US hopes Israeli defense minister can give clarity on Gaza war plans as rift with Netanyahu widens

Washington CNN —

American officials are hoping to gain a better understanding of Israel’s war plans in meetings this week with the country’s defense minister, who arrived in Washington as the rift widened between the Biden administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yoav Gallant has emerged as a top interlocutor for Biden advisers as the war in Gaza grinds on, and administration officials were hopeful the talks could yield greater clarity on Israel’s plans after ambiguous statements from Netanyahu over the weekend about the end of the war.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said during an interview on a conservative television station in Israel he was prepared to agree to a temporary pause in fighting in exchange for the release of some hostages in Gaza, while reiterating his position that the war will still continue after a ceasefire “to achieve the goal of eliminating” Hamas.

That appeared at odds with the US-backed Israeli proposal on the release of hostages that would ultimately result in a permanent ceasefire.

A day later, Netanyahu repeated his assertion the war wouldn’t end until all the hostages are returned, but insisted he wasn’t walking away from the Biden-endorsed ceasefire proposal.

“We will not end the war until we return all of our hostages – 120 hostages, the living and the deceased. We are committed to the Israeli proposal, which President Biden has welcomed. Our position has not changed,” he said, speaking at the Knesset plenum on Monday.

The two separate answers — delivered to two separate audiences — reflected the type of ambiguity from Netanyahu that has frustrated some Biden officials as they work to bring the fighting in Gaza to an end.

His remarks threatened to further strain relations