Biden spoke to reporters two days after six hostages, including one Israeli-American, were found after being killed by Hamas. Protests rocked Israel on Sunday.
Asked if Netanyahu was doing enough, Biden responded, “No.” Biden was arriving at the White House for a Situation Room meeting with advisers involved in negotiating a hostage deal and cease-fire. The president insisted that negotiators remain “very close” to a deal, adding that “hope springs eternal.”
Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis poured into the streets Sunday in grief and anger over the Hamas execution of the six hostages. The families and much of the public blamed Netanyahu, saying they could have been returned alive if the Israeli prime minister gave in to Hamas demands.
But others support Netanyahu’s strategy of maintaining military pressure on Hamas, whose Oct. 7 massacre of more than 1200 Israeli men, women and children, triggered the war. They say it will force the terrorists to give in to Israeli demands and ultimately annihilate the group.
