US president greeted as an old friend on arrival in Israel but faces tough talks with other leaders in the region
Tel Aviv — US President Joe Biden on Wednesday arrived in Israel, which embraced him as an old friend on the first leg of a high-stakes trip dominated by efforts to bring it closer to Saudi Arabia and to persuade Washington’s Gulf allies to pump more oil.
Biden’s first visit to Israel as president is his 10th of a long political career. Israel has stepped carefully around disputes with Washington over Iranian nuclear diplomacy and long-stalled Palestinian statehood negotiations. US officials say the trip could produce more steps towards normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia, historic foes but also two of America’s strongest allies in the turbulent region.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated Washington’s desire for the reopening of a Jerusalem consulate shut down by the former US administration of President Donald Trump. The consulate had served the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as capital of a future state. He said details about a price cap on oil from Russia were still being worked out with European partners and said signs of a deepening relationship between Russia and Iran should be seen as a threat.
“Biden needs the Saudis to increase their oil production to help keep global energy prices in check,” Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan wrote in an opinion piece on Tuesday. “The trip sends the message that the US is willing to look the other way when its commercial interests are at stake.”Biden’s talks with Abbas will be the first between a US president and a Palestinian leader since the Obama administration.
The Palestinians, while appreciating the resumption of ties under Biden, want him to make good on pledges to reopen the Jerusalem consulate.
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