Biden administration officials are laying the groundwork with other Israeli leaders in anticipation of a post-Netanyahu government.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken dialed up pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday over the future of the Gaza Strip, laying bare the Biden administration’s growing frustrations with the Israeli prime minister’s rejection of a proposal last week.
“There’s a profound opportunity for regionalization in the Middle East, in the greater Middle East that we have not had before,” Blinken said during an interview at the World Economic Forum’s summit in Davos, Switzerland. “The challenge is realizing it.”
Asked if Netanyahu is the prime minister for seizing this opportunity, Blinken said, “These are decisions for Israelis to make,” adding, “This is an inflection point."
Blinken’s comments, made during an interview with New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, come just a week after a trip to the Middle East to try to get Israel and Arab leaders to agree on a path forward for Gaza once the war with Hamas ends.
The Biden administration and Netanyahu’s divisions over Israel’s handling of its war with Hamas, as well as the Israeli leader’s refusal to consider U.S. proposals for a post-war Gaza, have only become more pronounced since Blinken’s visit to Israel, according to multiple senior administration officials.
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WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken dialed up pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday over the future of the Gaza Strip, laying bare the Biden administration’s growing frustrations with the Israeli prime minister’s rejection of a proposal last week.
Blinken’s comments, made during an interview with New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, come just a week after a trip to the Middle East to try to get Israel and Arab leaders to agree on a path forward for Gaza once the war with Hamas ends.
Blinken’s major achievement on the trip was getting a commitment from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and four other Arab leaders to help rebuild Gaza after the war, multiple senior administration officials said.
The Saudi crown prince offered to normalize relations with Israel as part of a Gaza reconstruction agreement — a diplomatic development Netanyahu has long sought — but only if the Israeli leader agrees to provide Palestinians with a pathway to statehood, the officials said.
A source familiar with the discussions between Blinken and Netanyahu acknowledged “the ball is in the prime minister’s court” but cautioned that the Israeli government’s current position on the Arab leaders’ proposal, including the Saudi deal, may not hold.
According to U.S. officials, that call ended abruptly in a disagreement over Israel’s refusal to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues it has been withholding from the Palestinian Authority since the war began.
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