Washington: US President Joe Biden will make history next month with a direct flight between Israel and Saudi Arabia where he will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, abandoning efforts to ostracise the oil kingdom’s de facto leader over the murder of a dissident.
The White House ended weeks of speculation Tuesday, announcing that Biden will travel to Israel, the Palestinian West Bank and Saudi Arabia from July 13-16.
This will be Biden’s first trip to the Middle East as president and in addition to meetings with individual leaders in all three places, he will attend a regional Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Saudi Arabia.
There is widespread expectation that Biden hopes to secure a boost in Saudi oil production, in an attempt to tame spiralling fuel costs and inflation at home ahead of midterm congressional elections in which his Democratic party risks a drubbing.
Whatever the outcome, his meeting with the crown prince, often referred to as MBS, will mark a controversial policy shift.
As a presidential candidate, Biden said the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi — a Saudi-born US resident known for writing critical articles about Saudi rulers in The Washington Post — had made the country a “pariah.”
US intelligence findings released by the Biden administration identified MBS as the mastermind of the operation.
While the White House confirmed that “energy security” will be a topic in Saudi Arabia, officials stressed that the whole trip has broader diplomatic aims.
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasised that “this visit to the Middle East region culminates months of diplomacy,” as opposed to being driven by recent domestic political concerns.
Biden will engage with nearly a dozen leaders during the brief yet intense journey, demonstrating “the return of American leadership,” a senior US official told reporters.
Re-establishing Palestinian links
The tour starts with meeting Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Israel, a country Biden first visited nearly 50 years ago as a young senator.
There will be an emphasis on the lavish US support for Israel’s armed forces, including the Iron Dome anti-missile defence system, at a time of tension over the ongoing failure to resurrect an international pact curtailing Iran’s nuclear development.
“While in Israel, the president will likely visit an area where these defensive systems are utilised, as well as discuss new innovations between our countries that use laser technologies to defeat missiles and other airborne threats,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The president will reaffirm the ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.” AFP
