Israeli PM cancels talks with White House on Rafah invasion

The Biden administration at a Monday press briefing was “perplexed” at Israel canceling the planned discussion on a possible invasion of the city of Rafah, officials said. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the administration still discouraged Israel from invading Rafah.

Is this about today’s UN Security Council resolution? The UN Security Council’s resolution called for an immediate cease-fire and an immediate release of hostages held by Palestinian militants, according to a UN statement. The United States abstained from the vote, allowing the resolution to be confirmed while not approving it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Monday said it canceled the discussion about Rafah because the United States declined to vote. “The United States has abandoned its policy in the UN,” Netanyahu’s office said. The statement criticized the cease-fire resolution for not making its Israel policy “contingent” on Hamas releasing hostages.

Did the United States change its position? Kirby on Monday said that the United States had not changed its policy regarding Israel by abstaining from the vote. He noted that the resolution was non-binding and said that the United States still stands with Israel. He said that the White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “just a few steps away” in another room of the White House during his comments at the press briefing.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about the UN Security Council resolution’s passage.