Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to Joe Biden for his “50 years of support for the State of Israel” as he met with him at the White House on Thursday.
The meeting came a day after the Israeli prime minister delivered a fiery speech to parliament as thousands of Palestinian supporters demonstrated outside the assembly.
The Israeli leader faces increasing pressure at home and abroad to end the nine-month-old Israeli-Gaza war.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said he has known President Biden for 40 years, and the president said he has known every Israeli prime minister over the past half-century.
“From proud Jewish Zionists to proud Irish-American Zionists, I want to thank you for your 50 years of public service and your 50 years of support for the State of Israel,” he said.
Netanyahu also said he looked forward to working with Biden “on the important issues that lie before us” in the coming months.
The US president joked that Golda Meir was the first Israeli prime minister he ever met, and that her successor, Yitzhak Rabin, was there as an aide.
The meeting between the two men came after months of heightened tensions over the Gaza war, with Mr Biden reaching a point in May where he said “enough is enough”, according to his friend and former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said in June that it was “inconceivable” that the Biden administration was “not providing arms and ammunition” to Israel.
National Security Spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahu discussed the urgent need to negotiate the hostage release, the possibility of the conflict spilling over to Lebanon, the Iranian threat and the need to reach a “compromise” in peace talks.
Mr Kirby added that “a gap remains” in U.S.-Israeli relations, but said the two countries maintain a “healthy relationship.”
“Healthy means they’re not going to agree on everything,” Kirby said, adding that Biden was “very pleased with my relationship with the prime minister.”
Netanyahu also plans to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is seen as a leading Democratic candidate after President Biden announced he was withdrawing from his re-election campaign.
In a speech on Wednesday from the House of Representatives, Netanyahu sought to win support from American politicians while defending Israel's war in Gaza.
“Our enemy is your enemy,” he said, denouncing protesters as “Iranian idiots.”
The White House has disputed Netanyahu's description of the protesters, with Secretary Kirby saying “that is not a term we would use” and “does not reflect our views” on the “largely peaceful” protests.
Thousands of Palestinian supporters took to the streets of Washington, denouncing Prime Minister Netanyahu as a “war criminal.”
When Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived at the White House on Thursday, their loudspeakers and chants could be clearly heard in the hall.
Police arrested 23 people, including five inside the Capitol building.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's speeches were met with enthusiastic applause, mostly from Republicans, and occasionally became a topic of conversation.
The Gaza war has deepened political divisions in Washington, sparking infighting within the progressive Democratic Party, which has long criticized U.S. support for Israel.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib was seen sitting in the audience holding a placard that read, “Mass Murder Charges.”
The White House said Ms. Harris did not attend Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech due to scheduling conflicts.
Instead, she spent part of the day addressing a crowd at Zeta Phi Beta, a historically black sorority.
Mrs. Harris has expressed staunch support for Israel, but that stance has cost Democrats politically.
During the presidential primary, hundreds of thousands of people protested against President Biden, throwing their ballots in protest demanding a halt to military aid to Israel.
Some of those angered by his war stance see Harris as an opportunity to heal the party's rifts and win back votes.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday.
