White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden will ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leadership “tough questions” during his visit to Israel on Wednesday.
“He’ll be asking some tough questions. He’ll be asking them as a friend, as a true friend of Israel,” Kirby told reporters en route to Israel, as quoted by The Hill.
Biden plans to discuss with the Israelis the situation on the ground, their objectives and intentions and the need to deter any actor, state or terrorist group from widening the conflict, said Kirby, who added that Biden plans to ask Netanyahu and the war cabinet what they believe their needs are from a security perspective.
Biden will also discuss the hostages held by Hamas, which includes some American citizens, and how to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
“By tough questions I don’t mean menacing or in any way adversarial. Just hard questions that a good friend of Israel would ask about where they think they are going, what their plans are going forward,” Kirby explained.
Kirby also commented on the explosion at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday, which was blamed by Hamas on Israel. The IDF officially confirmed that the IDF did not attack the hospital and that the explosion was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket.
Kirby said it was “important” for Biden to talk directly with Netanyahu about the explosion. “We certainly recognize that they feel very strongly this was not caused by them.”
He also commented on Biden canceling the Jordan leg of his trip moments before leaving the United States on Tuesday evening, after Jordan announced the cancellation of the summit that Biden, King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas were scheduled to hold together.
Kirby stressed that the decision to not visit Jordan was made “in a mutual way” with King Abdullah II, and they agreed that now is not the time for the meeting while the king starts three days of mourning.