JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington, D.C., on Monday evening to prepare for his address to Congress on Wednesday. He will hold his first meeting with President Biden on U.S. soil since the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist movement massacred nearly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, including about 30 Americans, and took about 250 hostages.
The two leaders have had sharp disagreements over Israel’s conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is based. A telling example was Israel’s decision to defy Biden and seek military control of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the last main stronghold of Hamas battalions and hostages held by the US-designated terrorist entity.
Caroline Glick, an American-Israeli commentator and former Netanyahu adviser, told Fox News Digital: “Biden's meeting with Netanyahu finds the two leaders at opposite ends of the spectrum. Like the vast majority of Israelis, Netanyahu remains committed to achieving Israel's war aims of destroying Hamas as a military and political entity, returning all hostages, preventing Gaza from threatening Israel again in the future, and shifting the strategic balance in northern Israel completely in Israel's favor to allow the 80,000 Israeli residents of towns bordering Lebanon to return home safely after living in hotels since they were evacuated in October.”
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“Biden's meeting with Netanyahu finds the two leaders at opposite ends of the spectrum,” Caroline Glick, an American-Israeli commentator and former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Fox News Digital. (AP | Getty Images)
According to Glick, who lives in Jerusalem, “Biden is seeking a ceasefire that achieves none of these goals. At their meeting, Biden will press Netanyahu to abandon Israel's war aims and agree to a ceasefire. Netanyahu will seek to secure arms supplies to ensure Israel has what it needs to win.”
The Rafah raid in May prompted Hamas to soften its negotiating position in talks this month on a ceasefire and the release of hostages, according to Netanyahu.
The Israeli prime minister used stereotypical diplomatic language about his government’s relations with the Biden administration that has at times pleased anti-Israel elements within his far-left base, according to veteran observers of the relationship.
Netanyahu is expected to meet with Biden on Thursday to discuss the war aims. The Times of Israel reported that the prime minister said as he left Israel for Washington on Monday that the meeting was “an opportunity to discuss with him how to move forward in the critical months ahead on goals that are important to both of our countries: achieving the release of all our hostages, defeating Hamas, confronting Iran’s terrorist axis and ensuring that all of Israel’s citizens can return safely to their homes in the north and south.”
Biden continues to push for a ceasefire to stop the war and for Netanyahu to present a concrete plan for a post-Hamas Gaza.
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A woman holds a sign during a protest calling for the return of the hostages. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital interviewed Israelis from across the Jewish state, roughly the size of New Jersey, about the complex dynamics of Israel-US relations and what Netanyahu's trip means for both democracies, especially as Netanyahu prepares to address Congress on Wednesday.
“Right now I think it's extremely important for Bibi (Netanyahu's nickname) to go to Congress to tell those who are in favor of Israel that we need help. My fear and my disgust are the Democrats, especially the current President Biden, who do not like Israel,” said Dov Yitzchak Neal, who lives in Gush Etzion, which is located in the Judean Mountains. The international community refers to the biblical region of Judea and Samaria as the West Bank.
Neal said that because Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, “America should support this country because this country has American values.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Israel Defense Forces soldiers on the front lines ahead of planned ground operations. (Benjamin Netanyahu/@netanyahu)
Dalia, who lives in Israel's second-largest city, Tel Aviv, shared Neal's point.
“Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. It is an ally of the United States. And the relationship and friendship between the two is fundamental and I hope it will continue forever. Biden has been relatively supportive, relatively being the key word.” He also criticized members of the far-left Democratic “Squad” in Congress for their anti-Israel views.
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David Binet, who also lives in Tel Aviv, said: “The United States must recognize that Israel is its greatest ally in the region and is at the forefront of the fight against militant Islamic terrorism.”
Tzvia, who was standing in the heart of Jerusalem's famous market, said: “I don't think Biden is doing enough for Israel. I think he needs to do more for us. Be united with us against Iran, Lebanon and Gaza because in the end Iran will attack America too, not just us. The American people are with us, most of them… I don't know about the government.”
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – JUNE 15: Thousands of Israelis demand the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the immediate release of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on June 15, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Anti-government protests have taken place almost weekly over the past eight months, amid frustration with Netanyahu's government and its failure to secure the release of the remaining 120 Israeli and foreign hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images) (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)
On the eve of Netanyahu's address to Congress, a bipartisan group of former Israeli national security officials, diplomats and academics sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressing their “grave concerns” about Netanyahu's visit.
The letter noted in part that “this visit prioritizes his personal political survival over our shared interests. Netanyahu has lost the support of the Israeli people and is seeking to shore up his domestic coalition through a show of force in the United States.” The letter went on to state that “he remains unwilling to conceptualize a postwar plan and continues to destabilize the national security of both Israel and the United States.”
Biden's press conference earlier this month left several pro-Israel voices angry at the president's reaction when asked about Israel's war with Hamas.
“At his press conference, Biden turned the conflict between Israel and Hamas on its head. He did not utter a single word of condemnation of Hamas or its supporters, nor did he mention that more than 100 hostages, including eight Americans, continue to be held by Hamas in deplorable conditions. Instead, he criticized Israel and promoted a two-state solution that, for Israel, would lead to its destruction,” David Friedman, who served as Trump's ambassador to Israel, told Fox News Digital.
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President Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on September 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Retired Israeli Brigadier General Amir Avivi told Fox News Digital: “When President Biden does not make it clear that Hamas has brutally attacked in the massacre in Israel and that Israel has the right to defend itself and destroy Hamas completely, this strengthens Hamas. Israel's entire existence depends on a decisive victory in Gaza. Without a decisive victory, Israel will be under great danger on all fronts. We expect President Biden to fully support Israel. We cannot end the war without ensuring that there is never again a terrorist army in Gaza.” He noted that Israel needs US support to defeat Hamas and achieve the release of the hostages.
The U.S. State Department referred Fox News Digital to the National Security Council, which did not immediately respond to a press inquiry.
