The Brief No. 28
12 July 2022
President Joe Biden will be visiting Israel, Palestine and Saudi Arabia this week.
His first stop will be Israel and the West Bank. He will then travel to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The visit is happening “despite the fact that the president pledged to recalibrate relations with the kingdom and make it a "pariah" over the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi by assassins with ties to the country's de facto leader.”
Biden will also attend the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit that will be taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
What is the real purpose of these visits?
First, Israel and Palestine are “by the way, keeping with tradition” visits; US Presidents who visit the Middle East have always made it point to touch base with both Palestine and Israel.
Afrasid has learnt that Biden will have meetings with the new Prime Minister of Israel, Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Iran and the suggested “Arab-Israel Defense Alliance".
He will also talk to the Israelis about the Abraham Accords, which is the process of normalisation between Israel and Arabs.
He is likely to take a message/report back from the Israelis to Riyadh in that regard.
However, Biden’s main reason for the visit is to urge Saudi Arabia, the second largest oil producer in the world, to increase its oil output to augment the shortfall as a result of sanctions against Russia.
Afrasid is available for comment and analysis.