US State Secretary Blinken visits Israel amid sharpening differences about Gaza's future

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Kirya, the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, on Tuesday before he was expected to join a meeting of Israel’s War Cabinet.

According to Israeli media reports, during the meeting, Blinken raised a request for a significant increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“The secretary reaffirmed our support for Israel’s right to prevent the terrorist attacks of October 7 from being repeated and stressed the importance of avoiding further civilian harm and protecting civilian infrastructure in Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said after the meeting.

He also delivered a warning to Israel to not get enmeshed in a larger war in Lebanon, according to a Washington Post report.

“President Biden has dispatched his top aides to the Middle East with a critical objective: Prevent a full-blown war from erupting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah,” the Post reported on Sunday.

“Blinken is set to arrive Monday in Israel, where he will discuss specific steps to ‘avoid escalation,’ his spokesman Matthew Miller said before boarding a plane to the Middle East.”

The skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah on the Lebanese border reached new heights this week, with Israel assassinating senior Hamas commander Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut and Hezbollah hitting the IDF Northern Command headquarters with a drone.

On Tuesday morning, before the meeting with Netanyahu and the War Cabinet, Blinken met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who impressed upon him that South Africa's lawsuit against Israel for the claim of “genocide” in Gaza was “preposterous.”

“Yesterday, I had a long conversation with the [U.S.] Vice President,” Herzog told Blinken after their fifth meeting since the start of the war on Oct. 7.

“I want to thank the United States of America, President Biden, and the administration, and you Secretary Blinken for your moral call of duty, for the fact that you're standing steadfast with Israel in this battle, which has to do clearly with humanity and with the values of the free world. Thank you very much,” Herzog said.

Before traveling to Israel, Blinken had met with Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi and with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Blinken said he was looking forward to sharing with Israeli leaders what he heard from other leaders in the region whom he had just visited.

“I returned from a visit to several countries in the region. They have a desire for the integration of Israel in the region - but they must have some kind of political vision,” Blinken said in Israel.

“And of course, we'll have an opportunity to sit with the families of some of the hostages and discuss our relentless efforts to bring everyone home, back with their families. And there's lots to talk about in particular, about the way forward,” he added.

In advance of the visit, ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg wrote that after the Biden administration’s initially strong support for Israel, “its support for the Jewish state is noticeably weakening.”

Blinken said last Sunday that the IDF’s transition to a lower-intensity phase of fighting could enable the possibility of allowing displaced Palestinians to return to the northern Gaza Strip, “as soon as conditions allow.”

An Israeli official told the Axios news outlet that Israel wouldn’t allow this without significant progress toward the release of some 130 Israeli hostages who are still being held captive in Gaza by Hamas terrorists and operatives.

Amid reports of Blinken’s demands, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Tuesday tweeted: “Mr. Secretary Blinken, it’s not the time to speak softly with Hamas, it’s time to use that big stick.”