President Biden claimed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure a hostage deal with Hamas terrorists.
Biden made the remarks to reporters before heading into the Situation Room, where he and Vice President Harris convened with a hostage deal negotiating team following the murder of 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages by Hamas on Saturday.
The meeting was closed to the press, but the White House provided a readout and photos afterward.
"President Biden expressed his devastation and outrage at the murder, and reaffirmed the importance of holding Hamas’s leaders accountable," the White House said. "During the meeting, President Biden and Vice President Harris received an update from the U.S. negotiation team on the status of the bridging proposal outlined by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt. They discussed next steps in the ongoing effort to secure the release of hostages, including continuing consultations with co-mediators Qatar and Egypt."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was seated next to Harris during the meeting, one photo showed. Other participants were CIA Director Bill Burns, Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, National Security Affairs adviser Jake Sullivan, as well as Jon Finer, Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy National Security Advisor, Phil Gordon, Assistant to the President & National Security Advisor to the Vice President, and Brett McGurk, Deputy Assistant to the President & Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, National Security Council.
Biden had taken questions from the press earlier Monday before heading into the Situation Room. On the South Lawn of the White House, where Biden disembarked from Marine One upon returning from his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, one reporter asked, "Mr. President, do you think it’s time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do more on this issue? Do you think he is doing enough?
"No," the president responded flatly.
Asked what makes him think this deal will be successful in a way that the other proposals were not, Biden said earlier Monday, "Hope springs eternal." The president said "we're very close" to being able to present a final hostage deal. He told reporters he was headed into a national security meeting and would be going to Pittsburgh later in the day.
"Yes. I have spoken to the American hostage … I spoke to his mom and dad, and we are not giving up. We are going to continue to push as hard as we can. Thank you," Biden said.
Before Biden and Harris went into the Situation Room, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of an Israeli-American hostage still being held by Hamas, pleaded for the U.S. and Israel to broker a deal "with Satan."
NETANYAHU MOURNS DEATHS OF SIX HOSTAGES RECOVERED IN GAZA, VOWS TO 'SETTLE ACCOUNTS' WITH HAMAS
Dekel-Chen, appearing on "Fox & Friends," acknowledged that the United States together with Qatar and Egypt are trying to broker an agreement between Israel and "a savage terrorist organization," but insisted that Israeli intelligence shows Hamas' forces are depleted at this stage.
He said Netanyahu cannot offer "an excuse anymore to not complete this deal" to bring the remaining 101 hostages, including seven Americans, taken into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, home.
Israel saw a massive labor strike on Monday after demonstrators took to the streets in droves Sunday protesting Israel's leadership's failure to reach an agreement to release the hostages 11 months into the war.
