President Joe Biden's scheduled Tuesday meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in limbo as the Israeli leader reportedly awaits a response from the White House, raising fresh concerns about the president's health after he tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
"We are still waiting for an answer from the White House," a senior official in Netanyahu’s office said on Monday. Netanyahu, who arrived in Washington, D.C., on Monday for his first visit in nearly four years, was originally scheduled to meet with Biden on Monday but the White House reportedly pushed the meeting to Tuesday as the president recovers from COVID, Axios reported. Netanyahu has yet to receive confirmation for Tuesday's meeting.
Questions about Biden’s health are circulating on social media, as the octogenarian has not appeared in public or released a video statement since his COVID diagnosis on Wednesday. Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race was announced only in a written statement Sunday on his X account, which is reportedly run by his staff.
Netanyahu is also set to address Congress on Wednesday at the invitation of the House’s Republican leadership, who accused Biden of caving to his party’s radical wing and withholding military aid to Israel.
"I will tell my friends on both sides of the aisle that regardless [of] who the American people choose as their next president, Israel remains America's indispensable and strong ally in the Middle East," Netanyahu said before he departed for the United States, amid growing concerns that the war against Hamas could spill over into a wider regional conflict.
"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," Netanyahu added.
Netanyahu’s visit and Biden’s disappearance come as Vice President Kamala Harris moves to fend off potential challengers for the Democratic nomination and rally skeptical Democrats behind her ahead of the Democratic National Convention next month.
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