US President Joe Biden is still expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits Washington next week but it will depend on his recovery from Covid, the White House said Thursday.
“We have every expectation that the two leaders will have a chance to see each other while Prime Minister Netanyahu is in town,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a briefing.
Netanyahu is set to address the US Congress on Wednesday and Israeli media had reported a meeting with Biden on Monday, but Kirby said, “I can’t tell you at this point what that exactly is going to look like.”
“We need to make sure that the president’s health and his recovery from Covid takes priority and if and how that might affect a discussion with the prime minister.”
Israel’s war in Gaza will be top of the agenda for the meeting, with Biden pressing for a peace deal with Hamas.
Ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, Israeli lawmakers passed a symbolic resolution opposing the creation of a Palestinian state — a move criticized by the United Nations and one that clashes with US ambitions for the region.
“I think the best way I can respond to that is to just reiterate our firm belief in the power and the promise of the two-state solution,” said Kirby when asked about Thursday’s vote.
“And that is not something that President Biden is going to give up on,” he added.
“We’re going to keep doing everything we can to try to achieve that outcome.”
Biden was suffering from mild symptoms after testing positive for Covid on Wednesday, Kirby said, taking him off the campaign trail just as he fights mounting calls from Democrats to quit his reelection bid.
Kirby said that neither the political turmoil nor illness had affected Biden’s duties.
“While he’s certainly focused on getting better, as anyone who has Covid would want to do, he’s being kept up to speed as appropriate by his leadership team and certainly that includes on the national security front,” he said.
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