Israel's defense chief calls for solving disputes with US ‘behind closed doors’

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called Wednesday for resolving disputes between Israel and the United States “behind closed doors.”

“Israel and the US have the same goals in the war in Gaza,” Gallant said during a meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House as cited by Israeli daily Haaretz.

"Even when we disagree on the path, we resolve it in closed rooms," Gallant said.

The Israeli defense minister said he and Sullivan would “discuss as friends a long list of things – Lebanon, Gaza, Iran, issues related to them and also the issue of American supplies to Israel.”

Gallant’s remarks about resolving disputes with Washington behind closed doors are seen as a veiled critique of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has complained vocally over perceived slights against Israel by the Biden administration.

Despite Biden's steadfast support for Israel in its war on Gaza, the US president faces strong internal pressure, particularly from the left wing of his party, which accuses him of colluding with Netanyahu on the conflict in Gaza.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 37,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 86,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala