 20th call since the outbreak of the war on October 7.
Last week, the most senior Congressional Democrat, Sen. Chuck Schumer, called for early elections in Israel to replace Netanyahu, whom he branded as an obstacle to peace along with Hamas, the Israeli far-right and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Biden hailed the speech and said many Americans feel as Schumer does, though the White House clarified that elections were a matter for the Israeli people to decide.
Biden was vocally supportive of Israel in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, becoming the first US president to visit Israel during wartime and sending a pair of US army aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean in an effort to deter adversaries from joining in the war against Israel. But the rhetorical backing has waned as the fighting has dragged on and as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has continued to deteriorate.
Washington has avoided turning the rhetoric against Jerusalem regarding its prosecution of the war into action, though, and has refrained from conditioning military aid, cutting it off entirely or demanding an immediate ceasefire.
In the meantime, it is working to secure a temporary ceasefire of at least six weeks through a hostage deal, which it hopes to use to negotiate a more enduring truce and advance a regional initiative that would see Arab allies participating in the reconstruction of Gaza, a reformed PA returning to govern the Strip, Saudi Arabi normalizing ties with Israel and Jerusalem agreeing to create a pathway to an eventual Palestinian state.
While the US in recent weeks has insisted that Israel is cooperating with the hostage deal and has said it is Hamas that is dragging its feet, Netanyahu has all but rejected the idea of such an agreement to secure a broader regional alignment, as he and the vast majority of his coalition are against a two-state solution.
