U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started long-awaited closed-door talks Thursday that the White House mentioned Biden would use to press for an elusive cease-fire within the besieged Gaza Strip.
Addressing reporters briefly remarks, Netanyahu mentioned about Biden that he’s wanting “forward to discussing with you today, and working with you in the months ahead, on the great issues before us.”
“From a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish-American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu mentioned as Biden prepares to wind down his profession.
The president delivered even shorter remarks however mentioned he seemed ahead to the dialogue as properly.
The White House go to is Netanyahu’s first since Biden assumed workplace in 2021 amid repeated rifts between the allies. But worldwide strain for a cease-fire to finish the bloodshed and destruction in Gaza has continued to mount because the dying toll quickly approaches 40,000.
The conflict has badly dragged on Biden’s favorability amongst Democrats, and if he is ready to safe a cease-fire that might be a boon for Vice President Kamala Harris as she mounts her personal White House bid after the president selected to step apart, and endorsed her to succeed him.
A senior Biden administration official informed reporters Wednesday that an settlement “is in the closing stages” and negotiators are reaching a degree the place “we believe a deal is closable, and it’s time to move to close that agreement.”
“From all indications, the framework of a deal is basically there. We’re working out the implementation. There are some very serious implementation issues that still have to be resolved, and I don’t want to discount the difficulty of those,” the official mentioned.
“There are some things we need from Hamas, and there are some things we need from the Israeli side. And I think you’ll see that play out here over the course of the coming week,” they added.
Netanyahu will later Thursday sit down with Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. He may even meet with Republican nominee Donald Trump in Florida on Friday.
Source: www.anews.com.tr