Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed for the US Monday, where he is expected to meet with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris before delivering a speech to Congress.
Netanyahu, who has known Biden for decades, acknowledged the president’s decision to drop out of the 2024 race, with the prime minister noting that he is eager to work with Biden’s successor regardless of who it turns out to be.
“This will be an opportunity to thank him for the things he did for Israel in the war and during his long and distinguished career in public service, as senator, vice president, and president,” Netanyahu said of Biden before boarding his flight.
“Regardless of who the American people choose as their next president, Israel remains its most indispensable and strongest ally in the Middle East,” he added.
With Biden’s term coming to an end in January, Netanyahu said the meeting with the president represents a critical moment to lay the groundwork for Israel’s goal of freeing the remaining hostages in Gaza and defeating Hamas.
The prime minister is also expected to meet with Harris, who is now the Democratic Party’s frontrunner tapped by Biden, as well as GOP nominee Donald Trump, but such a meeting has yet to be officially confirmed.
The meeting with the top officials will likely take place before Netanyahu addresses Congress on Wednesday, with the embattled prime minister set to focus on the ongoing hostage situation and the conflicts facing the Jewish state in the southern and northern border.
Netanyahu’s address to US lawmakers, his fourth one as prime minister, will also likely be centered around the Biden-back deal being discussed by Hamas and Israeli negotiators that seeks to create an immediate cease-fire in Gaza to help free the hostages.
The prime minister could also make an appeal for the delivery of more US weapons following a public spat with Biden, who froze the delivery of high-payload bombs earlier this year over growing fears that they would be used in Rafah, which was housing the majority of Gaza’s refugee population.
Netanyahu will be accompanied by several hostages who were freed from captivity, as well as the family members of those who remain in Hamas custody.
The most notable guest is Noa Argamani, who became the symbol of the brutality of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack when video of her kidnapping went viral and who was one of the four hostages rescued in a daring daylight raid in Gaza.
