{"id":6133,"date":"2023-09-20T23:13:07","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T23:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/biden-netanyahu-to-discuss-saudi-normalization-iran-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-09-20T23:13:07","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T23:13:07","slug":"biden-netanyahu-to-discuss-saudi-normalization-iran-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/biden-netanyahu-to-discuss-saudi-normalization-iran-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden, Netanyahu to discuss Saudi normalization, Iran | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nWASHINGTON:
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US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday will hold their first face-to-face talks since Netanyahu took power in December, with topics expected to include a potential Israel-Saudi normalization deal and Iran.<\/p>\n

Biden had held off extending an invitation to Netanyahu out of concern about a judicial overhaul that curbs the power of judges undertaken by his right-wing government as well as Israel’s expansion of settlements on the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n

Instead of meeting at the White House – Netanyahu’s preferred venue – the two leaders ended up arranging their talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.<\/p>\n

US officials expect the judicial overhaul to come up in their conversations, as well as efforts to counter Iran’s nuclear program and the possibility of what would be a major development – a normalization of Israel-Saudi relations.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu had expected an earlier US visit given his long history of dealing with American presidents, but Biden had resisted. Netanyahu did not get a meeting in the early months of the Biden White House in 2021 and was then ousted from power. He returned to power last December.<\/p>\n

Instead, Biden welcomed Israeli President Isaac Herzog, a largely ceremonial post, to the White House in July to mark the 75th anniversary of Israel\u2019s founding.<\/p>\n

Read also: Israel says holding talks with Palestinians to advance Saudi normalization deal<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia have been discussing a potential deal in which the Israelis and the Saudis would normalize diplomatic relations and Washington and Riyadh would agree on a defence pact, but talks still have far to go.<\/p>\n

David Makovsky, a long-time Middle East watcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, noted in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the meeting “will occur 265 days after Netanyahu took office, the longest such gap since 1964.”<\/p>\n

“The Saudi deal’s enormous potential has left Biden & Netanyahu little choice but to meet despite differences,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration is calculating that the US could reap big rewards from such a mega-deal if it can overcome steep obstacles.<\/p>\n

“Many of the elements of a pathway to normalization are now on the table. We don’t have a framework, we don’t have the terms ready to be signed. There is still work to do,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Sept. 7.<\/p>\n

US officials have not ruled out an eventual White House meeting between Biden and Netanyahu.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n