Biden and Harris meet separately with Netanyahu at the White House

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday amid the 2024 election race shakeup and as the U.S. still pushes for a cease-fire agreement.

Biden hosted Netanyahu in the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting on Thursday afternoon,and the two leaders also metwith families of American hostages held hostage in Gaza.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office before the meeting, Netanyahu thanked Biden for his 50 years of public service and his support of the state of Israel.

“Mr. President, we’ve known each other for 40 years and you’ve known every Israeli prime minister for 50 years from Golda Meir. So from a proud Jewish Zionist, to a proud Irish American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

Biden only offered a few words in response before the press left, recalling meeting with Meir and joking that he was “only 12 when it happened.”

Thursday marked the first time the two havemet in person since Biden visited Israel shortly after Hamas' terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Harris spoke with Netanyahu later on Thursday in the vice president's ceremonial office, a meeting that's taken on higher stakes now that she's running for president following Biden's decision to withdraw from the race. Harris missed Netanyahu's speech before a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday because of a previously scheduled event in Indianapolis. Typically, the vice president presides over joint addresses.

A senior administration official told reporters Wednesday that Biden planned to discuss his "ironclad commitment to Israel's security, the very