President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday that sending Israeli troops into the southern Gaza city of Rafah would be a “mistake” — just three days after Biden praised Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s incendiary speech calling for the Jewish state to hold a “new election” and oust Netanyahu following the war against Hamas.
“A major ground operation would be a mistake,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that Biden, 81, stressed to Netanyahu, citing concerns about civilian safety in the city of more than 150,000 situated near the Egyptian border.
Biden didn’t make “threats,” Sullivan added during a White House press briefing, but had a “very businesslike” tone with the Israeli PM while both condemning the terror group Hamas and urging Israel to have a “strategy that works.”
“A military plan cannot succeed without an integrated humanitarian plan and political plan. And the president has repeatedly made the point that continuing military operations need to be continued to a clear strategic end game,” Sullivan added.
Netanyahu gave no indication of any friction between the two leaders, who spoke Monday for the first time since Feb. 15, in a brief Hebrew-language video released by his office.
Read more at https://nypost.com/2024/03/18/us-news/biden-speaks-to-netanyahu-days-after-praising-schumer-call-for-new-election-in-israel/
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