Netanyahu spoke with Republican Senators. What he said was typical of his diplomatic approach

Today, Senate Republicans hosted a closed-door meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who attended a lunch via video call.

The call was announced with little notice — even some Republicans weren’t aware of it until moments before. When The Independent asked Senator Todd Young, a Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, for his prediction on how the meeting would go less than an hour before the lunch began, he revealed he wasn’t aware Netanyahu was even on the schedule.

The conversation concerned the current status of the Israel-Hamas war, with Netanyahu discussing the Israel Defense Forces’ planned invasion into Rafah. More than 1.4 million Palestinians are currently in the southern Gaza city after being displaced from the north by Israeli attacks. Netanyahu told Senate Republicans an invasion was necessary and that the IDF is committed to seeing it through, Senator Josh Hawley told reporters afterwards.

As Palestinians brace for a potential Rafah invasion, the United Nations, the European Union and several international aid agencies are warning of an imminent, widespread famine in Gaza.

Many Democrats criticized the meeting and Netanyahu’s politicization of the war. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer went so far as to reject Netanyahu’s request to speak with Democrats, saying these conversations should not happen in a “partisan manner,” Punchbowl News reported.

Senator Elizabeth Warren launched similar criticisms in discussion with The Independent.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu may serve his own political interests, but he is not serving the interests of the people of Israel,” the Massachusetts Democrat told The Independent. “He thinks that the only way that Israel will get the support that helps