Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is pushing back against President Biden over American concerns about the assassination of the political leader of Hamas and Israel’s approach to cease-fire talks in the latest rift between the two allies since the war in Gaza began 10 months ago.
In what a U.S. official described as a heated conversation on Thursday, Mr. Netanyahu denied that Israel was an obstacle to a cease-fire agreement and rejected Mr. Biden’s contention that the killing of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil could sabotage efforts to reach a deal halting hostilities and freeing hostages.
A senior Israeli government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive relations between the two countries, said in an interview that Mr. Netanyahu insisted he was not trying to block a cease-fire. While he acknowledged that the death of Mr. Haniyeh, the main negotiator in the cease-fire talks, would interrupt progress for a few days, Mr. Netanyahu argued that it would ultimately hasten the finalization of an agreement by putting more pressure on Hamas, according to the Israeli official.
Mr. Biden contended that the assassination of Mr. Haniyeh was poorly timed, coming right at what the Americans hoped would be the endgame of the process, according to the U.S. official, who likewise did not want to be identified describing private talks. Moreover, Mr. Biden expressed concern that carrying out the operation in Tehran could trigger the wider regional war that he has been trying to avert.
According to both governments, the Israelis did not inform the Americans of the plan to kill Haniyeh even though Mr. Biden had hosted Mr. Netanyahu at the White House just days before. Mr. Netanyahu did not want to compromise the Americans by giving them a heads-up, the Israeli official said. For their part, American officials have made no objections to being left in the dark.
Mr. Biden alluded to his worries about the combustible situation in the Middle East during a brief late-night conversation with reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Thursday after welcoming home three Americans released by Russia in a prisoner swap.
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