WASHINGTON — President Biden didn’t say “no” Friday when asked if he threatened to cut off aid to Israel during a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the previous day.
“I asked them to do what they’re doing,” Biden replied cryptically on the White House lawn to a reporter question as he departed for a trip to Baltimore to examine the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.
When a reporter asked Biden if he was “abandoning Israel,” the president responded by asking, “Where you from, man?”
After the journalist repeated the question, Biden said, “Is that a serious question?” before walking away.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that Biden warned Netanyahu there could be US “policy changes” if Israel didn’t make its own changes to prevent killings of civilians and humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip.
Biden’s call with Netanyahu came after he said into a hot mic following his State of the Union address March 7 that he intended to have a “come to Jesus” talk about Gaza with the Jewish state’s head of government.
The president initially pledged “unwavering” support to Israel as it launched its invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists that killed about 1,200 people, including 33 Americans.
Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, also took about 250 hostages back to the Palestinian enclave.
The terrorist group still holds an estimated 134 hostages, including five US citizens.
Biden spoke with Netanyahu after an Israeli airstrike on Monday killed seven aid workers with celebrity chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen charity group.
The White House has been increasingly critical of Israel ahead of a potential offensive against the Hamas-held city of Rafah near the Egyptian border. US officials believe most of the territory’s more than 2 million people have fled earlier fighting into the final major region under Hamas control.
Kirby said Thursday that Biden’s support for Israel “remains ironclad,” but that there would be unspecified consequences if there was not “changes in the way civilian harm is mitigated .”
“Will there perhaps be some policy changes we might have to make if we don’t see policy changes out of Israel? Yes,” Kirby said.
“I share the view that every conceivable effort must be made to minimize Palestinian casualties, to maximize humanitarian aid to Palestinians in distress,” South Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) told CNN on Friday.
“But at the same time, any attempt to fundamentally undermine the US-Israel relationship will ultimately benefit Hamas, which had perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, a fact that the world seems to have forgotten,” Torres said.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) spoke with The Post and other reporters on Friday about his trip this week to meet with US embassy officials and lead negotiators in Egypt and Qatar, where his “number-one focus” was on “getting the hostages home” — including his own constituent Edan Alexander, 19.
In response to a question about whether it was “appropriate” for Biden to potentially threaten to withhold US aid from the Israelis, Gottheimer stressed that it was “essential that we get more humanitarian aid” into Gaza as it was “essential that we stand by our key ally.”
“You want to always be cautious about doing anything to undermine … the Israelis and empower Hamas, a terrorist organization,” the Democrat answered. “It’s really important that all actions and decisions keep that in mind.”
“The president also reiterated the importance of getting the hostages home, which I think over and over again from every party was the number one goal,” Gottheimer also said.
Asked by The Post whether Biden was advocating enough for the release of hostages, Gottheimer replied that CIA Director William Burns, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and the White House were “working around the clock to find a way, to find a path forward.”
“I really get the sense that, yes, we are incredibly engaged even as there are public comments going on,” he also said. “It’s ultimately up to Hamas and the Israelis to take the next step. … Hamas, tomorrow, could release hostages.”
On Friday, Israel announced that it would open more aid routes into Gaza in the north at the Erez border crossing and the port of Ashdod.
“The real test is results, and that’s what we’re looking to see in the coming days and in the coming weeks,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels. “Is the aid effectively reaching people who need it throughout Gaza? Are the bottlenecks and other delays at crossings being resolved? Do we have a much better system for deconfliction and coordination so that the humanitarian workers, the folks who are delivering the aid, can do it safely and securely?”
Blinken added that the US would be particularly watching “things like the number of trucks that are actually getting in on a sustained basis, and not just getting in but then getting around, the aid being distributed throughout Gaza, including critically northern Gaza.”
“The fact that almost 100% of the population is acutely food insecure, that there are indicators of potential famine, we’ll be looking closely at those to see that they’re reversed,” he went on.
Biden faces a revolt from major Democratic voting blocs, including younger Americans, Muslim Americans and Arab Americans — who are mostly Christian — that could doom his re-election bid in swing states such as Michigan.
The president said last month in an MSNBC interview that “you can’t have another 30,000 Palestinians dead” — the latest instance of him appearing to accept Hamas figures for Palestinian deaths in Gaza.
Biden’s administration, however, has continued to approve more weaponry for Israel.
In the past month, the US approved shipments of 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, the Washington Post reported, and approved a $2.5 billion transfer of 25 F-35A fighter jets and engines.
The administration also reportedly is preparing to clear the sale of 50 F-15 fighter jets to Israel for $18 billion.