(Washington) US President Joe Biden agreed on Monday to receive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the end of the year in the United States, a sign of an easing of tensions between their two administrations.
It would be the first meeting between the two heads of state since the return of Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of 2022 as head of the Israeli government.
“President Biden has invited the Prime Minister for a meeting soon in the United States. The prime minister has accepted,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Monday, referring to a “long and warm” telephone conversation between the two men.
The White House press release, published several hours later, did not mention any meeting or invitation.
Asked about this invitation by journalists, a spokesman for the White House, John Kirby, indicated that MM. Biden and Netanyahu had “agreed to meet, probably before the end of the year”, perhaps “during the fall”.
However, he declined to say whether that meeting would be held at the White House or elsewhere, saying “details” were still being discussed.
The announcement of this invitation comes the same day that Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who plays an essentially ceremonial role, flew to Washington, where he was invited by Mr. Biden.
“Extremist” government
Relations between the United States and Israel have deteriorated since Netanyahu returned to power in December.
Mr. Biden notably criticized the controversial judicial reform plan of the Netanyahu government, one of the most right-wing in the history of the country, and which has led to massive demonstrations for several months.
PHOTO CORINNA KERN, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Demonstration in Tel Aviv on July 15
“It is one of the governments […] the most extremists I have ever seen” in Israel, the American president declared at the beginning of July.
During the telephone conversation between the two leaders, Mr. Netanyahu “updated the American president about the law which should be passed next week before the Parliament, and his intention to try […] gain broad public support […] for the rest of the “legislative” process, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Monday.
According to the White House, Joe Biden reiterated on this occasion “the need to obtain the broadest possible consensus”, stressing that the “sharing of common democratic values has always been and must remain the hallmark of the relationship between States United Israel,” the statement said.
PHOTO DEBBIE HILL, REUTERS ARCHIVE
Joe Biden and Binyamin Netanyahu shake hands during a meeting in Jerusalem in March 2016.
The Democrat also expressed “concerns over the continued expansion of Jewish settlements” and insisted on “the need to take steps to preserve the viability” of a future Palestinian state, she continued.
Asked why he had not yet invited Mr. Netanyahu to Washington, Mr. Biden had replied earlier in July to the American television channel CNN that he had “other contacts”, such as Mr. Herzog .
Herzog is due to address both chambers of Congress meeting in plenary session during his visit on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Binyamin Netanyahu, who won the November 2022 elections with his allies from the ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties, is accused of corruption in a series of cases.