A White House official has told The Times of Israel that a planned meeting with Israeli officials has not been canceled, disputing an earlier Axios report that it was axed due to anger over Netanyahu’s video message about delays in US weapons shipments.
“As we said in the briefing yesterday, we have no idea what the [Israeli] prime minister is talking about, but that’s not a reason for rescheduling a meeting,” the White House official told The Times of Israel.
The US is still working to schedule the high-level meeting in Washington to account for the “travel and availability of principals”, the official added. However, details are not finalised “so nothing has been canceled”, they said.
Report: Biden’s feud with Netanyahu hindering Lebanon-Israel peace efforts
US news outlet Axios is reporting that a fight between the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the administration of US President Joe Biden is taking a toll on efforts to de-escalate tensions on the Lebanese border and avoid full-scale war between Isreal and Hezbollah.
The report cites three US officials from the Biden administration, who blamed Netanyahu for publically airing his grievances against the US and creating tension. They said that this “erodes” Israel’s power to deter Hezbollah, as it creates a public gap in cohesion between the two allies, Israel and the US
Israeli officials said yesterday that they had approved operational plans to go to war against Hezbollah, even as a US envoy paid visits to Lebanon and Israel to try and ease tensions.
Report: Doubts growing within US government about possibility of ceasefire deal
US news outlet Politico reports, citing four unnamed officials within the administration of US President Joe Biden, that doubts are growing that Israel and Hamas will reach a ceasefire deal under the framework advanced by the US in recent weeks.
As recently as this week, the US said that its position on the Gaza ceasefire is that Hamas is responsible for the delay and that Israel has not just accepted the deal – it produced it.
Israel army spokesman says Hamas can’t be defeated ‘as an ideology’
An Israeli army spokesman has said Hamas cannot be defeated as an ideology, prompting the government to quickly re-assert that it remains committed to the Palestinian group’s destruction.
“Hamas is an ideology; we cannot eliminate an ideology,” Daniel Hagari told Israeli media. “To say that we are going to make Hamas disappear is to throw sand in people’s eyes. If we don’t provide an alternative, in the end, we will have Hamas.”
His comments were quickly rebuffed by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose cabinet has stated its Gaza offensive will not end until Hamas is defeated.
“The political and security cabinet headed by Prime Minister Netanyahu defined as one of the goals of the war the destruction of Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
“The [Israeli army] is of course committed to this.”
Netanyahu is fighting everyone, when will he be sacked. He is the problem.