Mr. Biden will visit Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who serves as the country’s de facto ruler.
US President Joe Biden will meet with Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank on Friday. It will be before departing for a contentious conference in Saudi Arabia.
Analysts predict that his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would be difficult. Probably because of the low point in their relationship caused by the Trump administration.
Later, Mr. Biden will have a meeting with the Prince and King Salman.
In response to Saudi Arabia being declared a “pariah” in 2018 for killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Biden made a promise two years prior.
Despite the prince’s denials, US intelligence believed that he had given his approval.
The highest-level US-Palestinian summit
The leaders will talk about the availability of energy, human rights, and security collaboration.
It will be the highest-level meeting between the US and the Palestinians since the Palestinians froze relations over the Trump administration’s decision to close the Washington office of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It is the main representative body of the Palestinians , in 2018 . Mr. Biden met with President Abbas earlier on Friday in Bethlehem.
The US consulate in Jerusalem, acted as a de facto embassy for the Palestinians before closed by President Trump in 2019. It is one of the things the Palestinians want the US to do more to restart peace talks with Israel.
US push on Saudi officials that increased output is expected
Saudi Arabia is the greatest oil producer in the world. It is attempting to mend fences after a surge in oil costs brought on by Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
US pressure on Saudi leaders to agree to boost output is anticipated.
The US applauded Saudi Arabia’s announcement late on Thursday. The announcement is that it would let commercial planes from Israel use its airspace.
The action opens up the kingdom’s airspace to any airlines that fulfill its overflight standards and creates space for more flights to and from Israel.
This “paves the way for a more connected, stable, and secure Middle East region,” according to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Mr. Biden will be the first US president to travel straight from Tel Aviv to Riyadh.
It is considered a minor but significant indication of Riyadh’s growing recognition of Israel. Of course, after decades of boycott in support of the Palestinians.
For the first time since taking office, Mr. Biden will meet with Prince Mohammed
Mr. Biden will land in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Friday evening. There, he will see Prince Mohammed for the first time since assuming office.
According to US sources, King Salman is Mr. Biden’s immediate equivalent. But the 79-year-old has insisted on communicating with him up until this point.
If Mr. Biden brings up the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. Jamal was a Washington Post columnist who resided in the United States. White House officials have refused to comment. They opted not to specify whether or not the two would shake hands.
Adam Schiff claimed that if he were in Joe Biden’s situation, he would not have went to Saudi Arabia
Some members of the US president’s own Democratic Party are furious about the gathering. They want him to use it as an opportunity to criticize Saudi Arabia for its human rights record.
Senior House Democrat Adam Schiff stated last week that if he had been in Joe Biden’s shoes, he would not have travelled to the nation or met Prince Mohammed.
The American resident was “butchered, chopped up into bits, and in the most horrible and calculated fashion,” according to Mr. Schiff. “I wouldn’t want anything to do with him. Until Saudi Arabia made a major transformation in terms of (its) human rights,” she said.
In an effort to justify his choice, Mr. Biden told reporters earlier this week in Jerusalem that anyone who doesn’t understand it in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere “hasn’t been around me for a while.”
He would also meet with leaders of Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan. The US president appeared to criticize the actions of previous President Donald Trump . He stated that his trip to the Middle East, provides a chance to correct the “error” of “drawing away from our influence in the Middle East.”
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