Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer is expected in Washington on Tuesday for meetings at the White House and State Department about Israel's plans for eventually scaling down the war and transitioning to a low-intensity operation in Gaza, two Israeli and US officials told Axios’ Barak Ravid on Monday.
The meetings that Dermer is expected to have will take place amid growing tensions between the Biden administration and the Israeli government over when the high-intensity phase of the war should end and what will happen in Gaza after it does.
Dermer is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's closest confidant.
A senior US official told Axios the main issue of discussion between the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government is "how to wrap things up and on what timeframe."
Dermer is set to meet with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and members of Congress, a senior Israeli official said.
He is expected to discuss Israel's plans for the low-intensity phase in the war, which Israeli officials expect to start by the end of January, and how civilian affairs in Gaza will be managed in the long transition phase ahead, the Israeli official said.
The official added that Dermer will also discuss Netanyahu's thinking regarding what happens in Gaza when the war ends, including who governs the enclave in the long term.
The Biden administration has said publicly it wants the Palestinian Authority to have a role in governing Gaza in a post-Hamas reality. Netanyahu has previously rejected that idea but in recent weeks Dermer and other Israeli officials started speaking to their US counterparts about what they called "R.P.A" — reformed Palestinian Authority, a US official told Axios.
Dermer is also expected to discuss the concern about Israel's munitions stockpile and the request that the US expedite weapons shipments, an Israeli official told Axios.
The White House declined to comment. Dermer's office and the State Department didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.