White House walks back Biden comments saying PM Netanyahu not ‘doing enough’ for hostage deal

Biden’s statement was 'puzzling' and 'dangerous' says an Israeli official

The White House on Monday evening walked back comments made by U.S. President Joe Biden, after he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to secure a hostage deal.

Earlier in the day, when responding to reporters' questions, Biden said “We are very close” to reaching an agreement between Israel and Hamas. However, when asked if Netanyahu was doing enough to finalize a deal, he replied, “No.”

In response to the off-the-cuff statement, a “senior official” in Netanyahu’s office responded: “It is puzzling that President Biden is pressing Prime Minister Netanyahu, who agreed to the US (hostage deal) proposal as early as May 31 and to the US bridging proposal on August 16, and not Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who continues to vehemently refuse any deal.”

Biden's comment “is especially dangerous when it is made just days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, including an American citizen,” the Israeli official added.

A U.S. official later told media outlets that Biden “has been clear that Hamas is responsible for killing [American-Israeli hostage] Hersh and the others and Hamas leaders will pay for their crimes.”

However, the official added that the U.S. president “is also calling for urgency from the Israeli government in securing the release of the missing remaining hostages.”

Later on Monday evening, Netanyahu told Israeli media he was unaware of the statements "attributed to Biden," without providing further details.

He also noted that senior U.S. officials, including State Secretary Antony Blinken, affirmed that Israel had agreed to a final bridging proposal presented by the U.S., while Hamas rejected it.

Meanwhile, Hamas quickly responded to Biden’s comments and declared them to be the “American recognition” that Netanyahu was undermining the hostage deal efforts.

On Monday evening, hundreds of Israeli protesters renewed their accusation that Netanyahu’s insistence on certain conditions, chief among the continued Israeli presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, was the main obstacle to a hostage deal.

“Until he goes, until he takes the blame,” chanted hundreds near Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea.

At the same time, hundreds advocated for a hostage and truce deal on Jerusalem’s Azza Street, while police barricades prevented them from approaching the Prime Minister’s residence about 100 feet away.

“Your decisions are leading to their deaths,” shouted Nissan Calderon, whose brother Ofer Calderon has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since last October.