White House 'perplexed' by Netanyahu cancelling high-level meeting in Washington after the U.S. abstained from UN ceasefire resolution that has 'no impact on Israel'

The White House said it was 'perplexed' by the fact Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a high-level meeting in Washington after the U.S. abstained on a UN ceasefire resolution.

'We're perplexed by this,' White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday.

Netanyahu accused the U.S. of 'retreating' from a 'principled position' with its vote. American officials said the U.S. abstained because the resolution didn't condemn Hamas. By abstaining instead of vetoing, the U.S. allowed the resolution to pass. 

'We're perplexed by this,' White House spokesman John Kirby said of Israel's decision to cancel a meeting in Washington DC

Kirby said that America's vote 'does not represent a shift in our policy.'  

'We've been very consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal,' he said. 'But because the final text does not have key language that we think is essential, such as condemning Hamas, we couldn't support it.'

'It seems like the prime minister's office is choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they don't need to do that,' Kirby noted.

After the UN vote Netanyahu decried America's decision as 'a retreat from the consistent American position since the beginning of the war,' and said the U.S. abstention 'harms the war effort as well as the effort to liberate the hostages.'

He noted he wasn't sending an Israeli delegation to Washington to hold high-level talks with U.S. officials on a planned operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah - a rebuke to President Joe Biden, who had asked for the meetings.

The UN resolution is non-binding and the world governing body has no way to enforce it. 

Kirby denied relations between the two countries are going downhill, saying 'Israel is still close ally and a friend.'

A Palestinian injured in an Israeli airstrike arrives at Kuwait Hospital for treatment

Palestinians, including children, and examine the rubble and collect remaining belongings from the heavily damaged building, part of which collapsed, after an Israeli attack

Humanitarian aid falls through the sky toward the Gaza Strip

U.S. officials are meeting Monday for separate talks with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is currently in Washington. 

Gallant met with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House, Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon.

He said U.S. officials could continue to bring up Washington's concerns with Israeli policies in Gaza as part of ongoing discussions between the two governments.

'Nothing has changed about our view that a major ground offensive in Rafah would be a major mistake,' Kirby said. 

The United Nation's 15-member Security Council approved the ceasefire resolution 14-0 after the U.S. decided not to use its veto power on the measure, which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas´ Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. 

The chamber broke into loud applause after the vote.

The U.S. vetoed past Security Council ceasefire resolutions in large part because of the failure to tie them directly to the release of hostages, the failure to condemn Hamas' attacks and the delicacy of ongoing negotiations. 

American officials have argued that the ceasefire and hostage releases are linked, while Russia, China and many other council members favored unconditional calls for ceasefires.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the U.S. decision to abstain on a UN ceasefire vote

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (right) arrives to the U.S. State Department to meet with Secretary of State Blinken

The U.S. decision to abstain comes at a time of growing tensions between President Joe Biden's administration and Netanyahu over Israel´s prosecution of the war, the high number of civilian casualties and the limited amounts of humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza. 

The two countries have also clashed over Netanyahu´s rejection of a Palestinian state, Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the expansion of settlements there.

In addition, the well-known antagonism between Netanyahu and Biden - which dates from Biden´s tenure as vice president - deepened after Biden questioned Israel´s strategy in combating Hamas.

Then Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Biden ally, suggested that Netanyahu was not operating in Israel´s best interests and called for Israel to hold new elections. Biden signaled his approval of Schumer´s remarks, prompting a rebuke from Netanyahu.

During its U.S. visit, the Israeli delegation was to present White House officials with its plans for a possible ground invasion of Rafah, a city on the Egyptian border in southern Gaza where over 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the war.

More than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed during the fighting, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. 

Gaza also faces a dire humanitarian emergency, with a report from an international authority on hunger warning March 18 that 'famine is imminent' in northern Gaza and that escalation of the war could push half of the territory´s 2.3 million people to the brink of starvation.