O The first to speak in the Oval Office was Biden, who welcomed Netanyahu, in what is his first visit to the White House since Donald Trump left the presidency of the United States, in January 2021, and said that the two had “a lot to talk about”, before handing the floor over to the conservative Israeli leader.
“I want to thank you for your 50 years of public service and support for the State of Israel, and I look forward to engaging with you today and working with you in the months ahead,” the Israeli prime minister said, as Biden faces challenges from his Republican rivals to leave the White House before the end of his term due to his health.
The US President recalled that his first meeting with an Israeli head of government was with Golda Meir, in 1973, shortly after he was elected to the Senate, when the current prime minister was just 12 years old.
At the time, he said he noticed that one of Golda Meier’s advisers who was sitting next to her was a “guy” named Yitzhak Rabin, who went on to serve as prime minister until his assassination in 1995.
According to the White House, Biden plans to use the meeting with Netanyahu to pressure Tel Aviv and Hamas to seal a proposal backed by the United States to release the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip, who have been held in the enclave since the attack on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist group in southern Israel, which caused almost 1,200 deaths.
The three-phase deal aims to end the conflict in the enclave, which would be a milestone for the legacy of the 81-year-old Democratic politician, who on Sunday abandoned his bid for the White House in favor of his Vice President, Kamala Harris.
After the talks, Biden and Netanyahu will meet with the families of American hostages held by Hamas, and Kamala Harris and the Israeli leader are expected to meet separately later.
On Friday, Netanyahu will travel to Florida, where he will meet with former US President and Republican candidate for the November presidential election, Donald Trump.
Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a powerful speech before both houses of the US Congress on Wednesday, in which he called for more weapons from the United States to “accelerate the end of the war” in the Gaza Strip and advocated a demilitarized zone in the enclave with a civilian administration of the enclave in the post-conflict period.
In his speech, which was absent from several representatives – mainly Democrats – while others applauded him enthusiastically and still others demanded an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu thanked Biden for his support in the conflict against Hamas and for his involvement in the effort to free the hostages, calling for unity against an “axis of terror” sponsored by Iran.
Netanyahu’s speech was also marked by strong protests by thousands of demonstrators outside the Capitol building against Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip in pursuit of Hamas, which has already caused around 40,000 deaths in the last nine months, most of them civilians, according to local authorities.
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2604810/netanyahu-agradece-a-biden-ansioso-por-trabalharmos-nos-proximos-meses
