After the meeting, Herzog says US concern about internal strife in Israel is bc the countries are like family. "It’s not just to complain; it’s out of deep concern by many of our friends." Israelis should take this into consideration, he said.
Btw, Biden mumbled and was practically unintelligible. It wasn’t just me. We compared notes and asked American reporters. None of us could understand what he was saying behind a few words here and there, even when listening to recordings after the Oval Office meeting.
More details from the Biden-Herzog meeting:
POTUS said it is important to reach broad agreement in the judiciary and the discord in Israel makes regional processes more difficult, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting.
In light of the recent spike in terrorism in the West Bank, Biden said Israel has the right to defend itself. He also spoke out against incidents of Israeli violence against Palestinians, the source said.
They also discussed the need to cooperate to counter the Iranian threat,
The presidents met one-on-one for about 40 minutes and another 20 minutes together with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
During the meeting, Biden displayed the Medal of Honor Herzog gave him last year, and said he is proud of it.
White House readout of Biden-Herzog meeting
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Netanyahu is giving his first press conference to the foreign press in a year after his plan for Israel to take control of Gaza City has proven unpopular with the Israeli Right and Left.
Netanyah: Hamas still has 1000s of terrorists in Gaza...Hamas refusing to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to finish the job...Contrary to false claims, this is the best way to end the war and to end it speedily.
Netanyahu says before going into the remaining areas of Gaza, Israel "will do so 1st instructing the civilian population to leave combat areas to safe zones. They
will be given ample food, water and medical care as we did before."
Interesting background for a press conference with the Foreign Minister
Sa’ar: Israel refuses to sit on the bench of the accused in the UN’s politicized circus. No country in its position would. It is the UN and UNRWA that should be on trial, not Israel…
The ICJ is attempting to deny Israel its basic rights, rights that every sovereign country has, above all, the right to defend ourselves.
Foreign Ministry Deputy Director-General Amir Weissbrod says Dep DG Amir Weissbrod 1462 UNRWA employees are confirmed terrorists working in at least 32 facilities
“Calling them a few bad apples doesn’t tell the real story.”
He shares letters Israel sent to UNRWA going back to 2011 with examples of Hamas terrorists working in URWA schools.
Remember when Netanyahu was like “excuse me, a two-state solution is bad actually” in the Oval Office and Obama supporters were like “he’s lecturing the president! So disrespectful!”
Ben Rhodes 2011 and now
I think both cases are leaders justifiedly standing up for their countries' security when confronted with a president who is being totally obtuse about the issue.
Trump said his meeting with Netanyahu was “wonderful” and that the friendship between the US and Israel is unbreakable.
On the Abraham Accords Trump said he’s sure “many countries will be joining this peace and economic development transaction.”
Trump says Gaza “has been a symbol of death and destruction for decades” and said Gazans should “go to other countries of interest w humanitarian hearts…paid for neighboring counties with great wealth.”
This is a difficult day. The entire nation’s hearts are broken. I and all of Israel were shocked to the depths of my soul at the terrible murder in cold blood of six of our hostages…
I say to the Hamas terrorists…we will not rest. We will hunt you down, we will reach you and you will pay the price.
We are fighting on all fronts against a cruel enemy who wants to murder us all. Just this morning they killed 3 police officers in Hebron…
The fact that Hamas continues to commit atrocities like on Oct. 7 requires us to do everything to ensure they can’t commit those atrocities again.
Netanyahu on hostage negotiations:
Since December, Hamas refuses to really negotiate. 3 months ago Israel agreed to a deal to free the hostages fully backed by the US. Hamas refused even after the US updated the deal on August 16 — we agreed, Hamas refused again…Hamas continues to refuse every offer. Even worse, at the same time they murdered six of our hostages.
*Whoever murders hostages doesn’t want a deal.*
We won’t give up. The govt of Israel is committed and I personally commit to continuing to work towards a deal that will bring back all our hostages and ensure our security and our existence.
Hostage families forum calls on Netanyahu to “stop blaming everyone, take responsibility for your failures…You’re the prime minister, it’s your responsibility to bring back the hostages. The spin about Philadelphi is yours. The decision to ignore the stance of the whole security establishment…is yours.”
Some of the guests for Netanyahu’s speech who I’ve spotted so far:
Rivka Kidron
@lightstonea
@DouglasKMurray
Rabbi Levi Shemtov
@JGreenblattADL
Sander Gerber
@NDiament
Falic family
Daniel Bonner
Eric Fingerhut
Rabbi Abraham Cooper
Pastor Hagee
Richard and Phyllis Heidemen
Also in the audience: Former Netanyahu spokesman David Keyes who was forced to resign over sexual misconduct allegations.
Fetterman is wearing a suit in honor of this occasion! Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to take pictures.