Biden Rushes Diplomatic Achievements, Meets Netanyahu in New York

Biden to Promote Saudi-Israel Diplomatic Normalization
Plans Meeting with Netanyahu During UN General Assembly

U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet next week in New York. This will be their first face-to-face meeting in about nine months since Netanyahu returned to power at the end of last year. Amid intense rivalry between the U.S. and China over expanding influence in the Middle East, this is interpreted as part of President Biden’s diplomatic achievements ahead of next year’s presidential election.

On the 12th (local time), Axios reported that the first face-to-face meeting between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu will take place during the United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York later this month. The meeting is expected to be held on the 22nd. If both sides meet in New York, it will be Netanyahu’s first meeting since his return to power in December last year. However, Axios noted that “for Netanyahu, who has been waiting for a White House invitation, the meeting at the UN may be somewhat disappointing.”

The agenda for the meeting is expected to include Netanyahu’s far-right coalition’s attempts to undermine the judiciary and the normalization of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Currently, Israel is experiencing ongoing repercussions after the far-right coalition passed a bill to weaken the judiciary on July 24.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

The far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition, which aims to establish a Jewish state and has been criticized for abandoning democratic values, have sought to reduce the judiciary’s influence under the pretext of reform. As protests against the weakening of the judiciary, which had served as a brake on the far-right’s extreme measures, spread, Israel has remained in a state of high tension.

Conscious of the worsening public opinion due to these domestic issues in Israel, President Biden reportedly shifted from inviting Netanyahu to the White House to holding the meeting in New York. Axios cited three U.S. government officials saying that after considering political and diplomatic factors, President Biden decided to meet Netanyahu in New York rather than at the White House. They added, “He would not want to bring Israel’s domestic disputes into the White House.”

The fact that the Israeli prime minister, a traditional ally, has not yet been invited to the White House since taking office also reflects this background. Multiple senior U.S. officials said there were many opinions among White House aides that a meeting between Biden and Netanyahu in the Oval Office would be politically disadvantageous for the president within the Democratic Party. Since taking office, Netanyahu has pushed forward with expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank, causing conflicts with the Biden administration.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, President Biden views the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel as a potential diplomatic achievement to highlight ahead of next year’s presidential election. Facing declining approval ratings, Biden, who is seeking re-election, is in urgent need of diplomatic accomplishments. If official diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel are restored, the U.S. government’s Middle East peace initiative is expected to accelerate, which would be a positive factor in the election campaign. Biden aims to achieve an agreement on normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia within this year.

However, it is uncertain whether this meeting will lead to tangible results. Within the Republican Party, criticism is growing against what is seen as U.S. interference in Israel’s internal affairs. Former Vice President Mike Pence, a Republican presidential candidate, condemned, “The Democratic Party’s obsession with managing what happens in Israel’s domestic politics is very misguided.”

Since Biden took office, cracks have appeared in the alliance with Saudi Arabia, the dominant power in the Middle East, weakening U.S. influence in the region. China has taken advantage of this gap by successfully mediating between Saudi Arabia and Iran, seeking to expand its influence in the Middle East. Amid the shifting power dynamics in the region, the emergence of Netanyahu’s far-right coalition and the resulting chain reactions have put U.S. influence in the Middle East to the test.

The Biden administration, which has pursued the “two-state solution” (recognizing Palestine and Israel as independent states) as a core Middle East strategy, has made efforts to elevate relations with Palestine by establishing a new special envoy position within the State Department dedicated to Palestinian affairs, in response to the turbulent Middle East situation following the formation of Israel’s far-right government.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.