JERUSALEM, Israel – The planned Tuesday meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris have been postponed until Thursday. Those key meetings are now scheduled the day after Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress.
And Vice President Harris, the probable Democrat nominee for president, will not attend Netanyahu's historic address on Capitol Hill, citing a scheduling conflict. As president of the Senate, she would normally preside over a joint session of Congress.
On his departure from Israel, Netanyahu said he wants to emphasize the bond between the two nations. “In this time of war and uncertainty, it's important that Israel's enemies know that America and Israel stand together today, tomorrow, and always," he stated.
In Washington, the prime minister met with families of some of the Hamas-held hostages. He told them, “We are determined to bring them all back. The conditions to bring them back are ripening, for the simple reason that we are putting very, very strong pressure on Hamas. We are seeing a certain change, and I think this change will grow. We intend to do it – this is a war objective."
Tragically, the Israel Defense Forces announced this week that two more hostages were confirmed murdered by Hamas while in captivity.
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CBN News spoke Tuesday with former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
Concerning the Netanyahu visit, he told us, “The world really hasn't heard from the one person whose job it is to defend the state of Israel and to win this war and this is? Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
Friedman added, "What he's trying to accomplish, you know, on this extremely large stage, maybe the biggest stage in the world, is to really explain Israel's position, explain what happened to Israel on October 7th – the trauma this inflicted on the Jewish state, the Jewish people, the inhabitants of Israel, how Israel has done its best to minimize civilian casualties. But (also), how Israel views this as an existential battle – that is, where victory is the only option. And I think, you know, he is uniquely qualified to make that case.”
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Netanyahu also must navigate a changing and volatile U.S. political landscape.
Friedman noted, “It is a highly charged, you know, time in American politics right now. And, you know, he'll he'll try to thread that needle in a way where he can check in – offer his good wishes, make the case for Israel; but try not to provoke, you know, the kind of political responses that we see too often here, at this time. So it's a tough job. It's a needle-threading job that (Capitol) Hill. But he's he's pretty good at that. He's done it before.”
The prime minister also hopes for a meeting with former President Donald Trump, now the Republican nominee for president.
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