US President Joe Biden wants to ask “tough questions” when he meets Israeli officials in Tel Aviv on Wednesday but emphasize his relationship as a “true friend of Israel”, according to a spokesman for the US National Security Council.
Biden will begin his visit with a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, followed by a broader meeting with Israel’s War Cabinet, NSC spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Air Force One.
“He’s going to ask some tough questions,” Kirby said, including “where they want to go.”
“He will ask as a friend, a true friend of Israel,” Kirby added.
According to Kirby, Biden wants to emphasize that he does not want the conflict to expand. Kirby said he also wanted to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza and address the issue of hostages.
A meeting with Biden is planned during his visit Israeli first responders, as well as the families of the victims and people still missing or taken hostage, although Kirby could not say whether they were American or Israeli families.
Biden will also give a speech and meet with Israeli President Herzog before his departure.
On his flight home, Biden plans to speak with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President El-Sisi on the flight home, instead of the planned summit in Jordan that was canceled after Tuesday’s deadly hospital explosion in Gaza.
Some context: Biden’s arrival in war-torn Tel Aviv marks his strongest public show of support for Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 Israelis – and dozens of Americans. Other Americans and many Israelis are also being held hostage by Hamas. And at least 3,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the fighting began, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Tuesday.
Biden’s visit came less than a day after a horrific explosion at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City. Palestinian officials said hundreds were killed in the explosion in the center of the city and blamed Israel. The Israelis denied responsibility, blaming a failed Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket launch.