Background Press Call Previewing the Bilateral Engagement Between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu
Via Teleconference
4:18 P.M. EDT
MODERATOR: Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us today to discuss tomorrow’s meeting here at the White House between the President and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
As a reminder, today’s call is on background, attributable to a senior administration official, and is embargoed until the end of the call.
For your awareness, not for your reporting, the senior administration official on today’s call is [senior administration official].
So I’ll just turn over to [senior administration official], who has a few words here at the top, and then we’ll get through as many questions as we can at the end.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey. Thanks, everybody. I’ll keep this pretty topline, and we’ll have more to say, obviously, tomorrow.
So tomorrow, of course, the President will welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu and his delegation here to the White House. We will discuss, obviously, developments throughout the Middle East.
The President will discuss his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, the very serious threats from Iran and from Iranian proxy and terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis.
We will talk about our ongoing efforts to ensure the defense of Israel, including through broader integration in the region as we saw play out in April with that unprecedented attack from Iran.
We’ll also talk, I’m sure in depth, about developments in Gaza and the negotiations on the ceasefire and hostage release deal, which we believe is in the closing stages and it’s reaching a point that we believe a deal is closable and it’s time to move to close that agreement.
We will discuss the humanitarian situation — Lebanon, West Bank — everything that the President and the Prime Minister often discuss when they have their many phone calls.
And, of course, it’ll be the first time they saw each other since the President’s historic trip to Israel shortly after the October 7 attacks — the first visit to Israel by a president in wartime.
After the meeting — the meeting tomorrow will be about 1 o’clock. And afterwards, the President and the Prime Minister will meet together with the families of Americans. These are Americans held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. And, of course, as you know, we meet regularly with this group of families, an extraordinary group of families, including we just met here yesterday with Jake Sullivan to discuss the state of things and our efforts to get their loved ones home.
This will be the President’s second in-person meeting with this particular group, although he’s met with other families, of course, throughout this just horrific ordeal, which has gone on since October 7.
Of course, the Vice President will have a meeting later in the afternoon, here at the White House.
So we’ll have the Israelis and their delegation here at the White House for a period of hours, and I think we have a lot of substantive issues to discuss. We’ve done a lot of prep work, both here internally and together with the Israelis. And we hope to have a very substantive, very detailed discussion on the sets of issues that I laid out in front.
This, of course, follows on the Strategic Consultative Group meeting we had here a couple weeks ago and just our ongoing, regular communication dialogue with Israelis at multiple levels across out interagency.
So that is what’s on tap for tomorrow, and I’m happy to answer any questions.
MODERATOR: Awesome. Thank you. Our first question will go to Aamer with the AP.
Q Hey. Thank you. I just wanted to ask you about the speech to Congress and the tone of it. In it, in part, the Prime Minister vowed to press on with the war until “total victory.” Does that undercut negotiations for a ceasefire and a hostage release? Does this in any way sort of push back sort of the notion that you guys are still at the closing stages? And could it be counterproductive? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, I was actually in the — we were in the Situation Room doing some other stuff, so I did not see the speech. We were in consultation with the Israelis, and I think I had a sense of it.
But I think from all indications, the framework of a deal is basically there. We’re working out the implementation. There are some very serious implementation issues that still have to be resolved, and I don’t want to discount the difficulty of those, but they are the, kind of, implementation arrangements of the deal. There are some things we need from Hamas, and there are some things we need from the Israeli side. And I think you’ll see that play out here over the course of the coming week.
But I’m not going to characterize or comment on the speech here on this call.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question will go to Steve with Reuters.
Q When you say “the closing stages,” how did this come about? I mean, it’s been a long road, and we’ve been close to a deal for months in the past. What’s new here?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, what’s new is that Hamas have been very dug in on this position for a permanent ceasefire, for a withdrawal of Israeli forces. And then they kind of vague promised to release some hostages after that happened. That had been their position. That, obviously, is completely unacceptable.
We worked out a pretty detailed text of the arrangements, of how a hostage exchange would actually work, including with significant benefits for Gazans and humanitarian provisions, everything else.
And then the sequencing, what was the breakthrough a few weeks ago — which I think I discussed with this group a few weeks ago — was the way the phasing of the deal works. So you now have an initial phase, which is women, men over 50, and sick and wounded hostages will come out first over a period of 42 days. You have to have a negotiation, starting about halfway through that period, on the conditions for the second phase, which does — (connection lost) —
Q I lost him.
MODERATOR: Hey, Britny, it seems like we disconnected from [senior administration official], if you wouldn’t mind looping him back in.
One second, folks, while we get [senior administration official] back on the line. Apologies for this.
Okay, folks, one more second. We’re reconnecting. We should be back online soon. Appreciate everyone’s patience as we work through this.
Thanks, again, everyone, for your patience. As you can see, we’re almost back.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey, it’s [senior administration official].
MODERATOR: Hey, we can hear you again. Awesome. Thank you so much. I will bring Steve back in, and then we can move forward. Thanks, again, everyone for your patience as we worked through that.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey, am I back?
MODERATOR: You are, yep. We can hear you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Okay. Hey, I’m really sorry. I don’t know what happened. And then I tried to dial back in from three different phones, and it finally worked.
So I think the question was: What changed? And the key change, as I think I’ve discussed with this group before, is the phasing of the deal is now very clear: that there’s the phase one part; and then to move to phase two, you have a negotiation going on and you have to have conditions set for phase two, which is basically what the President laid out during his May speech, which Hamas has accepted that basic phasing.
So you now have that framework, exactly what the President laid out, what is in the Security Council resolution agreed, and you’re now in the implementation arrangements about how it will actually work day to day, leaving little to chance.
So that is a pretty intense negotiation that’s actually ongoing. But, again, we think the pieces are coming together, and it’s time to kind of move to close this out.
Q And do you have a timeframe in mind of when this might come to a conclusion?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I’m very hesitant, Steve, to put a timeframe on. But given that we have lives of hostages on the line, there’s really no time to lose.
Q Thanks. Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question will go to Molly with ABC.
Q Thanks. The Prime Minister said during his address to Congress that Palestinians in Gaza who aren’t getting enough food is not because Israel is blocking it, it’s because Hamas is stealing it. Is that the assessment of the U.S.?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think we’ve spoken to this multiple times, including, I think, my colleague, Assistant Secretary Leaf, testified before Congress. David Satterfield has spoken to this. Again, we do not see the Israelis blocking the entry of provisions into Gaza. We have some issues of distribution that our folks are working through all the time. It’s a very difficult wartime environment.
So — but, again, I’m not going to chara- — I’m not going to speak to the Prime Minister’s speech, but I will say that we have a massive effort ongoing on the humanitarian side that we can get you a full briefing on, which we — again, my colleagues from State Department speak to this quite frequently. So, I’ll leave it at that.
Q Just a follow-up on that. When they’ve spoken to it and they’ve testified, they have suggested that some of the policies at checkpoints from the IDF have made it harder to get resources and food in. So the administration is still standing by that assessment that — from U.S. officials — that that’s part of the problem?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: It’s a difficult wartime environment. So, yeah, there are checkpoints. There are issues with so-called armed gangs taking over convoys, whether that’s Hamas, or whether you want to call them an armed gang, you know, it depends. Sometimes it’s hard to know. So, it’s difficult.
But the quantity and amount of provisions getting into Gaza has increased significantly, largely, I must say, because of the efforts of the United States of America. It’s something we focus on every single day.
And when there’s a barrier or a hurdle, we break them down. And the President has gotten on the phone multiple times, whether to Prime Minister Netanyahu or to President Sisi, or working with King Abdullah for the route directly from Jordan into northern Gaza, which is now running almost every two days, 40 to 50 trucks coming directly from Jordan across Israel and into northern Gaza. That has worked quite effectively.
So, you know, this is all — this is something we work on every single day.
But the problem — most of the problems we have right now are not primarily on the Israeli side. It’s just the difficulty of the operational environment inside Gaza, which is one reason why to get a ceasefire in place there are provisions in the deal for significant relief for the civilian population in Gaza.
And of course, again, just a reminder: Hamas leaders are living underground. They do not allow civilians to use those underground facilities. You’re talking hundreds of kilometers of tunnels, multiple stories. They live under there as the civilians suffer inside Gaza.
So, anyway, we’re working towards a ceasefire. Until we get the ceasefire, our folks work every day to do all they can to address the humanitarian situation.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question will go to Nick with PBS.
Q Hey, Sam. Hey, [senior administration official]. Couple of specific questions on the ceasefire negotiations that you may or may not be willing to engage with, but let me try.
I know you didn’t watch the speech, but Bibi did not publicly endorse the deal that’s on the table or really even engage with it. Is that a disappointment? Has he recently focused on any topics that could prolong the negotiations? And as I understand it, you still don’t have an agreement on the transition from the temporary to permanent ceasefire. So how does that square with the fact that you say you’re in the closing stages? Thanks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: In the closing stages for phase one. So just in terms of Israeli — this is — met with the Israelis just yesterday. This is their deal. Ready to move ahead on phase one, if we can get the arrangements worked out. And we need some things from Hamas, including the hostages who are going to come out. And we’re not going to do a deal until we know exactly the hostages that are coming out and on the schedule they’re coming out. This is something that has to happen.
On phase one to phase two, it’s written into the deal, as I think the President actually laid this out in his speech in May: You begin the negotiations for phase two about a third of the way through phase one. And that’s the negotiation that might go on beyond the 42 days of the first phase to set the conditions for phase two. See, it’s very true, there’s not — there are not the conditions set or negotiated yet for a permanent ceasefire. That is what you would negotiate during the phase one and getting out the initial contingent of about 33 hostages. So we’re working hard now to get into phase one.
And then, during phase one, you work out — try to work out getting into phase two. But there’s no kind of automaticity from phase one to phase two.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question will go to Barak with Axios.
Q Hi. Thank you for doing this. And I think I asked you this several times, and you sort of dodged it before, but I’ll ask again. What makes you think that Prime Minister Netanyahu really wants a deal and is not just playing for time, trying to wait you out until November?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: If we draw that conclusion, we’ll say it very clearly. I mean, right now, there has been progress in this process. The issues that are being negotiated, the implementation issues, are real. You can’t do a deal until they’re kind of worked out. But we also think they are resolvable. These are not, kind of, unbridgeable problems. So we’re not ready to draw that conclusion.
And again, I think as I said, we’ll have the important meetings here tomorrow. And then, I think you’ll see more activity over the coming week in terms of the work to try to get this done from Bill, myself, and others.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question will go to MJ with CNN.
Q Hey. Thank you for doing this. If you are in the final stages of closing this deal, can you clarify whether it is your view that this deal is the Prime Minister’s to accept at this point?
And also, just to clarify your response to Barak’s question: Are you saying that you do not think the Prime Minister is deploying, you know, delaying tactics right now? I know that on some of these previous calls, you’ve at times sort of gingerly suggested that Israeli politics may be a factor. So, I just wanted to clarify that.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I’m not going to draw that conclusion here. I mean, literally, what we have is a framework that is agreed, and you have part of it. There are two columns in which there’s disagreement between the two sides. So, you have to work that out. And there are things in those columns that you need from Hamas, and there are some things you need from Israel. And that’s what the mediators are working to bridge.
If I’m talking to you a month from now, and we’re still kind of where we are now, I might draw a different conclusion. But that’s certainly not the case now. These are real issues. I would not want to get into a deal until you know exactly how it’s going to go and who’s coming out and when, and that’s what we’re working out.
There’s a — as you know, similar to the November deal, there is an exchange provision in this deal in which Palestinian prisoners are released in exchange for hostages, and that is an equation that has to be worked out — the who and when and where. And so that is all being — that’s kind of what is being discussed now. And there are some other issues that are in the implementation.
It’s a very different negotiation now than it was, say, a month ago, in which we had just some fundamental — fundamental, potentially unbridgeable issues. I think those have basically been resolved. You’re now in the implementation.
But I would not — I’m not making a final prediction. As I think I’ve said on these calls before, we’re still dealing with Hamas. And their leaders are — some of them are in Doha, some of them are in Turkey, some are in Cairo, and their key leader lives in a tunnel in Gaza.
So it’s — this is anything but a normal negotiation. But there has been progress; there has been progress because the Israelis have put an awful lot on the table, and that’s kind of brought us to this point.
So, yeah, so I’m not going to draw that conclusion here on this call. Again, if I’m talking to you guys a month from now, might have a different conclusion, but we are looking to move forward and try to get this done and get the hostages home.
Q Did you have a response to my first question?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: What was the first question? Was that the follow-up on Barak’s?
Q Whether — no, whether it’s your view that at this moment, this deal is for the Prime Minister to accept?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Oh. Well, in fairness, it’s not — I mean, it’s not at the point where it’s ready to be signed and implemented. I think it — but we do believe that with some effort and work by the mediators, that what is left is bridgeable and is not something that’s going to take an indefinite period to actually bridge.
So we think the time here over the coming week or so — again, we think we will see a lot of activity over the coming week. And we think it’s not only possible, it’s essential and necessary, because we have to get these hostages out. And what has been ironed out in this agreement is basically what the Israelis have wanted to see. And now we need some things from Hamas to allow us to move forward, and we also need some things from the Israeli side, and all of which is being worked.
So the Qataris are doing some things and the Egyptians are doing some things on the Hamas side. Obviously, we’re working with the Israelis on the other side to try to bridge some of these final implementation issues. And that’s what we’ll be focused on.
And, again, the President — as we saw the President today, you know, he’s ready for a pretty — he knows, kind of, every chapter of this deal, because we’ve been at it for some time, and is ready for that discussion with the Prime Minister tomorrow.
Q And just on the meeting with the families of the American hostages: Is the President planning to make any specific commitments to the families tomorrow?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think as he said to them before, he is committed to doing everything possible to bring their loved ones home. Of course, we have a group of families, including Americans that we believe are alive, and we also have a couple, unfortunately, that we know are deceased. And the deal also envisions the return of remains.
So we want to bring hostages out, and we want to bring closure to the families whose loved ones are unfortunately deceased.
It’s just — the whole thing is tragic, horrific. And we’re determined to do all we can here to get this done.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question will go to Danny with AFP.
Q Thanks very much for doing this. Just wondered if you can give us an idea of what President Biden is going to say personally to Prime Minister Netanyahu to try and get him on board with this. Thanks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, again, I think the premise of your question is that the Israelis are not on board. I think what I expect the conversation to be tomorrow is about these remaining gaps and, kind of, how we close them, and what the parameters are.
And then, we as a mediator will work with the Egyptians and Qataris to try to bring that forward. And I assume there will be some in-person meetings here over the next week to try our best to wrap this up. I’m not putting a timeframe on it, but I think we have already been coordinating about a couple meetings here over the coming week that will be pretty important.
So I don’t expect the meeting to be a yes or no. It’s kind of like how do we close these final gaps. And there are some things we need from the Israeli side, no question. But there’s also some key things that are only in the hands of Hamas because the hostages are in the hands of Hamas. And at the end of the day, this is a negotiation for the release of hostages with a terrorist group. So we got to keep that in mind.
And we’re also mindful of ensuring this agreement — as the President said when he spoke to the agreement in his address in May — fully protects the security and national security interests of Israel. So we’re not going to support a deal that endangers Israel in any way. We think what is on the table now meets those interests. But we want to ensure that that is played out in the implementation as well.
So we’re taking this extremely seriously because it’s an extremely serious matter and also quite difficult.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our final question will go to Asma with NPR.
Q Hey there. Thanks for doing this. I have a question about the Vice President’s meeting. I was wondering if you could characterize what you see as the role for the Vice President in this moment in time, and if you will be present yourself for that meeting.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the Vice President has been a full participant in almost everything we’ve been doing here for the last 10 months. I think every call with the with the Prime Minister and multiple engagements, meetings. Met with the families; I was there for that.
So, again, we look forward to the meeting. I think we’ve talked about the role she’s played in terms of her engagements with the Israelis throughout, and I think that’ll be an important engagement I know she’s looking forward to.
And we were just talking about it here with Phil and others about kind of the two meetings — because we have the team here at the White House for a number of hours, which is an opportunity to get an awful lot done. And then, of course, it’s capped by when the Vice President returns from her domestic travel. I think we’ll go into the meeting with the Prime Minister I think around 4:30 or so.
So, yeah, I think it’s a pretty good sequence of engagements from the President, to the families, to the Vice President. And we’re looking forward to the day tomorrow.
Q Can I just ask one quick follow-up there? Do you see her role to reiterate the President’s message? Or do you see any unique role for her in these meetings, in diplomacy?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There will obviously be no daylight between the President and the Vice President. I think they talk all the time. We know very much exactly what we want to try to get done tomorrow.
And I think the message they’re sending to the Prime Minister tomorrow is that we’re completely aligned; it’s time to do all we can to close the hostage deal, get the hostages home. And also, we as an administration will continue to do all we possibly can to continue to support Israel’s self-defense against Iran, Hezbollah, all the threats I just mentioned, and the Houthis and everything else.
So it’s a — I mean, I just want to — I know there’s a lot of focus here on the hostages, a massive agenda when it comes to Israel. The relationship is so multifaceted. The threats to Israel are real. And so, there’s an awful lot to discuss, including, again, I mentioned the Houthis; we just had the attack in Tel Aviv last week and the Israeli response. Of course, it’s a problem; that’s a challenge we deal with day to day.
So it’s a big agenda. And between the President and Vice President, the Israelis will hear full alignment. But, again, I think we have a very good sequence of meetings here set tomorrow.
Obviously, we were going to do this earlier in the week, but because of the President’s COVID, as we discussed with you, we had to do it here towards the end of the week. But I think as the week has played out, it’s actually pretty — the way it kind of has come together for tomorrow, I think we’re looking forward to it. It’s a unique opportunity to have their whole team here for a period of hours to see the hostage families and the President and the Vice President, all in a period of an afternoon.
MODERATOR: Thank you. And thank you again, everyone, for joining and for dealing with us during our little tech glitch, but we made it through.
And thank you, [senior administration official], for your time today.
The embargo for this call has now lifted. And as a reminder, it was held on background, attributable to a senior administration official.
As always, if we weren’t able to get to your question, feel free to reach out to the press distro and we’ll try to get back to you as soon as we can. Enjoy the rest of your evening.
4:50 P.M. EDT
