Biden and Harris to meet separately with Netanyahu at the White House

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday amid the 2024 election race shakeup and as the administration still pushes for a cease-fire agreement.

Biden will host Netanyahu in the Oval Office at around 1 p.m. ET, and the two leaders are scheduled to meet with families of American hostages held hostage in Gaza around 2:30 p.m. in the White House Cabinet Room.

This will be the first time the two will meet in person since Biden visited Israel shortly after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7.

Harris will speak with Netanyahu around 4:30 p.m. in the vice president’s ceremonial office, a meeting that is considered even more high-stakes now that she’s running for president following Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race. Harris missed Netanyahu’s speech before a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday because of a previously scheduled event in Indianapolis. Typically, the vice president presides over joint addresses.

A senior administration official told reporters Wednesday that Biden will discuss his “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, the very serious threats from Iran and from Iranian proxy and terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis.”

The official said the two leaders are expected to speak “in depth” about developments in Gaza, including efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement and the humanitarian crisis. The administration believes that a deal “is in the closing stages and it’s reaching a point that we believe a deal is closable, and it’s time to move to close that agreement,” the official said.

For her part, Harris has been engaged on the Israel-Gaza conflict for the last 10 months, the official said, including participating in every call with Netanyahu as well as critical meetings like those with hostage families.

An aide to Harris said the vice president will continue her intensive engagement on Gaza during the meeting, underscore Israel’s need to defend itself, and condemn the Oct. 7 attack.

Harris will convey her view that it’s time for the war to end in a way that will keep Israel secure, release all hostages, end the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and allow the Palestinian people to enjoy their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination, the aide said. They will also discuss efforts to reach agreement on the cease-fire deal.

In his speech before Congress, Israel’s prime minister thanked Biden “for his tireless efforts on behalf of the hostages and for his efforts to the hostage families as well.”

“There will obviously be no daylight between the president and the vice president,” the official said, adding they expect for a productive day because the Israelis will be at the White House for a while on Thursday.

Netanyahu also thanked Biden for his leadership in his speech.

“I thank President Biden for his heartfelt support for Israel after the savage attack on Oct. 7th,” Netanyahu said. “He rightly called Hamas ‘sheer evil.’ He dispatched two aircraft carriers to the Middle East to deter a wider war. And he came to Israel to stand with us during our darkest hour — a visit that will never be forgotten.”

“President Biden and I have known each other for over 40 years,” he continued. “I want to thank him for half a century of friendship to Israel and for being, as he says, a proud Zionist. Actually, he says, a proud Irish American Zionist.”

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday.