Netanyahu travels to Washington to address member of Congress

Transcript

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

President Biden is not seeking another term, but he still has six months left to deal with major foreign policy matters such as the war in Gaza. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Washington today, he meets Biden tomorrow and he addresses Congress on Wednesday. NPR's Greg Myre joins us from Tel Aviv for a preview. Greg, what a time to show up to Washington, right? I mean, why is Netanyahu here?

GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Well, Biden didn't invite him. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson took the initiative, and he persuaded Democratic leaders in Congress to join him in inviting Netanyahu. Now, A, you may recall Biden came to Israel and embraced Netanyahu shortly after the Hamas invasion that ignited the war last October. But since then, the relationship has grown increasingly tense. Biden is frustrated with the way Netanyahu is prosecuting the war, especially the many thousands of Palestinian civilian deaths. And also, we'll be looking to see, will Vice President Kamala Harris want to have a high-profile role and look like a presidential candidate? Or will she want to lay low, since many Democrats are highly critical of Netanyahu, who is sure to face protesters.

MARTÍNEZ: So what message will each leader have for each other?

MYRE: Well, we can expect Biden to keep pressing for a cease-fire, which has been under discussion for months. You know, this is Netanyahu's first trip out of the region since the war began last fall, and just before he left, Netanyahu announced a delegation of Israelis will be heading to Qatar on Thursday to resume cease-fire talks. But there's still no sign of an imminent breakthrough. And I think for Netanyahu, the most important part of the visit will likely be his Wednesday address to a joint meeting of Congress. He has plenty of critics here in Israel. His country is increasingly isolated internationally. One of the few places he can expect strong applause is from Republicans in the U.S. Congress. Though, even there, some Democrats oppose him and even a few said they won't attend.

MARTÍNEZ: Now, Israel carried out a major airstrike in Yemen on Saturday. Fill us in on that, please.

MYRE: Yeah, so Israel sent dozens of fighter jets on a bombing raid on the key port of Hodeida on Yemen's Red Sea coast. The strikes hit oil and gas storage tanks. They set off this huge blaze and caused a lot of damage to the port. Now, Netanyahu cited two reasons. He called it a direct response to a Houthi drone attack near the Tel Aviv beachfront on Friday, which killed an Israeli man. And he said this port is where the Houthis receive many of the weapons from their main backer, Iran. Israel says the Houthis have fired more than 200 missiles and drones at Israel in recent months. And the Houthis call this act of solidarity with the Palestinians.

MARTÍNEZ: Now, the Israel-Hamas war is in its 10th month. How is Joe Biden likely going to approach Middle East turmoil, considering that, you know, he doesn't have much time left as president?

MYRE: Yeah, A, we'll certainly be watching to see if Biden alters his approach now that he's not running for reelection. He's been strongly supportive of Israel for decades. But he does want to see a cease-fire in the near term, so he could push harder on that front. And he definitely wants to keep regional fighting from spreading and escalating. The U.S. is heavily invested diplomatically. The U.S. Navy is defending against Houthi the attacks. Some small American bases have come under fire in the region. So in short, there's a lot of moving parts, and the president can expect more tough choices during the final months in office.

MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Greg Myre. Thanks, Greg.

MYRE: Sure thing, A.

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