Comment JERUSALEM — President Biden has defended his decision to meet with the Saudi crown prince who orchestrated the killing and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying the Saudis must be involved in any effort to stabilize a volatile region. Biden made the statement during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on the second day of a five-day trip to the Middle East. “My views on Khashoggi have been absolutely, positively clear, and I have never been quiet about speaking out about human rights,” he said in response to a question. “The reason I’m going to Saudi Arabia is to advance US interests in a way that I think we have an opportunity to restore our influence in the Middle East.” Analysis: Two murders haunt Biden’s Middle East trip Biden also said alienating the Saudis would contribute to a leadership vacuum and added “I always bring up human rights,” though he never specifically said he would bring up Khashoggi’s murder. “There are so many issues at stake, I want to make sure that we can continue to lead in the region and not create a vacuum — vacuum filled by Russia and China,” he said. US intelligence officials have concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia widely known by his initials MBS, ordered the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist. The killing was widely condemned, including by Biden on the campaign trail, where he publicly vowed to make Saudi Arabia a pariah. He expressed deep reservations to his aides about meeting Mohammed and said the country’s government has “very little social redeeming value.” In June, he said “I’m not going to meet with MBS.” The White House has since confirmed the meeting with MBS, saying Biden will meet the crown prince as part of a bilateral meeting with Saudi King Salman and the country’s broader leadership team. During a meeting with Lapid earlier in the day on Thursday, Biden spoke of the cooperation needed to stabilize the region and ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon. “This is of vital security importance for both Israel and the United States, and I would add for the rest of the world,” he said. He said that would be the main message in his meeting with the Saudis. “When I see the Saudi leadership tomorrow, I will deliver an immediate message,” Biden said. “A message of peace and of the extraordinary opportunities that a more stable integrated region could bring to the region and, frankly, to the rest of the world.” However, his decision to share space with MBS was a lightning rod. Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, condemned Biden’s visit. “You can imagine my shock and dismay when I learned that you would break your promise and travel to Saudi Arabia to possibly meet with the crown prince – the person US intelligence believed was responsible for ordering Jamal’s assassination,” he wrote. in an article. – editing at the Washington Post. “You condemn Russia for persecuting dissidents and committing war crimes in Ukraine. But the Saudis are committing the same horrific human rights abuses. Why are they being passed over? Is this the price of oil?’ Washington Post editor Fred Ryan criticized Biden for “going to Jeddah on bended knee to shake the bloody hand of the ‘pariah.’ Ryan wrote that the meeting “will signal that American values are negotiable” and that Biden is “turning a blind eye to the killing of Jamal in an effort to lower gas prices before the fall midterms.” Biden was going to limit handshakes on this trip. He has a hard time doing it. Questions about the tense meeting even overshadowed the first leg of Biden’s trip, when he made his 10th visit to Israel and exited Air Force One offering fist bumps instead of handshakes. The White House defended itself against criticism that the new presidential protocol avoiding handshakes was less about protecting the president from the coronavirus and more about avoiding a cute visual handshake between MBS and Biden.
