- The U.S. and Israel plan to launch a partnership on emerging technologies Thursday..
- Biden is meeting with Yair Lapid, who recently became Israel's acting prime minister.
- Biden is also meeting with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
JERUSALEM – President Joe Biden's closed-door meetings with Israeli leaders on Thursday may delve into divisions over Iran and an independent Palestinian state, among other flashpoints.
But in public, it's likely to be all kumbaya.
The U.S. and Israel are poised to issue a joint statement outlining areas of consensus. They plan to launch a partnership on emerging technologies.
And Biden – who is making his 10th trip to Israel, though only his first as president – is receiving Israel's Presidential Medal of Honor to recognize his decades of support for Israel.
The latest:
- The tension: Biden’s relationship with Israel has been strained by his attempts to restart a 2015 deal with Iran that was meant to curb its nuclear activities, but which Israel viewed as not tough enough
- The diffuser: The U.S. and Israel will release a joint declaration that reaffirms the "unbreakable bonds" between the two countries while committing to working together to "confront Iran's aggression" and to "never allow" Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
- Two-state solution: Biden said he will discuss his support for the creation of an independent Palestinian nation alongside Israel, "even though I know it's not in the near term." Rather than launch a new peace initiative, Biden will encourage both sides to “move closer towards a vision that works for both Israelis and for Palestinians, and for the region as a whole,” according to Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser.
- Joint ventures: The U.S. and Israel are launching a "high-level strategic dialogue" on technology. That's in addition to a partnership on a laser-enabled missile defense system being developed that Biden was briefed on Wednesday.
What's about to happen
Biden is meeting first with Yair Lapid, who recently became the acting prime minister after the collapse of a coalition government. Biden and Lapid will hold a joint news conference where they may be pressed on their differing views on Iran and help for the Palestinians. Both could also be asked about Palestinian American Shireen Abu Akleh, a journalist who was shot dead in May while reporting on an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank.
In what experts say is an attempt to avoid showing favoritism in the upcoming election, Biden is also meeting with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the opposition party who is vying to make a comeback.
Sullivan said the meeting reflects that America’s relationship with Israel is “not just about one person, one leader” but “about the state of Israel and about engaging across the political spectrum.”
Top takeaways
Despite their differences on Iran, Israelis still like Biden personally, says David Makovsky, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“Biden as an individual is very popular because they like the visceral politicians who wear their love of Israel on their sleeves,” Makovsky said. “He does.”
But Israelis know that progressives in the Democratic Party are pushing Biden to get tougher on Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians, according to Tamar Hermann, a senior research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. Plus, Hermann said, Biden succeeded former President Donald Trump, a very popular figure in Israel.
Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and helped normalize relations between Israel and several Arab nations.
What they are saying
- Shortly after arriving in Israel Wednesday, Biden called the connection between the Israeli people and the American people "bone deep." "And generation after generation, that connection grows," Biden said.
- Lapid said Biden's relationship with Israel has "always been very personal." He called Biden "one of the best friends Israel has ever known."
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