Kirby Straight Up Asked Is Biden ‘Threatening to Withhold Aid to Israel?’

White House spokesperson John Kirby was pressed by reporters at a Wednesday briefing on whether President Joe Biden is threatening to withhold aid to Israel.

Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday by phone, where, according to the White House transcript, he told the Israeli leader that strikes on humanitarian workers are unacceptable. Biden also encouraged Netanyahu to mitigate civilians deaths as much as possible.

Moreover, the president noted that U.S. policy regarding Gaza will be determined by Israel’s immediate actions, while calling for an immediate ceasefire and urged Netanyahu to negotiate the return of hostages.

During the White House briefing, ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce asked Kirby if Biden was “threatening to withhold aid to Israel” if they do make changes. In addition, Kirby noted that the U.S. hopes to see the changes initiated by Israel in the “coming hours and days.”

BRUCE: The president seems to have said to the prime minister today, make these concrete changes or else. It’s the or else that I want to make clear here. Is the president threatening to withhold aid to Israel if they do not make these changes?

KIRBY: The president made it clear that our policies with respect to Gaza, will be dependent upon our assessment of how well the Israelis, make changes and implement changes, to make the situation in Gaza better for the Palestinian people.

BRUCE: And how much time are you giving them to make these changes to implement these concrete steps?

KIRBY: We we would hope to see some announcements of changes here in coming hours and days. And I’ll leave it at that.

Watch the clip above via CNN.