JNS
The U.S. president, vice president and key advisers met about "the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal" in the Situation Room on Labor Day.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and senior advisers met in the White House Situation Room on Monday, a U.S. federal holiday, to discuss "next steps in the ongoing effort to secure the release of hostages, including continuing consultations with co-mediators Qatar and Egypt," according to a White House readout.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, CIA director Bill Burns, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Brett McGurk, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, also took part in the working Labor Day meeting, as did White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, principal deputy national security advisor Jon Finer and Phil Gordon, national security advisor to Harris, the White House stated.
The meeting, per the readout, related to "the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal," and it came as the White House faces criticism for not doing enough to save the hostages, including U.S. citizens.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.)—the only U.S. congressman to don both U.S. and Israeli military uniforms—wrote that it is "puzzling that from the moment Americans were taken hostage in Gaza, neither Joe Biden nor Kamala Harris made the commitment that there will be Americans coming to get them."
On Sunday, Mast stated that "Biden and Harris emboldened Hamas to attack and hold Americans hostage. Then they withheld the weapons Israel needed to get them back."
"As a result, an American citizen is dead along with five other hostages," he wrote of the Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. "This is betrayal by the commander-in-chief."
"Hamas terrorists have committed unspeakable war crimes and what happened days ago was no exception," wrote Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.). "Since Oct. 7, Israel has been ready to recover hostages and defeat Hamas, but the Biden-Harris administration has purposely slow-walked them. Biden-Harris weakness is getting Americans killed."
‘Going to continue to push as hard as we can’
The White House referred in the readout to "the murder of American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages by Hamas," and stated that Biden "expressed his devastation and outrage at the murder, and reaffirmed the importance of holding Hamas’s leaders accountable."
"During the meeting, President Biden and Vice President Harris received an update from the U.S. negotiation team on the status of the bridging proposal outlined by the United States, Qatar and Egypt," the White House added.
Before the meeting, Biden said that he was "following up on what's happening in Israel" and that "we're very close" to presenting a final hostage deal, per the pool report.
"Asked why he thinks this deal will be successful in a way that others have not: 'Hope springs eternal,'" per the pool. "Asked if it's time Netanyahu should do more on this issue; does he think Netanyahu is doing enough: 'No.'"
Per the pool, Biden was also asked about the demonstrations in Israel. "I'm going to get the details when I walk in, and I'll talk after that," the president said, according to the pool. "Asked about a message for hostages' families, Biden said: 'I've spoken to the American hostage, I spoke to his mom and dad, and we're not giving up. We're going to continue to push as hard as we can.'"
"The guy, who is on a vacation, from his vacation is telling the guy in the middle of a fight that he needs to work harder," stated Sean Spicer, a former White House press secretary and former communications director under then President Donald Trump.
Late last month, the Republican National Committee charged that Biden "has spent a total of 532 days (40.3% of his presidency) on vacation," adding, "Who's running the country?"
"What has President Biden done to pressure Qatar, Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran other than fawning over and praising Doha and appeasing Tehran?" wrote Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran. "These are three countries which have leverage over Hamas. What has he done?"
‘When did America become so spineless?’
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) stated that "Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have put more pressure on Israel than they put on Hamas, Iran and Iran's other terror proxies. Weakness from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris continues to embolden Hamas."
"Qatar is Hamas's main financial backer and the chief protector of its top leaders. That makes Qatar responsible for Hamas's abduction of U.S. citizens, one of whom 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was just murdered," wrote Jeff Jacoby, a Boston Globe columnist.
"Yet the Biden-Harris treats the regime in Doha as a friend. It has never demanded the extradition of Hamas chieftains to be tried in the U.S. for accessory to murder," Jacoby added. "It won't even declare Qatar a state sponsor of terrorism. When did America become so spineless?"
"How many more of these funerals have to happen before Kamala Harris and Joe Biden start playing hardball and put the sanctions back on Iran?" wrote Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor, who sought the Republican nomination for president this cycle.
"Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, none of these terror groups take this administration seriously," Haley stated. "Cut off their money so the horror stops."
