As Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Washington, D.C., this week with a plan to address Congress, he may not be meeting with President Joe Biden.
Citing a source in the Israeli prime minister’s office, Axios’s Barak Ravid reports that Netanyahu’s meeting with Biden, originally scheduled for Tuesday, isn’t expected to happen.
“We are still waiting for an answer from the White House,” the official said.
Only last week, the White House said that Biden was expected to meet with Netanyahu this week, despite Biden being diagnosed with Covid-19 on Wednesday. Now that Biden has withdrawn from the race, circumstances seem to have changed, although it’s possible the president may still be experiencing symptoms from the virus.
Netanyahu is scheduled to address Congress on Wednesday, despite a backlash and calls to boycott the address from Democrats. Some Democrats have reportedly discussed attending the speech, but protesting or disrupting it in some way, and Speaker Mike Johnson has threatened police action in response.
But the most conspicuous action at Netanyahu’s address might be Vice President Kamala Harris’s absence. The Biden campaign scheduled Harris to speak at a campaign event in Indianapolis, likely not by accident, which coupled with the possibility of Biden choosing to meet with Netanyahu, could signal a shift in U.S. policy toward Israel, or at least toward Netanyahu.
Biden’s support for Netanyahu and Israel’s brutal war in Gaza cost him a lot of support, particularly from young people and communities of color, and may have been a contributing factor in his decision to withdraw from the presidential race. Netanyahu is arriving in Washington as the International Criminal Court has filed for arrest warrants for him, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and top Hamas leaders over accusations of war crimes. Is Biden finally seeking the wisdom of cutting ties with Bibi? If so, the next step is to take action to push for a cease-fire and cut off weapons shipments to Israel.
