CHICAGO, Illinois — Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to pressure the Israeli government to yield to Hamas’s demands for a hostage deal.
On Monday, Netanyahu met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and agreed to a U.S. “bridging” proposal that aimed to reconcile Israel’s demands with those of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which holds 109 hostages.
However, Hamas appeared to reject the deal, insisting that Israel had created “new” conditions by insisting that it would not withdraw from strategic corridors in Gaza necessary to curb terrorism and stop Hamas from rearming.
Netanyahu said that pressure needed to shift to Hamas, instead of Israel. But instead of pressuring Hamas — over whom they have no direct leverage — Harris and Biden have reportedly put more pressure on Israel, following the demands of Arab countries.
The Times of Israel reported:
US President Joe Biden just got off the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal, the White House says.
Vice President Kamala Harris joined in on the call, which comes after Arab mediators told The Times of Israel that the US will have to pressure Israel to withdraw from new demands regarding continued IDF presence in the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors if it wants to secure a deal.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu met with two groups, Tikva and Gevura, representing families of hostages who do not want Israel to give up core national security interests in a hostage deal, even if it means their loved ones might remain in Hamas captivity.
He issued a statement after the meeting:
The first thing is to eliminate Hamas and achieve victory. We are approaching this step by step. If, three months ago, before we went into Rafah, they said there is nothing that can be done – there is a lot to do. In the meantime, we have eliminated Deif and other commanders as well. We seized the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing. We are using all necessary force to dismantle Hamas’s rule and its military capability, and this is moving forward.
The second thing is that we are, at the same time, making an effort to return the hostages, on terms that will allow for the maximum number of hostages being released in the first stage of the deal. I say this clearly: This is an objective that I have set. However, the other thing is to preserve our strategic security assets in the face of major domestic and foreign pressure, and we are doing so.
Biden had hoped to achieve a hostage and ceasefire deal by the end of the week, coinciding with the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. However, Hamas’s refusal to agree to the U.S. proposal has frustrated that goal.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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