Netanyahu Decides Against Meeting With White House Officials

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled a meeting that was meant to hold between his advisers and White House officials. This follows the Biden administration’s refusal to vote against an anti-Israel resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Monday.

Israel cancels high-level meeting in Washington after U.S. abstains on cease-fire resolution https://t.co/cbugc7XbhU

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Rather than vote against UNSC Resolution 2728, which calls for an “immediate ceasefire” in the war between Israel and Hamas till the Muslim Ramadan ends, the U.S. abstained from voting, letting the resolution pass.

The resolution fails to call for the release of the remaining 134 Israeli hostages held by Hamas as a condition for the “immediate ceasefire.” It also does not condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Demanding a ceasefire without necessitating the release of hostages allows Hamas get away with its unprecedented attack on Israel and also keep the captives it took.

Last week, Netanyahu assigned his strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, and his national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, to attend a meeting with White House officials after a request from White House for the representatives to consult with Washington about Israel’s plan to expand its operations into Rafah, where Hamas’ last stronghold is.

While the U.S. explained that it abstained from the resolution because of an absence of Hamas’ condemnation, Netanyahu’s office announced in a statement on Monday that he called the meeting off after the Biden administration failed to veto the damning U.N. resolution.

“The United States has abandoned its policy in the UN today. Just a few days ago, it supported a Security Council resolution that linked a call for a ceasefire to the release of hostages. China and Russia vetoed that resolution partly because they opposed a ceasefire that was linked to the release of hostages. Yet today, Russia and China joined Algeria and others in supporting the new resolution precisely because it had no such linkage,” the statement read.

“Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages. This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. Today’s resolution gives Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages, thus harming both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages. Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear last night that should the US depart from its principled policy and not veto this harmful resolution, he will cancel the Israeli delegation’s visit to the United States. In light of the change in the US position, PM Netanyahu decided that the delegation will remain in Israel,” the statement added.