White House Trying To Reschedule Meeting With Israel Delegation

The White House is working to have the meeting with an Israeli delegation rescheduled after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled an initial meeting due to the Biden administration’s absentia vote on a U.N. resolution that is considered anti-Israel.

White House Confirms Israel Delegation Will Meet With U.S. After Netanyahu Canceledhttps://t.co/Zx8K1tKEDK pic.twitter.com/nf8ikhp2rL

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Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden’s admin and Netanyahu are in talks to fix a new date for the meeting.

“We are working with [Israeli leaders] to find a convenient date that’s obviously going to work for both sides. But Netanyahu’s office has agreed to reschedule that meeting that would be dedicated to Rafah, which is a good thing,” Jean-Pierre stated.

“We are working to convene that meeting. It’s an important meeting on Rafah, and when we have a date, certainly, we’ll share that with you,” she added.

Netanyahu scrapped the meeting on Monday after the United States chose to abstain from voting on the U.N. resolution which demanded an “immediate ceasefire” in Israel’s operation against Hamas in Gaza.

According to the U.N.’s news site, the resolution called for “an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire.”

In Netanyahu’s announcement of the meeting’s cancellation, his office said, “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,” he added.

President Joe Biden has taken hits from U.S. lawmakers over the decision, as the U.S. had a choice to veto the resolution, which failed to request for the release of the remaining 134 Israeli hostages Hamas seized on Oct. 7 as a condition for the ceasefire.