Netanyahu Cancels Senior Aides’ Meeting With Biden Administration After UN Ceasefire Resolution Passes
(Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a delegation of senior aides set to visit Washington this week after the U.S. did not use its UN Security Council veto to shoot down a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel conflict, which he claimed is not conditioned on the release of Israeli hostages.
Netanyahu’s office had previously threatened to stop Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer’s scheduled trip to meet Biden administration officials to discuss how to get more aid into Gaza and avoid a full-out assault on Rafah – the area in southern Gaza now filled with countless refugees and believed to be where the remaining hostages are being held.
The resolution passed the UN Security Council hours after Netanyahu’s threat — with the U.S. abstaining during the vote. Independent journalist Noga Tarnopolsky noted that Netanyahu’s statement “directly misrepresents” the UN resolution, which called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of all the hostages held by Hamas.
Local reporter Amichai Stein, a diplomatic correspondent for Kann, noted that Netanyahu’s office claims, “The US informed Minister Dermer that they intend to pass two separate resolutions in the Security Council today – one calling for a ceasefire and the second for the release of hostages, with no link between the two.”
Netanyahu canceling the Israeli delegation to Washington comes amid rising tensions between the Israeli leader and the top leadership in the U.S. – following Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) call earlier in the month for new Israeli elections to oust Netanyahu from power.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters last Wednesday that he was considering inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress.
“I had a lengthy conversation this morning with Prime Minister Netanyahu and reiterated to him that House Republicans’ strong support for Israel and their efforts there, and expressed my strong disagreement with Leader Schumer about what he said last week,” Johnson told reporters.
Netanyahu spoke before Congress in 2015 at the invitation of GOP leadership in a highly publicized effort to tank President Barak Obama’s Iran nuclear deal. Netanyahu’s very public lobbying inside the U.S. has long raised eyebrows as he has publicly supported Republican presidential candidates during campaigns, a rarity among U.S. allies.
