President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met separately Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House amid ongoing anti-Israel protests and the shakeup over the 2024 presidential election.
President Biden met with Mr. Netanyahu in the Oval Office for their first face-to-face meeting since withdrawing from the 2024 race. The two leaders discussed the latest developments in Gaza, including the humanitarian crisis and efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement with the Hamas terrorist group.
They appeared briefly together for a statement to the press and did not take any questions from reporters.
“Mr. President, we have known each other for 40 years, and you’ve known every prime minister for 50 years, from Golda Meir. From a proud Jewish Zionist, to a proud Irish-American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “I look forward to it as well,” President Biden said.
The two leaders later met in the White House Cabinet Room with families of Americans still being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas.
During his joint session of Congress just the day before, Mr. Netanyahu thanked President Biden for visiting Israel shortly after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel and his ongoing support.
“I thank President Biden for his heartfelt support for Israel after the savage attack on Oct. 7,” Mr. Netanyahu said during a joint session of Congress the day prior.
“He rightly called Hamas ‘sheer evil.’ He dispatched two aircraft carriers to the Middle East to deter a wider war. And he came to Israel to stand with us during our darkest hour—a visit that will never be forgotten,” he added.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered near the Capitol during the prime minister’s speech. The demonstrators removed American flags that were flying above Union Station and replaced them with Palestinian flags.
Ms. Harris publicly condemned the violence and called it “despicable acts by unpatriotic protesters and dangerous hate-filled rhetoric” in a post on X.
Ms. Harris, who missed Mr. Netanyahu’s speech due to a previously scheduled event in Indianapolis, also met with him separately on Thursday afternoon in the vice president’s ceremonial office.
The pair appeared very briefly together at the White House to pose for a media photo but did not address reporters.
Ms. Harris said in remarks after what she called a “frank and constructive meeting” with the Israeli leader that she supports Israel’s right to defend itself, but said that “how it does so matters.”
She expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and civilians killed in the conflict.
She echoed President Biden in calling for a swift cease-fire to end the fighting, at least for a time, to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza and release some of the most vulnerable hostages from Hamas captivity.
Mr. Netanyahu is headed to Florida to meet with the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, at his Mar-a-Lago residence on Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to his report.