By COLLEEN LONG
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden had terse words for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, and said he didn’t know whether the Israeli leader was holding up a peace deal in order to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
“No administration has helped Israel more than I have,” Biden said. “None. None, none. And I think Bibi should remember that. And whether he’s trying to influence the election, I don’t know but I’m not counting on that.”
Biden, in a rare appearance in the White House press briefing room, was responding to comments made by one of his allies, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who said on CNN this week that he was concerned Netanyahu had little interest in a peace deal in part because of U.S. politics.
The two leaders have long managed a complicated relationship, but they’re running out of space to maneuver as their views on the Gaza war diverge and their political futures hang in the balance.
The president has long pushed for a cease-fire agreement and he and his aides have indicated several times over the past few months that such an agreement was close. But it never seems to materialize, and in some cases, Netanyahu has publicly resisted the prospect while U.S. and Israeli officials continue to talk in private about eking out a deal.
Meanwhile, Israel has pressed forward on two fronts, pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah that left eight Israeli soldiers dead and conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. And the nation has vowed to retaliate for Iran’s ballistic missile attack this week, as the region braced for further escalation.
Biden said there had been no decision yet on what type of response there would be toward Iran, though there has been talk about Israel striking Iran’s oil fields — and “I think if I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields.”
Biden pushed back against the idea…
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