Israel’s opposition leader, centrist Yair Lapid, left for Washington on Saturday to meet senior US officials, against a backdrop of tensions between the Israeli government and the White House over Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid is in Washington for talks with top officials, his party said, as tensions between the two governments grow over Israel’s handling of the Gaza war.
Lapid is expected to meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other officials, his centrist Yesh Atid party said on X.
“They haven’t learned anything. They haven’t changed. Until we send them home, they won’t give this country a chance to move forward.”
Opposition Leader @YairLapid speaks out against Netanyahu’s government at a demonstration tonight in Kfar Saba pic.twitter.com/fWHWQA26Zh
— Yesh Atid English 🟠 (@YeshAtidEnglish) April 6, 2024
This visit comes at a time when relations between the current Israeli Prime Minister and the US administration are at an all-time low. In this context, Lapid’s visit could represent a form of legitimization for the latter vis-à-vis the White House, Israel’s closest ally.
Biden Threatens Netanyahu
President Joe Biden has stood by Israel through six months of devastating fighting, but the killing of seven aid workers in an Israeli air strike earlier this week appears to have brought him the closest yet to a breaking point.
In a tense 30-minute telephone call with Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, Biden told the Israeli premier that the strike was “unacceptable” and called for an “immediate ceasefire”.
The two men discussed “the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said afterwards.
It added that Biden “made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action.”
Even before the killing of the aid workers, Washington had voiced concern over Netanyahu’s plans for a ground offensive in the far-southern city of Rafah, which is crammed with 1.5 million civilians, many of them displaced from other parts of Gaza.
During his visit, Lapid will also meet with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who last month called for a snap election in Israel to give voters a chance to get rid of Netanyahu, whom he described as one of the “major obstacles” to peace.
The Israeli premier dubbed Schumer’s comments “totally inappropriate”, insisting: “We’re not a banana republic.”
With AFP
