Biden, Netanyahu begin Oval Office meeting amid push for Gaza cease-fire

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began long-awaited closed-door talks Thursday that the White House said Biden would use to press for an elusive cease-fire in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Addressing reporters in brief remarks, Netanyahu said about Biden that he is looking "forward to discussing with you today, and working with you in the months ahead, on the great issues before us."

"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," Netanyahu said as Biden prepares to wind down his career.

The president delivered even shorter remarks but said he looked forward to the discussion as well.

The White House visit is Netanyahu's first since Biden assumed office in 2021 amid repeated rifts between the allies. But international pressure for a cease-fire to end the bloodshed and destruction in Gaza has continued to mount as the death toll rapidly approaches 40,000.

The war has badly dragged on Biden's favorability among Democrats, and if he is able to secure a cease-fire that would be a boon for Vice President Kamala Harris as she mounts her own White House bid after the president chose to step aside, and endorsed her to succeed him.

A senior Biden administration official told reporters Wednesday that an agreement "is in the closing stages" and negotiators are reaching a point where "we believe a deal is closable, and it’s time to move to close that agreement."

"From all indications, the framework of a deal is basically there. We’re working out the implementation. There are some very serious implementation issues that still have to be resolved, and I don’t want to discount the difficulty of those," the official said.

"There are some things we need from Hamas, and there are some things we need from the Israeli side. And I think you’ll see that play out here over the course of the coming week," they added.

Netanyahu will later Thursday sit down with Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. He will also meet with Republican nominee Donald Trump in Florida on Friday.