Netanyahu gives a starkly different take on Biden administration's hopes for a Gaza deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were sharply at odds Thursday over prospects of reaching a deal for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release, with Netanyahu saying it was “exactly inaccurate” that a breakthrough was close.

“There's not a deal in the making,” Netanyahu said in an interview with “Fox and Friends." His public skepticism comes as U.S. officials said they were working on a revised proposal to address remaining disputes between Israeli and Hamas leaders after the weekend discovery of six dead hostages added urgency to the talks.

National security spokesman John Kirby reiterated Thursday that only disagreements on “implementing details” of a cease-fire proposal need to be hammered out.

“I’ve heard what the prime minister said. I’m not going to get into a back and forth with him in a public setting," Kirby told reporters. “We still believe, though this is incredibly difficult ... if there’s compromise, if there’s leadership, we can still get there.”

President Joe Biden's team, a lame-duck administration two months before the election, has projected optimism this summer as it works with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar to try to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a truce in the 11-month war in Gaza. The deal would release more of the hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, including Americans, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners — one of the big sticking points.

U.S. officials said in the days before Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six recently slain hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, that Israeli and Hamas leaders could sign off on a deal as soon as the end of this week.

“I’m optimistic. It’s far from over. Just a couple more issues. I think we’ve got a shot,” Biden told reporters last Friday.

Even before that, Netanyahu was digging in his heels, adding conditions that make sealing any agreement before the U.S. elections difficult. His far-right government publicly prioritized for the first time in July — months into the talks — a demand for Israeli forces to keep their presence in a buffer zone along Gaza’s border with Egypt. Netanyahu says it's needed to prevent Hamas from smuggling arms into the Palestinian territory.

“To ask Israel to make concessions after this murder is to send a message to Hamas: Murder more hostages, you’ll get more concessions,” Netanyahu said Thursday. "That’s the wrong thing to do, and I think the Israel public overwhelming is united against that.”

Hostage families have accused Netanyahu of blocking a deal and potentially sacrificing their loved ones to hold the border strip, called the Philadelphi corridor. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets, calling for a deal and saying time is running out to bring home the hostages alive.

Netanyahu has brushed off criticism that his management of the war and cease-fire negotiations has been politically motivated and said he believes only heavy pressure on Hamas will force it into concessions.

The Biden administration has stressed that its ally Israel has supported the negotiations and Hamas has been blocking a deal. This week, however, Biden said “no” when asked if Netanyahu was doing enough in the talks.

“We see time and again that Israel agrees to certain terms,” said Shira Efron, a policy adviser at the U.S.-based Israel Policy Forum, which analyzes Israeli-Palestinian relations. “It doesn't say no, it agrees to certain terms — but then says, ‘Yes, but under those conditions.’”

"These public statements that come out after what seems to be an agreement ... basically derail the agreement," Efron said.

Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Middle East Institute research center, said she saw the talks as being between the U.S. and Netanyahu, and “in this bilateral negotiation, I see Netanyahu having the upper hand.”

The U.S., Egypt and other Arab nations have raised objections to a lasting Israeli presence in the Philadelphi corridor. Hamas says the Israeli position is in breach of the bridging proposal’s call for Israel to leave densely populated areas of Gaza.

U.S. officials say Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, have been more agreeable to negotiations in private discussions than in their public statements.

A senior U.S. administration official told reporters Wednesday that Israel and Hamas have agreed on 14 of the 18 paragraphs in the bridging proposal, have technical differences about one paragraph and deeper differences about three paragraphs. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

Those three paragraphs in question focus on the exchange of hostages captured by Hamas and the number of Palestinian prisoners who would be released during what is supposed to be at least a six-week cease-fire.

The list of Palestinian prisoners to be released in the initial phase of the deal includes some who are serving life sentences in Israeli prisons. The official said the dispute about the ratio of prisoners to hostages to be swapped has been further complicated by the recent deaths of the six hostages.

For each hostage, there’s a certain number of Palestinian prisoners that were to be released. Now, “you just have fewer hostages as part of the deal in phase one,” the official said.

Netanyahu said they are still discussing the number of prisoners to be released for each hostage, the list of prisoners to be freed and whether they will be allowed to return home or have to leave.

The U.S. and others hope a cease-fire would calm tensions that threaten a wider regional conflict, including fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon.

Attacks by Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups have increased since the Oct. 7 attack, in which some 1,200 people were killed. Militants also took about 250 people hostage, with roughly 100 remaining in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel's offensive in response has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

When it comes to a deal, “we’re being pragmatic about it, and we do believe that we have made an immense amount of progress in the last few months in terms of getting the structure of the deal in place,” Kirby said.

AP writers Zeke Miller and Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.

President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to Vernon Electric in Westby, Wis., Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Biden is in Wisconsin to promote his Investing in America agenda. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden speaks at the Vernon Electric Cooperative Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Westby, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

President Joe Biden walks out of the White House to board Marine One on the South Lawn in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, for a trip to Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

In this aerial image, people attend a rally demanding a cease-fire deal and the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip in Tel Aviv, Israel on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a press conference at the Government Press office in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Abir Sultan/Pool via AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Hacks” won the comedy series at Sunday's Emmy Awards, topping “The Bear," which took home several of the night's honors.

“Shogun” won the best drama series win, collecting a whopping 18 Emmys for its first season, just one of several historic wins.

Hiroyuki Sanada won best actor in a drama for “Shogun” on Sunday night at the Emmy Awards, and Anna Sawai won best actress as they became the first two Japanese actors to win Emmys.

Their wins gave the FX series momentum going into one of the night's top awards, where “Shogun” won best drama series.

“The Bear” came back for seconds in a big way at the ceremony four times including best actor, best supporting actor and best supporting actress in a comedy, while British upstart “Baby Reindeer” won four of its own, including best limited series.

The star of FX's “The Bear” Jeremy Allen White won best actor in a comedy for the second straight year, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach repeated as best supporting actor.

A surprise came when Liza Colón-Zayas won best supporting actor over major competition.

“How could I have thought it would be possible to be in the presence of Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett,” Colón-Zayas said as tears welled in her eyes as she accepted the award on the stage of the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

She is the first Latina to win in the category.

“To all the Latinas who are looking at me,” she said, “keep believing and vote.”

Netflix’s darkly quirky “Baby Reindeer” won best actor and best writing for the show’s creator and star Richard Gadd and best supporting actress for Jessica Gunning, who plays his tormentor.

Accepting the best limited series award, Gadd urged the makers of television to take chances.

“The only constant across any success in television is good storytelling," he said. "Good storytelling that speaks to our times. So take risks, push boundaries. Explore the uncomfortable. Dare to fail in order to achieve.”

“Baby Reindeer” is based on a one man-stage show in which Gadd describes being sexually abused along with other emotional struggles.

Accepting that award, he said, “no matter how bad it gets, it always gets better.”

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Gadd has.

Jodie Foster won her first Emmy to go with her two Oscars when she took best actress in a limited series for “True Detective: Night Country.”

The creator of “The Bear” was also a repeat winner. Christopher Storer took his second straight Emmy for directing, an award handed out by reunited “Happy Days” co-stars Ron Howard and Henry Winkler.

White said backstage that he was watching in the wings as Colón-Zayas won and “that was just the greatest.”

He also shouted out two acting wins the show had already scored at last weekend's Creative Arts Emmy Awards, when Jamie Lee Curtis won best guest actress in a comedy for playing his mother, and Jon Bernthal won best guest actor for playing his big brother.

“The Bear” won six times including most of the top comedy categories at the strike-delayed Emmys in January.

While the third season of FX’s “The Bear” has already dropped, the trio won their second Emmys for its second, in which White’s chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto attempts to turn his family’s grungy Chicago sandwich shop into an elite restaurant. It could still win more Sunday night including best comedy series.

The father-son hosting duo of Eugene and Dan Levy in their monologue at the top of the show mocked the very dramatic “The Bear” being in the comedy category.

“In honor of ‘The Bear’ we will be making no jokes,” Eugene Levy said, to laughs.

Jean Smart won best actress in a comedy for “Hacks.” She has won for all three seasons of “Hacks,” and has six Emmys overall.

She beat nominees including Ayo Edebiri, who as co-star of “The Bear” moved from supporting actress, which she won in January, to lead actress.

Coming into the show the big story was “Shogun,” which had already taken the most Emmys for a show in a single season with 14 at the Creative Arts ceremony.

The FX series about lordly politicking in feudal Japan can still win best drama series.

If “Shogun” faces competition for the best drama prize, it could come for the sixth and final season of “The Crown,” the only show among the nominees that has won before in a category recently dominated by the retired “Succession.”

Elizabeth Debicki took best supporting actress in a drama for playing Princess Diana at the end of her life in the sixth and final season of the show.

“Playing this part, based on this unparalleled, incredible human being, has been my great privilege," Debicki said. "It’s been a gift.”

Billy Crudup won best actor in a drama for “The Morning Show.”

Streep wasn't the only Oscar winner trumped by a little-known name. Robert Downey Jr., the reigning best supporting actor winner for “Oppenheimer,” was considered the favorite to win best supporting actor in a limited series for “The Sympathizer,” but that award went to Lamorne Morris for “Fargo.”

“Robert Downey Jr. I have a poster of you in my house!” Morris said from the stage as he accepted his first Emmy.

Several awards were presented by themed teams from TV history, including sitcom dads George Lopez, Damon Wayans and Jesse Tyler Ferguson and TV moms Meredith Baxter, Connie Britton, and Susan Kelechi Watson.

For more on this year’s Emmy Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/emmy-awards

Anna Sawai accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for "Shogun" during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Richard Gadd accepts the award for outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie for "Baby Reindeer" during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Jen Statsky, from left, Lucia Aniello, and Paul W. Downs accept the award for outstanding writing for a comedy series for "Hacks" during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Anna Sawai accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for "Shogun" during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Richard Gadd poses in the press room with the award for outstanding writing for a limited or anthology series or movie for "Baby Reindeer" during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Liza Colón-Zayas arrives at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Ebon Moss-Bachrach accepts the award for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for "The Bear" during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Ayo Edebiri arrives at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Billy Crudup accepts the award for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for "The Morning Show" during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Yelena Yemchuk, left, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach arrive at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Hosts Eugene Levy, left, and Dan Levy speak during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Hosts Eugene Levy, left, and Dan Levy speak during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Skye P. Marshall, left, and Kathy Bates arrive at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

William Stanford Davis arrives at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Jesse Tyler Ferguson arrives at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

James Johnson, from left, Princess Daazhraii Johnson, and Cathy Tagnak Rexford arrive at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Sterlin Harjo arrives at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Andrew Scott arrives at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Dan Levy arrives at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Elizabeth Debicki accepts the award for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series for "The Crown" during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Ebon Moss-Bachrach accepts the award for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for "The Bear" during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Selena Gomez arrives at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Steve Martin, from left, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez present the award for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Hosts Eugene Levy, left, and Dan Levy speak during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Liza Colon-Zayas accepts the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for "The Bear" during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

FILE - Eugene Levy, left, and Dan Levy appear at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2019. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

This image released by FX shows Hiroyuki Sanada in a scene from "Shogun." (Katie Yu/FX via AP)

This image released by FX shows Jeremy Allen White in a scene from "The Bear." (FX via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth in "The Crown." (Alex Bailey/Netflix via AP)

This image released by FX shows Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko in a scene from "Shogun." (Katie Yu/FX via AP)

This image released by FX shows Cosmo Jarvis, left, and Nestor Carbonell in a scene from "Shogun." (Katie Yu/FX via AP)

This image released by FX shows Jon Hamm in a scene from "Fargo." (Michelle Faye/FX via AP)

This image released by Apple TV+ shows Jon Hamm in a scene from "The Morning Show." (Apple TV+ via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales, in a scene from "The Crown." (Keith Bernstein/Netflix via AP)

This image released by HBO shows Kali Reis, right, and Jodie Foster in a scene from "True Detective: Night Country." (HBO via AP)

This image released by FX shows Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu in a scene from "The Bear." (FX via AP)

This image released by FX shows Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga, center, in a scene from "Shogun." (Katie Yu/FX via AP)

FILE - A view of the stage at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, Sept. 22, 2019. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)