Biden, Netanyahu to meet after first phone call in months
Jul 17, 2023 21:24:34 GMT -5
Post by shalom on Jul 17, 2023 21:24:34 GMT -5
Biden, Netanyahu to meet in US after first phone call in months
The two leaders spoke by phone after months of increasing tension between them over Israel’s judicial reform, which Biden has opposed.
By TOVAH LAZAROFF Published: JULY 17, 2023 19:30
Updated: JULY 17, 2023 23:25
US President Joe Biden on Monday agreed to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the United States, after twice refusing to host him in the White House.
The two leaders spoke by phone after months of increasing friction over Israel’s judicial overhaul process, Iran and accelerated West Bank settlement activity.
The Biden-Netanyahu call came as President Isaac Herzog is set to visit the White House on Tuesday and to address a joint session of Congress, celebrating 75 years of ties between the two countries.
The warm welcome underscored the absence of a White House invitation for Netanyahu.
Just last week Biden called the current Israeli government “the most extreme” in 50 years, citing its ministers’ support for expanding West Bank settlements its opposition to a Palestinian state.
There are also tensions over Biden’s push to conclude an agreement with Iran to prevent it from becoming a nuclear power. Israel believes the tentative deal would not be nearly strong enough to halt Iran’s push to produce atomic weapons.
Netanyahu-Biden meeting could take place on UNGA sidelines
The Prime Minister’s Office did not say whether the Netanyahu-Biden meeting would take place at the White House, and there was speculation that it could take place on the sidelines of high-level sessions at the UN General Assembly in New York this fall.
The meeting would take place in the US, and Netanyahu had agreed to accept the invitation, the Prime Minister’s Office said. A suitable date for the meeting would be coordinated with US officials, it added.
Netanyahu updated Biden on the expected passage next week in the Knesset of the reasonableness bill, which is part of the package of judicial overhaul legislation. He assured Biden that consensus talks would be held over the summer on other overhaul bills, even though the reasonableness bill is moving forward without consensus.
In a briefing with reporters in Washington after the call, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that “Biden remains concerned over [Israel’s] judicial reform and the extremist activity and behavior of some members of Netanyahu’s cabinet.”
“The president had a chance to reiterate our concerns about all that in his phone call,” Kirby said.
He underscored the strong relationship between the two men. “These are two leaders that know each other and have known each for a long time,” said Kirby as he attributed the strong comments Biden has made to the closeness between the two leaders.
“As friends can and friends should they speak honestly and openly, forthrightly and candidly,” Kirby said.
“President Biden has done that and he has done that publicly with respect to judicial reform and he will continue to do that” including in his conversation with Herzog in Washington, Kirby said.
Biden has clarified that “We stand for Israel. We stand for the Israeli people, and we stand for Israel’s democracy,” Kirby stated.
“We want to see that democracy and the hopes, and the dreams of all Israeli people and all their aspirations met through strong viable democratic institutions that are built on consensus and compromise,” he added.
The two men discussed ways to strengthen the Israeli-US alliance and the necessity of curbing Iran’s nuclear program. They also spoke about expanding the Abraham Accords to include normalization deals between Israel and other Arab countries, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Their conversation also dealt with the importance of stabilizing the volatile situation in the West Bank, particularly following the IDF’s two-day military campaign to destroy terrorist infrastructure in Jenin earlier this month.
There was some talk about another meeting of the Forum of Five, such as the ones that occurred earlier this year in Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh with representatives from Egypt, Jordan, the US, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority.
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The two leaders spoke by phone after months of increasing tension between them over Israel’s judicial reform, which Biden has opposed.
By TOVAH LAZAROFF Published: JULY 17, 2023 19:30
Updated: JULY 17, 2023 23:25
US President Joe Biden on Monday agreed to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the United States, after twice refusing to host him in the White House.
The two leaders spoke by phone after months of increasing friction over Israel’s judicial overhaul process, Iran and accelerated West Bank settlement activity.
The Biden-Netanyahu call came as President Isaac Herzog is set to visit the White House on Tuesday and to address a joint session of Congress, celebrating 75 years of ties between the two countries.
The warm welcome underscored the absence of a White House invitation for Netanyahu.
Just last week Biden called the current Israeli government “the most extreme” in 50 years, citing its ministers’ support for expanding West Bank settlements its opposition to a Palestinian state.
There are also tensions over Biden’s push to conclude an agreement with Iran to prevent it from becoming a nuclear power. Israel believes the tentative deal would not be nearly strong enough to halt Iran’s push to produce atomic weapons.
Netanyahu-Biden meeting could take place on UNGA sidelines
The Prime Minister’s Office did not say whether the Netanyahu-Biden meeting would take place at the White House, and there was speculation that it could take place on the sidelines of high-level sessions at the UN General Assembly in New York this fall.
The meeting would take place in the US, and Netanyahu had agreed to accept the invitation, the Prime Minister’s Office said. A suitable date for the meeting would be coordinated with US officials, it added.
Netanyahu updated Biden on the expected passage next week in the Knesset of the reasonableness bill, which is part of the package of judicial overhaul legislation. He assured Biden that consensus talks would be held over the summer on other overhaul bills, even though the reasonableness bill is moving forward without consensus.
In a briefing with reporters in Washington after the call, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that “Biden remains concerned over [Israel’s] judicial reform and the extremist activity and behavior of some members of Netanyahu’s cabinet.”
“The president had a chance to reiterate our concerns about all that in his phone call,” Kirby said.
He underscored the strong relationship between the two men. “These are two leaders that know each other and have known each for a long time,” said Kirby as he attributed the strong comments Biden has made to the closeness between the two leaders.
“As friends can and friends should they speak honestly and openly, forthrightly and candidly,” Kirby said.
“President Biden has done that and he has done that publicly with respect to judicial reform and he will continue to do that” including in his conversation with Herzog in Washington, Kirby said.
Biden has clarified that “We stand for Israel. We stand for the Israeli people, and we stand for Israel’s democracy,” Kirby stated.
“We want to see that democracy and the hopes, and the dreams of all Israeli people and all their aspirations met through strong viable democratic institutions that are built on consensus and compromise,” he added.
The two men discussed ways to strengthen the Israeli-US alliance and the necessity of curbing Iran’s nuclear program. They also spoke about expanding the Abraham Accords to include normalization deals between Israel and other Arab countries, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Their conversation also dealt with the importance of stabilizing the volatile situation in the West Bank, particularly following the IDF’s two-day military campaign to destroy terrorist infrastructure in Jenin earlier this month.
There was some talk about another meeting of the Forum of Five, such as the ones that occurred earlier this year in Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh with representatives from Egypt, Jordan, the US, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority.
link
