Recent talks between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have become more tense, the New York Times reports in an in-depth article covering relations between the two countries since October 7. According to the report, the two leaders recently held intense and tense talks, but according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, they were nonetheless substantive talks.
The tone described by those close to humanitarian issues in Gaza was along the lines of: "You need to do more about it, or take it more seriously."
Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Biden, October 2023, Photo: Miriam Elster/Flash 90
The report also indicates that the United States is pressuring Israel to switch to a surgical operation that relies more on raids by special forces, with the aim of hitting senior Hamas figures and the tunnels and reducing large-scale bombardment.
Netanyahu sent Strategic Affairs Secretary Ron Dermer to Washington last week for a nearly four-hour meeting at the White House. During the conversation, Dermer assured Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that Israel would soon move into the focused phase that Biden was striving for.
Days after meeting Dermer, the State Department agreed to approve a $147.5 million budget for munitions for Israel, using emergency regulations to circumvent the need for congressional approval.
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