President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sept. 20, 2023. (Avi Ohayon/ Israel Government Press Office)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration says it is rescheduling a Washington visit by Israeli officials that was canceled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, creating an international incident.

Last week, President Joe Biden asked Netanyahu to send a delegation to Washington, D.C., to hear out American objections to Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah, the city on the Gaza-Egypt border that Israel says is the last redoubt of Hamas, the terrorist group that launched the war with an invasion on Oct. 7.Biden officials say a massive incursion into Rafah would be catastrophic because more than a million Palestinians have fled into the city, often at Israel’s behest.

“The Prime Minister’s Office has agreed has agreed to reschedule the meeting dedicated to Rafah so we’re now working with them to set to find a convenient date,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House spokeswoman, said Wednesday afternoon at the daily briefing for reporters.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Netanyahu and the White House had scheduled a visit between top officials for Wednesday, but Netanyahu canceled the visit on Monday after the Biden administration allowed a U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for a ceasefire.

Jean-Pierre said a separate visit this week, by Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, appeared to have calmed the waters. “They were constructive discussions with Israel’s defense minister over the last two days,” she said.

Netanyahu’s office did not reply to a request to confirm that a new date was planned. Jean-Pierre said she did not know yet how soon the visit would be.

Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack killed approximately 1,200 and took some 250 hostages. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war. More than 250 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the invasion of Gaza.

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas recently broke down after Hamas rejected a U.S.-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages. Hamas demanded a full ceasefire and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount