VP Harris meets with Netanyahu rival in sign of growing White House frustration with Israel
WASHINGTON ― Vice President Kamala Harris met Monday with Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s wartime Cabinet and centrist political rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a sign of growing White House frustration with the Israeli government.
The White House meeting, which was not authorized by Netanyahu, marked a major test for President Joe Biden's relationship with the Netanyahu. The U.S has become increasingly at odds with Netanyahu over Israel's refusal to scale back the war in Gaza and its efforts to get humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.
The meeting came one day after Harris on Sunday called for an "immediate cease-fire" of at least six weeks between Israel and Hamas ? the most pointed statement yet by a member of the Biden administration on the need for an immediate pause in the fighting in Gaza.
"The message is both that the White House is fed up with Netanyahu, and perhaps has lost some faith in him, to put it mildly," said Natan Sachs, director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "And moreover, that they see Benny Gantz as the potential interlocutor going forward, especially if the government changes in Israel."
During the meeting, Harris reiterated U.S. support for Israel to defend itself against Hamas but "expressed her deep concern about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza and the recent horrific tragedy around an aid convoy in northern Gaza," the White House said, referring to the death of more than 100 Palestinians after Israeli troops opened fire on people waiting for food in Gaza City.
Harris and Gantz discussed the need for a "credible and implementable humanitarian plan" prior to any major military escalation in Rafah in southern Gaza, the White House said, and Harris urged Israel to "take additional measures" to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Harris also emphasized "the urgency" of finalizing a deal to release Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza and called on Hamas to accept the six-week cease-fire truce, the White House said.
John Kirby, the White House's national security communications advisor, said Gantz requested the meeting. Kirby downplayed Netanyahu's resistance to it, saying "we certainly recognize Prime Minister Netanyahu as the elected prime minister."
"Minister Gantz is a member of the War Cabinet in the middle of a war ? a war in which we're trying to help Israel," Kirby said. "It was an opportunity not only to hear from him, but also to relay our continued concerns about humanitarian assistance, about the importance of getting this hostage deal over the finish line."
Biden, who was at the Camp David presidential retreat during the meeting, has faced heightened criticism domestically from progressive allies for his steadfast support of Israel in its war against Hamas. The number of civilian deaths in Gaza has surpassed 30,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
"People in Gaza are starving," Harris said in a speech Sunday in Selma, Ala., while marking the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when Alabama state troopers savagely clubbed peaceful civil rights marchers as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. "The conditions are inhumane, and our common humanity compels us to act," she said.
Netanyahu has refused global demands for a two-state solution to the Middle East crisis and has pledged to continue the war in Gaza until Hamas is crushed.
Netanyahu has also seen his approval numbers plummet in Israel in the months after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Gantz, a retired general and leader of the National Unity Party, is Netanyahu's most likely election challenger, with polls giving him a commanding lead over Netanyahu in a hypothetical matchup.
Sachs said Harris' meeting with Gantz was "a signal not just to Bibi but to the (Israeli) public and the rest of the politicians that Netanyahu's run out of credit in Washington and that Washington is looking forward to a day after."
Biden is set to deliver his State of the Union address Thursday before a joint Congress, giving him a primetime audience to reestablish his administration's goals in Gaza.
The U.S. has conducted air drops to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. The Biden administration has also been working on securing a six-week pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas that would include the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
U.S. officials said Saturday that Israel has essentially agreed to the deal, but Hamas still needs to sign off.
Biden met with Netanyahu last September in New York, a week before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and subsequently in Israel following the attack. But Gantz, not Netanyahu, is the first to meet with Biden administration officials in the White House since Biden took office.
An official from Netanyahu’s far-right Likud party, who spoke with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Gantz’s trip was not authorized by Netanyahu. The prime minister chastised Gantz, telling him the country has “just one prime minister,” AP reported. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Gantz is helping the U.S. "drive a wedge between Israelis" while advancing the two-state solution plan.
While in Washington this week, Gantz will also meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Security Council Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk and Jake Sullivan, the White House's national security adviser.
Contributing: Associated Press; Michael Collins and John Bacon, USA TODAY
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: VP Harris meets Netanyahu rival, signaling growing Israel frustration
