Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill
Washington, D.C. 

1:31 P.M. EST

Q    Madam Vice President, you have a meeting coming up this afternoon.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Yes, I do.

Q    What’s your message for Benny Gantz?

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, we’re going to discuss a number of things in terms of the priorities that, certainly, we have, which includes getting a hostage deal done, getting aid in, and — and then getting that six-week ceasefire.

You know, the President and I have been very clear that Israel has a right to defend itself, that we have got to make sure that innocent civilians aren’t being killed, and that we’ve got to get these hostages out.  And that is one of the highest priorities right — that, right now, we have.

And, I’ll tell you, the President has been an extraordinary leader in getting us to this point that we have the six-week deal.  And so, Hamas needs to do its thing, as I talked about yesterday in Selma.

Q    Your remarks yesterday got a lot of attention because they were pretty sharp against Israel.  Is there any distance between you and President Biden on this issue?

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  The President and I have been aligned and consistent from the very beginning.  Israel has a right to defend itself.  Far too many Palestinian civilians — innocent civilians have been killed.  We need to get more aid in.  We need to get the hostages out.  And that remains our position.

And I will tell you that it is important that we all understand that there — we’re in a window of time right now where we can actually get a hostage deal done.  We all want this conflict to end as soon as possible, and how it does matters.

So, thank you all.  Thank you.

                              END                 1:33 P.M. EST