A lame duck president meets with the leader of America's closest Mideast ally, who happens to be wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, and the whole thing was somewhat predictably boring and lacking in much substance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Joe Biden on Thursday where the two reportedly discussed closing the remaining "gaps" for a Gaza ceasefire deal (a ceasefire deal that it appears Netanyahu doesn't actually want, having vowed to fully eradicate Hamas on the battlefield).

But as we've discussed before, Netanyahu is essentially waiting out Biden, in hopes that Trump enters office. Trump is perceived by the Israelis as willing to give its military more free reign in its Gaza offensive. Politico had reported on Sunday that Netanyahu will likely delay Gaza ceasefire talks for at least another three months until after the US presidential election. In 2020 he called Trump "the best friend that Israel has ever had in the White House."

Netanyahu is now being widely accused of intentionally stalling progress on a ceasefire, until a new chapter in relations with the White House opens.

As Biden looked like he struggled to stay awake and focus, Netanyahu praised the Democratic president and career politician for five decades of supporting Israel.

"From a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish-American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel," he said.

But just within the last months Netanyahu has repeatedly slammed Biden administration policy, particularly after the paused weapons shipment of heavy bombs, with the White House citing the likelihood that using them would result in mass civilian deaths among Palestinians.

These tensions were apparently still on display to some degree on Thursday. According to a debriefing of their meeting: 

At a news briefing, national security spokesman John Kirby said that Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahu discussed the urgent need for a hostage release deal, the potential of conflict spilling over into Lebanon, the threat of Iran and the need to reach "compromises" in peace talks.

While Mr Kirby added that "gaps remain" in the US-Israel relationship, the countries have a "healthy relationship".

"By healthy, I mean they're not going to agree on everything," Mr Kirby said, adding that Mr Biden was  "very comfortable with the relationship he has with the prime minister".

And there was plenty of pushback from the press concerning the Oval Office meeting at a time Palestinian civilians continue to be slaughtered by the blunt force that is the IDF offensive in Gaza...

Netanyahu is expected on Friday to meet with former President Donald Trump in Mar-A-Lago on Friday,. Likely the mood will be much 'warmer' as Bibi expects a future Trump administration will involve even more of a 'blank check' for Israel than what it already receives. The Israeli leader is also soon to meet with VP Kamala Harris.

* * *

Meanwhile...