01/20/2024 00:24 (current 01/20/2024 00:30)
Netanyahu expressed his concerns ©APA/AFP/Archive
According to the White House, US President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and explained to him his vision of a two-state solution. In Friday's conversation, Biden discussed his vision for Israel's lasting peace and security in the region, said National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby.
Although Netanyahu has expressed his concerns, Biden still firmly believes that a two-state solution is the right path. “We’re not going to agree on every issue,” Kirby said. Good friends and allies could have this kind of open and honest discussion.
Netanyahu on Thursday rejected a Palestinian state after the end of the war in Gaza, in open contradiction with the US. Eyeing a two-state solution at the request of the US, Netanyahu said he must be able to say “no” when necessary, even to his best friends. Kirby has now said this will not change Biden's view that the best long-term solution for regional security, especially the security of the Israeli people, is a free and independent Palestinian state. The US would continue to promote it.
Biden was optimistic, at least publicly. When asked by a reporter at an event in Washington on Friday afternoon (local time) whether a two-state solution would be impossible while Netanyahu was in power, Biden responded: “No, it is not,” according to press reports present. . He thinks a solution will be found. There are “different types of two-state solutions.”
According to information from Washington, the conversation also covered other topics, such as the transition from the Israeli offensive to more targeted military operations, which aim to provide increasingly more humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip – while maintaining pressure on the Hamas leadership. Islamic. Biden also addressed Israel's responsibility to reduce harm to civilians and protect the innocent. The US President welcomed the Israeli government's decision to allow the delivery of flour through the port of Ashdod. Teams from both countries worked separately on options for more direct delivery of aid by sea to the Gaza Strip.