In a Washington Post op-ed on Saturday titled “Why I’m Going to Saudi Arabia,” Biden said he would make the trip from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where “leaders from across the region will gather, highlighting the possibility of a more stable and integrated Middle East, with the United States playing a vital leadership role.” The American leader said he would be “the first president to fly from Israel to Jeddah [Jeddah]… [in] a small symbol of the budding relations and steps toward normalization between Israel and the Arab world that my administration is working to deepen and expand.” Biden is expected in Israel on Wednesday for a packed two-day visit that will also include a trip to the Palestinian Authority, followed by a visit to Saudi Arabia on Friday for a Saturday meeting with Middle East regional leaders as part of the GCC+3 summit (the Gulf Cooperation Council — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE along with Iraq, Egypt and Jordan). GCC+3 summit on Saturday in Jeddah with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates along with Iraq, Egypt and Jordan Get The Times of Israel Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms In Saudi Arabia, Biden is expected to push for increased oil production in Saudi Arabia in hopes of taming rising fuel costs and inflation at home, a marked departure from his campaign pledge to treat Riyadh as an “outcast” on his human rights record. and the 2018 assassination and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi — a Saudi-born US resident known for writing critical articles about the kingdom’s leaders for the Washington Post. US President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (Collage/AP) US intelligence findings released by the Biden administration identified Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, often referred to as MBS, as the mastermind of the operation. However, global developments over the past year — specifically Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — have led Biden to shift his approach to the Gulf kingdom, given its centrality to the oil market and the potential for further Israeli integration into the region. Last month, Biden had tried to distance himself from the upcoming meeting in Jeddah with MBS at the GCC+3, stressing to reporters that he was to meet with King Salman and his team. But the White House confirmed earlier this week that he would meet with MBS as part of that larger delegation during the trip. During the visit, Biden said he would also be the first president to visit the Middle East since 9/11 “without US troops participating in a combat mission there,” adding that throughout the trip, he would he has in his thoughts “the millions of Americans who have served in the region,” including his son Bo, “and the 7,054 who have died in conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan since September 11, 2001.” Beau Biden had served in Iraq and died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46. Joe Biden, right, is seen with his son Beau Biden in Denver, Colorado, August 25, 2008. (AFP/Paul J. RICHARDS) In his op-ed on Saturday, Biden said the region has changed and that a “secure and integrated Middle East benefits Americans in many ways.” “Its waterways are essential to global trade and the supply chains we rely on. Its energy resources are vital to mitigating the impact on global supplies of Russia’s war in Ukraine. And a region that is united through diplomacy and cooperation — rather than torn apart by conflict — is less likely to spark violent extremism that threatens our homeland or new wars that could burden American military forces and their families.” The US leader said the Middle East he will visit this week “is more stable and more secure than the one my administration inherited 18 months ago”. Without naming him, Biden said that during former President Donald Trump’s administration, attacks on US troops and diplomats in the region have increased, the war in Yemen has escalated and Iran has rapidly accelerated its nuclear program after the US “opposed a working nuclear deal,” a reference to the 2015 nuclear accords between Tehran and six world powers, including the U.S. under the Obama administration. Featured: Iranian diplomats and officials of the P5+1 powers meet in Vienna to discuss the 2015 nuclear deal on April 25, 2017. (AFP/Joe Klamar) Biden said he had worked with leaders across the region, including the king of Saudi Arabia, to “lay the groundwork” for a ceasefire in Yemen to deliver life-saving humanitarian aid and that he had “reunited with allies and partners in Europe and around the world” with respect to Iran, “to reverse our isolation.” “Now it is Iran that is isolated until it returns to the nuclear deal that my predecessor abandoned without a plan for what could replace it,” he wrote. Regarding Riyadh, Biden said his goal was to “reorient — but not sever — relations with a country that has been a strategic partner for 80 years.” “Today, Saudi Arabia helped restore unity among the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, fully supported the ceasefire in Yemen, and is now working with my experts to help stabilize oil markets with other OPEC producers,” he wrote. Biden. Forces loyal to Yemen’s Houthi rebels take part in a military parade to mark the seventh anniversary of the Saudi-led coalition’s intervention in their country, in the capital Sanaa, on March 31, 2022. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP) As president, Biden said his “job has been to keep our country strong and secure” and “to counter Russian aggression, to put ourselves in the best possible position to outmaneuver China and work for greater stability in a subsequent region of the world”. “To do these things, we need to engage directly with countries that can influence these outcomes. Saudi Arabia is one of them…,” he added, defending the planned visit that has drawn criticism. Biden said the region has its many challenges — such as “Iran’s nuclear program and support for proxy groups, the Syrian civil war, food security crises exacerbated by Russia’s war against Ukraine, terrorist groups that are still active in many countries, the political stalemate in Iraq. Libya and Lebanon, and human rights standards that lag behind much of the world” — but now it is “less pressured and more comprehensive”. This is due in part to growing ties between Israel and Arab nations, Iraq’s diplomatic role in mediating between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and more regional connectivity and engagement, described by Jordan’s King Abdullah II as “new atmosphere”. Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein speaks at a news conference after talks at the Chancellery, in Berlin, Germany, March 15, 2022. (Hannibal Hanschke/Pool via AP) “These are promising trends that the United States can leverage in a way that no other country can. My trip next week will serve that purpose,” Biden said. Israeli-Arab security initiatives have proliferated since the 2020 Abraham Accords negotiated under the Trump administration normalized relations between Israel and four Arab League countries. They have increased further since the Pentagon switched coordination with Israel from US European Command to Central Command, or CENTCOM, last year. The move grouped Israel’s military with former Arab rivals, including Saudi Arabia and other nations that have yet to recognize Israel. Encouraging Arab nations to strengthen security ties and overall relations with Israel is one of the goals of Biden’s trips to Israel and Saudi Arabia next week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.

Full itinerary

Biden is due to land Wednesday evening at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, where he will be greeted by Prime Minister Yair Lapid in an official welcome ceremony. His busy two-day trip to Israel will include meetings with Israeli leaders, a tour of several Israeli security systems, including the Iron Beam, a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem and a speech at the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Jewish Olympics. . Biden will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, where he is expected to announce a package of steps aimed at strengthening the Palestinian Authority, a senior US official told The Times of Israel on Wednesday in a conversation about Biden’s itinerary. Biden will then return to Ben Gurion Airport, from where he will take a rare direct flight to Saudi Arabia to attend the GCC+3 summit. In an initiative it hopes to solidify before the president lands, the US is working to finalize the transfer of a pair of Red Sea islands from Egyptian control to Saudi control as part of a deal that would see Riyadh receive a series of steps to normalize relations with Israel, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel on Wednesday. The normalization measures will include Saudi Arabia opening its airspace to Israeli flights to the Far East in addition to developing direct flights between Israel and Saudi Arabia for Muslim pilgrims, the Middle East diplomat said, confirming a report by the Axios news website. Biden will also discuss broader regional cooperation efforts, maintaining a truce between warring parties in Yemen and…