Biden lands in Israel at start of high-stakes Middle East visit

Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday, kicking off a high-stakes trip to the Middle East dominated by efforts to persuade Gulf allies to pump more oil and bring Israel and Saudi Arabia closer together.

Biden will spend two days in Jerusalem for talks with Israeli leaders before meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday in the occupied West Bank.

Afterward, he will take a direct flight from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - a first for an American president - on Friday for talks with Saudi officials and to attend a summit of Gulf allies.

U.S. officials say the trip - Biden's first to the Middle East as president - could produce more steps toward normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, historic foes but also two of America's strongest allies in the turbulent region.

"We're making steps gradually toward that end," said an Israeli official, adding that the fact Biden will fly directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia "encapsulates a lot of the dynamics that have been evolving over the last months."

Biden's trip aims to promote regional stability, deepen Israel's integration in the region and counter Iranian influence and aggression by Russia and China.

There will be no attempt to restart the long-stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. However U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden would restate his commitment to the so-called two state solution, with a future Palestinian state existing alongside Israel.

He said Washington wanted to see a consulate for the Palestinians in Jerusalem, a reference to a mission shut down by the former U.S. administration of President Donald Trump. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as capital of a future state.

"Obviously that requires engagement with the Israeli government. It requires engagement with the Palestinian leadership as well. And we will continue that engagement on this trip," Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force 1.

Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said in response: "It's much ado about nothing."



PUKmedia / Reuters