Netanyahu and Biden talked/Rom's office
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan revealed this evening (Monday) that there is criticism in the White House of Israel's policy in fighting in Gaza, and the expansion of military activity to Rafah: "Israel has not presented us with a plan for how it evacuates the many civilians from Rafah unharmed, where it plans to settle them and how it intends to feed them. Instead of stabilizing its control in the areas it has already operated in, Israel is talking about expanding the operation to Rafah. The president told the prime minister that he is very concerned about this possibility."
Sullivan noted that the issue came up in a conversation held today by American President Joe Biden with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He said that at Biden's request, the two agreed that an Israeli political-security team would be sent to Washington to present the US's concerns about the Rafah operation, and to present an alternative strategy.
Sullivan informed that the American president rejected Netanyahu's claim that opposition to the Rafah operation is not opposition to the defeat of Hamas: "Biden said To Netanyahu that he is in favor of defeating Hamas, which is a terrorist organization with blood on its hands, but he emphasized that to achieve this you need a strategy that works - and the Rafah operation is not such a strategy."
Sullivan with Netanyahu.
"Biden said he is concerned about an operation in Rafah"/Official website, Amos Ben Gershom/L.A.M
According to Sullivan, the two also discussed the negotiations currently taking place in Qatar on a hostage release deal: "We think a hostage release deal is possible and we will continue to push for it.
The president discussed this with Netanyahu today." Sullivan also said that Netanyahu complained to Biden about statements published against him recently in the United States, such as the speech of Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
"For us, the president is focused on policy and not politics," Sullivan said.
More in Walla!
Virtual reality therapy: a treatment for coping with anxiety
in collaboration with zap doctors
"From our point of view, the president is focused on policy and not on politics."
Biden/Reuters
As mentioned, Netanyahu and Baidu spoke on the phone earlier this evening, and the White House said after the conversation that "President Biden spoke with Prime Minister of Israel Netanyahu and discussed with him the developments in Israel and Gaza, the situation in Rafah and the efforts to increase the scope of humanitarian aid entering the Strip."
This is the first conversation between Biden and Netanyahu since February 15, and it took place against the background of the acute tensions between the leaders and the speech of the Democratic majority leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the conversation with Biden: "We talked about the latest developments in the war, including Israel's commitment to achieve all the goals of the war: the elimination of Hamas, the release of all our hostages, and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel - while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that helps achieve these goals."
More on the same topic:
The White House
Gaza war
War of Iron Swords
Benjamin Netanyahu
Rafih
Gaza Strip