Vice President Kamala Harris met on Monday, March 4, with Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's wartime Cabinet who came to Washington in defiance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the Biden administration intensifies its efforts to push more humanitarian aid into war-battered Gaza.
President Joe Biden, VP Harris, and other senior administration officials have become increasingly blunt about their dissatisfaction with the mounting death toll in Gaza and the suffering of innocent Palestinians as the war nears the five-month mark. "The president and I have been aligned and consistent from the very beginning," Harris said in an exchange with reporters shortly before meeting with Gantz. "Israel has a right to defend itself. Far too many Palestinian civilians, innocent civilians have been killed. We need to get more aid in, we need to get hostages out. and that remains our position."
The White House, in a statement following the meeting, said Harris and Gantz discussed the urgency of completing a hostage deal to free more than 100 people believed still to be in captivity in Gaza following Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel. She also reiterated the administration's support for a temporary extended cease-fire that would facilitate the release of hostages and allow for a surge of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.
Although Gantz holds many of the same hardline views as Netanyahu, he has been seen as more open to compromise on critical issues, including the increased delivery of humanitarian assistance.
The moment is reflective of the increasingly awkward dynamics in the US-Israel relationship, with the US forced to fly badly needed aid past its close ally as it looks to ramp up assistance for desperate civilians in Gaza. The first airdrop occurred just days after more than 100 Palestinians were killed as they were trying to get food from an Israel-organized convoy.
The White House agreed to the meeting with Gantz even as an official from Netanyahu's nationalist Likud party said Gantz did not have approval from the prime minister for his meetings in Washington. Netanyahu gave Gantz a "tough talk" about the visit – underscoring a widening crack within Israel's wartime leadership.
"We have been dealing with all members of the war Cabinet, including Mr. Gantz," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. "We see this as a natural outgrowth of those discussions. We're not going to turn away that sort of opportunity." In addition to his talks with Harris, Gantz met with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and National Security Council Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk. Gantz met with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and on Tuesday will sit down with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Gantz, just before the start of his White House meetings, told a reporter with Israel's public broadcaster Kan: "There will be an open and honest conversation between two friendly and important countries and partners."
It was unclear if Gantz during his White House talks diverged from Netanyahu's stances on Palestinian statehood or carrying out an expanded operation in the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah. The Biden administration has repeatedly warned Israel against a Rafah operation without a plan to protect civilians, and the White House said Harris reiterated that position in her meeting with Gantz. "I don't doubt there are some administration officials who believe just by meeting with Gantz they are undermining Netanyahu," said Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a conservative Washington think tank. "But if Gantz carries the government's line on key issues of disagreement, these meetings are net-negative for the White House while helpful back home for Gantz."