Biden is scheduled to hold several bilateral meetings with leaders from Iraq, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, as well as attend a GCC+ 3 summit on Saturday. The GCC+ 3 consists of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — an alliance of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman — plus Egypt, Iraq and Jordan. Large parts of the region have been embroiled in economic turmoil in recent years that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s stranglehold on Ukraine’s massive wheat exports have also pushed much of the Middle East and North Africa to the brink of widespread food insecurity. National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday that Biden would cover a wide range of topics in his meetings, “from security to the economy, to regional integration, to cooperation on the great global challenges of our time, to human rights and the vigorous defense of America’s values and of the President’s personal priorities.” He said the trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia was designed to ensure that “the United States planted its flag firmly in this region for the long term” and not allow China or Russia to fill a leadership vacuum. It comes a year after the US withdrew all US troops from Afghanistan and ended 20 years of war with the Middle Eastern country. In particular, Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia was closely watched. The President announced several new areas of cooperation aimed at reshaping US-Saudi relations on Friday, but it was his interactions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that drew the most attention. The US last year declassified an intelligence report that concluded that Bin Salman approved the killing of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Despite once vowing to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” on the world stage, Biden punched the crown prince when he greeted him in Jeddah ahead of their meetings. Democrats and others decried the gesture as too friendly and said it sent the wrong message. Biden later told reporters that he briefed bin Salman directly on Khashoggi’s killing and said he believed the crown prince was responsible. He faced Saudi pushback, according to a source familiar with the matter. The crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, told Biden that any attempt to impose values on another country was seen as counterproductive to the relationship. He then noted that there have been incidents, including the abuse of prisoners by US military personnel at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, that reflect badly on the US. The recent killing of Al Jazeera Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank and the US response, which drew criticism from Abu Akleh’s family, was also reported by the Saudi side, the source said. Senior administration officials on Saturday defended the trip as an opportunity to raise concerns about the kingdom’s rights with the Saudi crown prince. It would be “a setback if the president didn’t come to the region, and it would be a setback if he didn’t and wasn’t willing to sit down and raise human rights concerns with foreign leaders around the world,” one official said. Biden came to Jeddah seeking solutions to one of his top political problems at home — high gas prices — as diplomacy with Saudi Arabia in the Middle East was seen as one of the few avenues he could take to lower prices by putting pressure on millions of Americans. But White House officials say the President will not return to Washington on Saturday with clear increases in oil production. The expectation is that there will be increases in the coming months — on the back of the increased production levels in the OPEC+ cartel presented at the August meeting. Asked Saturday about the possibility of a widely anticipated normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, an official said it would “take some time.” The Biden administration has been seeking for months to formalize security and economic deals between Saudi Arabia and Israel in an effort to set the stage for a normalization deal between the two countries. Riyadh is believed to have a secret relationship with Israel, but has yet to officially disclose these diplomatic ties. In 2020, then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly flew to Saudi Arabia for a secret meeting with the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — a claim denied by Riyadh’s top diplomat. A potential rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia has been hailed as the “crown jewel” of deals between the Jewish state and the Arab world. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan are normalizing relations with Israel in 2020 as part of a wave of deals at the end of former President Donald Trump’s term. CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Allie Malloy contributed to this report.
title: “Biden To Pledge 1 Billion In Food Security Aid On Final Day Of Middle East Tour " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-20” author: “Daniel Johnson”
Biden held several bilateral meetings with leaders from Iraq, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and is scheduled to attend a GCC+ 3 summit on Saturday. The GCC+ 3 consists of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — an alliance of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman — plus Egypt, Iraq and Jordan. Large parts of the region have been embroiled in economic turmoil in recent years that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s stranglehold on Ukraine’s massive wheat exports have also pushed much of the Middle East and North Africa to the brink of widespread food insecurity. National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday that Biden would cover a wide range of topics in his meetings, “from security to the economy, to regional integration, to cooperation on the great global challenges of our time, to human rights and the vigorous defense of America’s values and of the President’s personal priorities.” He said the trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia was designed to ensure that “the United States planted its flag firmly in this region for the long term” and not allow China or Russia to fill a leadership vacuum. It comes a year after the US withdrew all US troops from Afghanistan and ended 20 years of war with the Middle Eastern country. In particular, Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia was closely watched. The President announced several new areas of cooperation aimed at reshaping US-Saudi relations on Friday, but it was his interactions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that drew the most attention. The US last year declassified an intelligence report that concluded that Bin Salman approved the killing of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Despite once vowing to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” on the world stage, Biden punched the crown prince when he greeted him in Jeddah ahead of their meetings. Democrats and others decried the gesture as too friendly and said it sent the wrong message. Biden later told reporters that he briefed bin Salman directly on Khashoggi’s killing and said he believed the crown prince was responsible. He faced Saudi pushback, according to a source familiar with the matter. The crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, told Biden that any attempt to impose values on another country was seen as counterproductive to the relationship. He then noted that there have been incidents, including the abuse of prisoners by US military personnel at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, that reflect badly on the US. The recent killing of Al Jazeera Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank and the US response, which drew criticism from Abu Akleh’s family, was also reported by the Saudi side, the source said. Senior administration officials on Saturday defended the trip as an opportunity to raise concerns about the kingdom’s rights with the Saudi crown prince. It would be “a setback if the president didn’t come to the region, and it would be a setback if he didn’t and wasn’t willing to sit down and raise human rights concerns with foreign leaders around the world,” one official said. Biden came to Jeddah seeking solutions to one of his top political problems at home — high gas prices — as diplomacy with Saudi Arabia in the Middle East was seen as one of the few avenues he could take to lower prices by putting pressure on millions of Americans. But White House officials say the President will not return to Washington on Saturday with clear increases in oil production. The expectation is that there will be increases in the coming months — on the back of the increased production levels in the OPEC+ cartel presented at the August meeting. Asked Saturday about the possibility of a widely anticipated normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, an official said it would “take some time.” The Biden administration has been seeking for months to formalize security and economic deals between Saudi Arabia and Israel in an effort to set the stage for a normalization deal between the two countries. Riyadh is believed to have a secret relationship with Israel, but has yet to officially disclose these diplomatic ties. In 2020, then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly flew to Saudi Arabia for a secret meeting with the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — a claim denied by Riyadh’s top diplomat. A potential rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia has been hailed as the “crown jewel” of deals between the Jewish state and the Arab world. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan are normalizing relations with Israel in 2020 as part of a wave of deals at the end of former President Donald Trump’s term. CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Allie Malloy contributed to this report.
