JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on Tuesday, his office announced Sunday.
“The meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden will take place on Tuesday at noon,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, adding that the Israeli leader would fly to the US on Monday.
Netanyahu will deliver a historic speech to the US Congress on Wednesday, as he seeks to counter intense pressure to quickly conclude a ceasefire agreement with Hamas over the Gaza war.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, will become the first foreign leader to address a joint session of the two houses of parliament four times, surpassing Britain’s Winston Churchill with three.
But analysts say the Gaza war that began after Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks has created worrying tensions between Israel and the United States, its main military and diplomatic backer.
Washington fears a backlash to the rising number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, while protests in Israel by families of hostages taken by Hamas are also creating problems for Netanyahu.
Biden and some Israeli ministers say a negotiated deal with mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States is possible. A plan outlined in May called for a six-week ceasefire, during which some Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that negotiators were “inside the 10-yard line and heading toward the goal line.”
However, Hamas has accused Netanyahu of trying to block the deal and Blinken has said he wants to “get the deal across the finish line” when Netanyahu is in Washington.
The planned meeting between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden has not yet been confirmed.
In recent weeks, Israel has intensified its air strikes on Gaza, and Netanyahu has insisted that only by increasing military pressure can the hostages be freed and Hamas defeated.
“This double pressure is not delaying the agreement, it is actually advancing it,” Netanyahu told troops in Gaza on Thursday.
The Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli data. Hamas militants also took 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 the Israeli military says are dead.
According to data from the Hamas-ruled territory’s Health Ministry, Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 38,919 people in Gaza, mostly civilians.
Publicly, Biden has expressed strong support for Israel. But he expressed concern about an offensive on the southern city of Rafah in May and briefly suspended deliveries of heavy bombs to Israel. Deliveries of 2,000-pound bombs remain under embargo.
“Never before has the atmosphere been this tense,” said Steven Cook, a Middle East specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“There is clearly tension in the relationship, especially between the White House and the Israeli prime minister,” Cook said in a commentary.
As US Republicans have pushed to invite Netanyahu to address Congress, he has lost support among Democrats.
A Jewish senator, Democrat Brian Schatz of Hawaii, announced he would boycott Wednesday's speech, saying he would not listen to “political rhetoric that will do nothing to bring peace to the region.”
Netanyahu declared, after being invited back to Congress, that he would “present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us.”
Cook said Netanyahu has two goals for his visit to Washington.
First, to demonstrate that he did not “undermine” Israel’s relations with the United States.
Netanyahu “will also seek to shift the conversation from the conflict in Gaza to the threat that Iran and its allies pose” to Israel and the United States, Cook added.
Much attention will be paid to the meeting between Netanyahu and Donald Trump or a figure close to the Republican presidential candidate.
Despite tensions, the United States has defended Israeli interests, playing a key role in mediation efforts, and military relations remain strong, officials say.
Washington’s support could prove crucial as Israel faces growing international criticism over the mounting humanitarian toll from nearly 300 days of war.
In May, the International Criminal Court prosecutor asked judges to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Warrants were also requested for three Hamas leaders.
The Republican majority in the House of Representatives has called for sanctions against the ICC.
On July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and in February called on the country to prevent any acts of genocide in its offensive in Gaza.
