U.S. President Joe Biden said he will be the first U.S. president to fly directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia this week when he visits those countries on an official trip to the region, in a “small symbol “of the warming of ties between Israel. and the Arab world and “steps towards normalization.”
In a Saturday Washington Post opinion piece titled “Why I’m Going to Saudi Arabia,” Biden said he will make the trip from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where “leaders from across the region will meet.” pointing to the possibility of a more stable and integrated Middle East, with the United States playing a vital leadership role. “
The US leader said he would be “the first president to fly from Israel to Jeddah [Jeddah]⁇ [in] a small symbol of the fledgling relations and the steps towards normalization between Israel and the Arab world, which my administration is working to deepen and expand. “
Biden is expected in Israel on Wednesday for a full two-day visit that will also include a trip to the Palestinian Authority, followed by a visit to Saudi Arabia on Friday for a Saturday meeting with Middle East regional leaders as part of the GCC + 3 summit. (Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates along with Iraq, Egypt and Jordan).
GCC + 3 summit on Saturday in Jeddah with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates along with Iraq, Egypt and Jordan
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In Saudi Arabia, Biden is expected to push for increased Saudi oil production in hopes of taming the spiral of fuel costs and inflation at home, a marked deviation from his promise during his election campaign to treat Riyadh as a “pria” for its human rights record. and the 2018 assassination and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident of Saudi descent known for writing critical articles about the kingdom’s rulers for The Washington Post.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (Collage / AP)
U.S. intelligence findings published by the Biden administration identified Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, often called MBS, as the mastermind of the operation.
But global advances over the past year, namely the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have led Biden to shift its focus to the Gulf kingdom, given its centrality in the oil market and the potential to foster Israel’s integration into the region.
Last month, Biden had tried to distance himself from the upcoming meeting in Jeddah with MBS at GCC + 3, highlighting to reporters that he will meet with King Salman and his team.
But the White House confirmed earlier this week that it will meet with MBS as part of this larger delegation during the trip.
During the visit, Biden said he would also be the first president to visit the Middle East since Sept. 11 “without U.S. troops participating in a combat mission,” adding that throughout the trip , will keep in his mind “the millions of Americans who served in the region,” including his son Beau, “and the 7,054 who died in conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan since the September 11, 2001 “.
Beau Biden had served in Iraq and died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.
Joe Biden, right, is seen with his son Beau Biden in Denver, Colorado, on August 25, 2008. (AFP / Paul J. RICHARDS)
In his commentary on Saturday, Biden said the region had changed and that a “secure and integrated Middle East benefits Americans in many ways.”
“Its waterways are essential for global trade and the supply chains we rely on. Its energy resources are vital to mitigating the impact on Russia’s global war supplies to Ukraine. And a region that is’ unites through diplomacy and cooperation, rather than unraveling through conflict, is less likely to lead to violent extremism that threatens our homeland or to new wars that could impose new burdens on northern military forces. Americans and their families. “
The US leader said the Middle East he will visit this week “is more stable and secure than what my administration inherited 18 months ago”. Without naming him, Biden said that during the administration of former President Donald Trump, attacks on U.S. troops and diplomats in the region increased, the war in Yemen intensified and Iran advanced in a rapid acceleration of its nuclear program after the U.S. “renounced a working nuclear deal,” a reference to the 2015 nuclear deals between Tehran and six world powers, including the U.S. under the Obama administration.
Illustrative: Iranian diplomats and officials from the P5 + 1 powers meet in Vienna to discuss the 2015 nuclear deal on April 25, 2017. (AFP / Joe Klamar)
Biden said he worked alongside leaders from across the region, including the king of Saudi Arabia, to “lay the groundwork” for a truce in Yemen to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance and “met with allies and partners in Europe and around the world “with respect to Iran,” to reverse our isolation. “
“It is now Iran that is isolated until it returns to the nuclear deal that my predecessor abandoned without any plan for it to replace it,” he wrote.
On Riyadh, Biden said his goal was to “reorient, but not break, relations with a country that has been a strategic partner for 80 years.”
“Today, Saudi Arabia has helped restore unity among the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, has fully supported the truce in Yemen and is now working with my experts to help stabilize oil markets with other oil producers. OPEC, “Biden wrote.
Forces loyal to Yemeni Houthis rebels take part in a military parade commemorating the seventh anniversary of the Saudi-led coalition’s intervention in their country, in the capital Sanaa, on March 31, 2022. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP)
As president, Biden said his “job was to keep our country strong and secure” and “counter Russia’s aggression, put us in the best possible position to overcome China, and work for greater stability in a consequent region of the world “.
“To do these things, we need to relate directly to countries that may be affected by these results. Saudi Arabia is one of them …”, he added, defending the planned visit which has provoked criticism.
Biden said the region has its many challenges, such as “Iran’s nuclear program and support for intermediary groups, the Syrian civil war, food security crises exacerbated by Russia’s war against Ukraine, groups terrorists still operating in several countries, political stalemate in Iraq, Libya and Lebanon, and human rights standards that remain behind much of the world, “but is now” less pressured and more integrated. ” This is due in part to the growing ties between Israel and the Arab nations, Iraq’s diplomatic role in mediating Saudi Arabia and Iran, and a more regional connection and commitment, described by Jordanian King Abdullah. II as a “new environment.”
Jordanian King Abdullah II ibn Al-Hussein speaks at a press conference after talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on March 15, 2022. (Hannibal Hanschke / Pool via AP)
“These are promising trends, which the United States can reinforce in a way that no other country can. My trip next week will serve that purpose,” Biden said.
Arab-Israeli security openings have multiplied since the 2020 Abraham Accords negotiated under the Trump administration normalized relations between Israel and four Arab League nations. They have grown even more since the Pentagon changed coordination with Israel from the U.S. European Command to Central Command, or CENTCOM, last year. The measure brought together the Israeli army with former Arab opponents, including Saudi Arabia and other nations that have not yet recognized Israel.
Encouraging Arab nations to strengthen security ties and general relations with Israel is one of the goals of Biden’s trips to Israel and Saudi Arabia next week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.
A full itinerary
Biden will land at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on Wednesday afternoon, where he will be greeted by Prime Minister Yair Lapid at an official welcome ceremony.
His intense two-day trip to Israel will include meetings with Israeli leaders, a tour of various Israeli security systems, including Iron Beam, a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, and a speech at the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Jewish Olympics. .
Biden will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, where he is expected to announce a package of measures aimed at strengthening the PA, a senior US official told the Times of Israel on Wednesday in a conversation about Biden’s itinerary.
Biden will then return to Ben Gurion Airport, from where he will make a rare direct flight to Saudi Arabia to attend the GCC + 3 summit.
In an initiative it hopes to consolidate before the president lands, the U.S. is working to finalize the transfer of a couple of Red Sea islands from Egyptian control to Saudi as part of an agreement that would allow Riyadh to take a series of measures to normalize ties. with Israel, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel on Wednesday.
Standardization measures would include the opening of Saudi Arabian airspace to Israeli flights to the Far East, as well as the launch of direct flights between Israel and Saudi Arabia for Muslim pilgrims, he said. say the Middle East diplomat, confirming the report on the news site Axios.
Biden will also discuss broader regional cooperation efforts, maintaining a ceasefire between the warring parties …