President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone Monday morning about the Israel–Hamas war, their first call since Feb. 15.
The White House confirmed the call just before noon, saying the two spoke “to discuss the latest developments in Israel and Gaza, including the situation in Rafah and efforts to surge humanitarian assistance to Gaza.”
Tensions have emerged between the two countries over the war, as Biden is feeling pressure from within his party to do more to support civilians in Gaza.
Protesters demanding an end to hostilities have trailed Biden at nearly all of his events since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks sparked the war, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has called on Israel to hold new elections that could oust Netanyahu.
“Sen. Schumer contacted my staff, my senior staffer, that he was going to make that speech. And I’m not going to elaborate on the speech,” Biden said of those remarks. “He made a good speech, and I think he expressed serious concern shared not only by him but by many Americans.”
Though Biden steadfastly backed Netanyahu in the days following Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, he has gradually distanced himself from the Israel Defense Forces’s offensive in Gaza as civilian casualties continue to rise.
Netanyahu called Schumer’s remarks “totally inappropriate” and said that “we’re not a banana republic” that would hold elections based on the wishes of another country.
Biden administration officials say a pause in hostilities is possible, but Israel has rejected the latest proposal from Hamas.