United States (US) President Joe Biden will make his first Presidential trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Israel and the Palestinian West Bank next month from July 13-16, confirmed by the White House, reports Associated Press (AP).
During this visit, Biden will meet Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in KSA, Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem and Palestinian Authority leaders, including Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
Announcing the Middle East trip, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “King Salman invited Biden to visit the kingdom during a gathering in the port city of Jeddah of the six Gulf Cooperation Council nations.”
The Saudi Embassy has said that Biden’s visit is “to strengthen the historical bilateral relations and the distinguished strategic partnership between” the two countries.
In a statement, the Saudi Embassy stated: “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks forward to welcoming President Biden and defining the next chapters of our partnership. At a time of global challenges related to the global economy, health, climate and international conflict, the partnership between our two countries are as critical as ever to the promotion of peace, prosperity and stability around the world.”
As a presidential candidate, Biden said the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — a Saudi-born US resident who wrote critical articles about Saudi rulers in The Washington Post — had made KSA a “pariah.” When Biden took charge of the presidency, his administration made clear the president would avoid direct engagement with the crown prince and instead focus on his engagements with King Salman.
