Speaking to reporters before boarding his flight back to Israel Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called his meeting with US President Joe Biden "very warm and very helpful."

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"A direct and personal connection was made between President Biden and myself, a connection based on trust," he said.

"We achieved all of the objectives we set out for the visit and more. We agreed to joint strategic work to block the Iranian race for nuclear [weapons] with the Americans. We took a significant step in equipping and building Israeli power."

As for efforts to include Israelis in the US visa waiver program, Biden noted: "As you have heard, for the first time, President Biden ordered [efforts] to move forward and close the issue as quickly as possible."

Bennett concluded his remarks by thanking Biden for his warm reception.

Immediately following Bennett's Friday meeting with the US president, Bennett said: "It was an excellent meeting, especially the one-on-one. It was largely a working meeting. There was a feeling that we've known each other for a long time. I found a leader who loves Israel, knows exactly what he wants, and is attentive to our needs," he said.

"As for Iran, both President Biden and ourselves are determined Iran will never be able to acquire nuclear weapons. I'm glad we agree on the objective. Our staff will work in the coming months to develop channels of cooperation. There isn't much time. The issue is urgent and cannot be pushed off," the Israeli leader said.

"I invited the president to Israel once we defeat the Delta [variant], and I really thank and his entire time for his determination to hold the meeting. Immediately after the meeting was canceled yesterday, he said he wanted to hold it no matter what. He said it with determination. I thank him for his attention and focus in the midst of a complex American event," he said, referring to chaos in Afghanistan due to the US withdrawal from the country.

Following their meeting, Biden tweeted: "It was an honor to welcome Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to the White House today. We strengthened the enduring partnership between our two nations and underscored the United States' unwavering commitment to Israel's security."

It was an honor to welcome Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to the White House today. We strengthened the enduring partnership between our two nations and underscored the United States' unwavering commitment to Israel's security. pic.twitter.com/nZYxp9zsWd

— President Biden (@POTUS) August 27, 2021

According to a diplomatic source in the prime minister's entourage, "One of the objectives of the meeting was to forge an unmediated connection between the two leaders." We also wanted to lay out "our strategy on Iran and all its layers," they explained.

He said the Israelis presented two objectives as part of Bennett's strategic plan for Iran: Putting the ayatollah regime back into a corner and putting an end to its ability to achieve nuclear breakout capability.

According to the source, Bennett's analogy was one of the Cold War, in which Israel played the role of the democratic, vibrant, and economically strong US while Iran was in the role of the rotten regime.

The source emphasized Bennett met with Biden after reassessing Israel's policies on Iran. "He had prejudices, but he came with an open mind, and we learned some new things."

They noted the Israeli delegation emphasized Jerusalem's opposition to a return to the original nuclear deal as it would not have the same effect on Iran's nuclear program.

"The Iranians will maintain their knowledge because six years have already passed. The logic, to the extent that there was any, of the original deal was that Israel could take advantage of the years in which it was in effect. But those years have already passed, and they were not used. The Americans will exhaust the diplomatic channels, but there are also other options. It's important to them to work with us on the Iran issue," according to the diplomatic source.

They said they were pleased with Biden's statement, and that everyone understood what he meant when he said that "if diplomacy fails, we're ready to turn to other options." The source said the Israeli delegation believes it is highly important for the region that the US maintains a presence in Iraq and Syria.

"There is a lot of faith on the Israeli side that we can succeed against Iran in the grey area, which is not just through one path. The approach Bennett believes in is multi-faceted," and will work by taking the wind out of Iran's sails, they said.

The source said they were pleasantly surprised by the Americans' openness on the Iran issue. They noted there was not much optimism on the ability to achieve a nuclear deal. "It depends on Israel, Israel isn't a party to the agreement anyway."

Israel was reported to have requested additional measures in accordance with Bennett's comprehensive plan for Iran. "We had concrete requests" pertaining to Iran's nuclear program, they said.

The source was pleased that this time, Biden had asserted "lran will not acquire nuclear weapons" without using the phrase "on my watch."

Asked whether the US would recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the source responded it would not.

Against the background of increased tensions on the Israel-Gaza Strip border, the source said the Israeli delegation emphasized to the Americans Israelis had no ideological desire for the coastal enclave and did not seek a return to the territory. The source noted Israel's three objectives were to keep terrorist organizations in Gaza from amassing weapons, stop their firing of rockets at Israel, and find a solution to the issue of the Israeli captives and hostages held by Hamas.

"As long as these issues are taken care of, the sky is the limit for our willingness to help Gaza. The problem is that they are using what we bring in against us," the source said.

The source said a stabilizing process would soon be implemented in Gaza. "We stopped the suitcases full of dollars, we transferred [the funds] to 100,000 families [in Gaza instead].

"We are allowing tactical things, strategic things will be dependent on the three conditions. The model of rounds [of fighting] is also problematic. We need to put an end to that," they said.

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According to the diplomatic official, "On the Palestinian issue, when you're in a government with New Hope member and Housing and Construction Minister Ze'ev Elkin and Health Minister and Meretz party leader Nitzan Horowitz, there are demarcated boundaries, and there won't be any sharp turns or dramatic changes. The American position is known. The position is not new. Both sides are determined not to allow this thing to define the relationship. They don't want it to be dominant. There are no solutions."

The source claimed the current perception was different from that of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We have been in retreat for 10 years in Area C [which is under IDF military and civilian control]. Is this the only thing - absolutely not, but there are a lot of other issues. This is not the exclusive issue," they said.

As for the possibility of the Americans reopening a Palestinian consulate in east Jerusalem, the source noted the prime minister's stance on the issue – that such a move would signal that Israel was in practice dividing the capital -  has not changed. Although the source said the issue was raised in passing, "when there is no fire, you don't need to insist on bringing gasoline."

The source said Biden did what the Israeli delegation had hoped for when he said the Americans would work on including Israelis in the visa waiver program.

The source said Israelis must keep in mind that despite the events in Kabul, the Americans went out of their way to ensure the meeting was held. "This wasn't just a matter of etiquette. This is super important. There are things that can't be pushed off."

The source noted that the meetings with senior cabinet members on national security turned out to be the most important.

Describing the cabinet members, the source said they were "a very smart group with a lot of goodwill, and they have opinions, but at least on the surface, they have cognitive flexibility and they're attentive."

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US President Joe Biden's efforts to persuade Benjamin Netanyahu to halt military strikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip are plunging the two leaders into a difficult early test of the US-Israeli relationship.

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The two have had other moments of tension over the years, and their current differences over the war in Gaza create a challenge that Biden was trying mightily to avoid.

Biden told Netanyahu in a telephone call Wednesday that he expected "significant de-escalation" of the fighting by day's end, according to the White House. Netanyahu came right back with a public declaration that he was "determined to continue" the Gaza operation "until its objective is achieved."

While he said he "greatly appreciates the support of the American president," Netanyahu said nonetheless that Israel would push ahead.

This is not where Biden had hoped to expend his time and energy.

The president has tried to avoid getting bogged down in an interminable effort to establish an elusive Middle East peace that many of his White House predecessors have dedicated precious time to without much success.

This is not the first time Biden and Netanyahu have been publicly at odds.

As vice president, Biden kept Netanyahu waiting for a dinner meeting after the Israeli leader approved the construction of 1,600 new apartments in east Jerusalem in the middle of Biden's 2010 visit to Israel.

Netanyahu sought to patch up hurt feelings at the dinner. However, after the meal, Biden admonished the prime minister in a statement, saying the move undermined a US effort to persuade the Palestinians to resume peace talks.

Later, Obama and Netanyahu's relationship cratered due to White House efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran.

Amid the tension between Obama and Netanyahu, Biden went out of his way during a 2014 speech before the Jewish Federations of North America to say that he and Netanyahu were "still buddies," albeit with a somewhat complicated relationship. Biden noted that he had once inscribed a photo for Netanyahu with "Bibi I don't agree with a damn thing you say, but I love you.'"

In late 2019, during a question and answer session with voters on the campaign trail, Biden called Netanyahu "counterproductive" and an "extreme Right" leader. He also accused Palestinian leaders of "fomenting" the conflict and "baiting everyone who is Jewish" and suggested some on the US political left give the Palestinian Authority "a pass" when criticizing Israeli leadership.

Netanyahu had a notably better relationship with President Donald Trump, whom he praised for moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem and brokering a normalization of relations between Israel and Arab Gulf neighbors Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Morocco and Sudan.

Biden's call on Netanyahu to de-escalate the fighting came as political and international pressure mounted on the US president to intervene more forcefully to push for an end to the hostilities. Biden, until Wednesday, had avoided pressing Israel more directly and publicly for a ceasefire or conveying that level of urgency for ending Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas in the thickly populated Gaza Strip.

His administration has relied instead on what officials described as "quiet, intensive" diplomacy, including quashing a UN Security Council statement that would have addressed a ceasefire. The administration's handling opened a divide between Biden and some Democratic lawmakers, dozens of whom have called for a ceasefire.

Egypt and some others have worked without success to broker a halt to the fighting, while Hamas officials indicated publicly they would keep up their rocket barrages into Israel as long as Israel continued airstrikes.

Netanyahu, in his statement, made clear he had no plans to immediately wind down Israeli strikes targeting Hamas leaders and supply tunnels in Gaza, a 25-mile by 6-mile strip of territory that is home to more than 2 million people.

"With every passing day, we are striking at more of the terrorist organizations' capabilities, targeting more senior commanders, toppling more terrorist buildings, and hitting more weaponry stockpiles," Netanyahu said.

The White House did not respond directly to Netanyahu's statement but said top Biden advisers continued to be in "hour by hour" contact with their Israeli counterparts.

The State Department said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Wednesday with Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and "reinforced the message that the US expects to see de-escalation on the path to a ceasefire."

Biden's relationship with Netanyahu could be further complicated for the president by a shifting tide on Israel among some congressional Democrats. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has called Israel an "apartheid state," and Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has labeled Israeli airstrikes "terrorism." Biden, during a visit to Michigan on Tuesday, had an animated conversation about the ongoing fighting with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who has family in the West Bank. Tlaib told Biden that his administration must do far more to protect Palestinian lives, according to a person familiar with their conversation,

Soon after Netanyahu announced he planned to continue operations, Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin introduced a resolution opposing the sale of $735 million in military weaponry to Israel. The sale has already been approved by the Biden administration. Separately, 138 House Democrats on Wednesday signed a letter, organized by Rep. David Price of North Carolina, urging Biden and his administration to "boldly lead and take decisive action to end the violence."

The fighting, the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence since 2014, has killed at least 219 Palestinians, many of whom the IDF said were terrorists and 12 Israelis.

Top Biden administration officials have stressed to the Israelis in recent days that time is not on their side as international objections mount to their operations and domestic pressure builds on Biden, according to a person familiar with the ongoing discussions.

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