With a looming UN General Assembly meeting on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden are scheduled for their first face-to-face meeting. The two will reportedly discuss shared democratic values, as well as pressing regional issues such as Iran’s nuclear program.
The meeting has been a long time coming, with Biden initially hesitating to meet with Netanyahu when the Israeli leader returned to office nine months ago. His reasoning for this had deep roots in unease about the judicial overhaul being pushed by Netanyahu’s hardline coalition. This prompted the largest protest in Israeli history, with thousands of military reservists even declaring that they wished to be released from service.
Adding to Biden’s hesitant stance is a clear frustration with expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which is seen as a roadblock to peace progress and the two-state solution. This eventually led to a heated call from 3,500 Israeli academics and public figures who urged the US president to snub completely the much anticipated meeting.
To the crowd’s surprise, the White House then promptly announced the meeting between both leaders, stating that it would be centered on “a range of bilateral and regional issues focused on the shared democratic values between the United States and Israel and a vision for a more stable and prosperous and integrated region, as well as to compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran.”
The announcement for this meeting, however, did not result from an initial White House invite. It was previously reported from Axios news that Biden’s team was divided on the idea of an invitation, eventually settling for a compromise of a UN meeting. This was mainly driven by the fear of crowds of demonstrators outside the White House should the two leaders meet, and to avoid giving props to Israeli government policy.
Regardless of this, the US president has repeatedly declared himself a “true friend of Israel” and is aware of the importance of preserving a connection with the US’s staunchest ally. Before his visit to New York, Netanyahu is set to meet tech industry leaders in San Francisco, including Elon Musk to discuss anti-Semitism.
Despite no assurances of a White House invite before the year ends, Biden’s administration continues to use the meeting as leverage, until the disputed legislation on the judiciary is resolved in Israel’s supreme court. Moreover, they also hope to use the meeting to encourage Netanyahu to be cooperative in establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The much-anticipated meeting will represent a decisive moment in the relationship between Biden and Netanyahu, determining how both leaders will advance with policy cooperation and the implications it has for the US and Israel in the coming months.
