US President Joe Biden arrives in Israel on Wednesday (Jul 13) to kick 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.
US officials say the trip – Biden’s first to the Middle East as president – could produce more steps toward normalisation 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. “The fact that President Biden visits Israel, and from here will fly directly 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.
“This trip will reinforce a vital American role in a strategically consequential region,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.
Biden, under pressure at home to bring down soaring gasoline prices that have damaged his standing in public opinion polls, is expected to press Gulf allies to expand oil production to help bring down gasoline prices.
PRESSURE OVER SAUDI VISIT
A centerpiece of Biden’s visit will be talks in Jeddah with Saudi leaders including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, accused by the US intelligence community of being behind the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The meeting is a reversal of Biden’s previous position of making Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for the Khashoggi death. How the White House handles the optics of the meeting and whether photos will be released of it will be closely watched.
Aides say he will bring up human rights concerns while in Saudi Arabia, but he has nonetheless drawn fire from a wide array of critics.
“Biden needs the Saudis to increase their oil production to help keep global energy prices in check,” wrote Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan in an opinion piece on Tuesday. “The trip sends the message that the United States is willing to look the other way when its commercial interests are at stake.”
