Netanyahu agrees to send Israeli officials to U.S. for Rafah operation talks
WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday agreed to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss with Biden administration officials a prospective Rafah operation as each side is looking to make “clear to the other its perspective,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
The agreement to hold talks about Rafah came as Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu spoke on Monday, their first interaction in more than a month, as the divide has grown between allies over the food crisis in Gaza and Israel’s conduct during the war, according to the White House. Mr. Sullivan said the talks will happen in the coming days and are expected to involve military, intelligence and humanitarian experts.
The White House has been skeptical of Mr. Netanyahu’s plan to carry out an operation in the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, as Israel looks to eliminate Hamas following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack.
Mr. Sullivan said Mr. Biden in the call once again urged Mr. Netanyahu not to carry out a Rafah operation and questioned the Israeli leader about establishing a “coherent and sustainable strategy’ to defeat Hamas.
“The president has rejected, and did again today, the straw man that raising questions about Rafah is the same as raising questions about defeating Hamas,” Mr. Sullivan said. “That’s just nonsense. Our position is that Hamas should not be allowed a safe haven in Rafah or anywhere else, but a major ground operation there would be a mistake. It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally.”
The call comes after Republicans in Washington and Israeli officials were quick to express outrage after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sharply criticized Mr. Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and called for Israel to hold new elections. They accused the Democratic leader of breaking the unwritten rule against interfering in a close ally’s electoral politics.
Mr. Biden hasn’t endorsed Mr. Schumer’s call for election but said he thought he gave a “good speech” that reflected the concerns of many Americans. Mr. Netanyahu raised concerns about the calls by Mr. Schumer for new elections, Mr. Sullivan said.
Biden administration officials have warned that they would not support an operation in Rafah without the Israelis presenting a credible plan to ensure the safety of innocent Palestinian civilians.
Israel has yet to present such a plan, according to White House officials.
“We discussed the latest developments in the war, including Israel’s commitment to achieving all of the war’s goals: Eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never (again) constitutes a threat to Israel — while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that will assist in achieving these goals,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
Mr. Netanyahu lashed out against the American criticism on Sunday, describing calls for a new election as “wholly inappropriate.”
Mr. Netanyahu told Fox News Channel that Israel never would have called for a new U.S. election after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and he denounced Mr. Schumer’s comments as inappropriate.
“We’re not a banana republic,” he said. “The people of Israel will choose when they will have elections, and who they’ll elect, and it’s not something that will be foisted on us.”
Even as they express frustration about aspects of the Israeli operations, the White House acknowledges that Israel has made significant progress in degrading Hamas. And Mr. Sullivan revealed on Monday that an Israeli operation last week killed Hamas’ third in commander, Marwan Issa.
The president announced during his State of the Union address that the U.S. military would help establish a temporary pier aimed at boosting the amount of aid getting into the territory. The U.S. military has also been air-dropping aid into Gaza.