OAN’s Brooke Mallory
3:33 PM – Thursday, September 21, 2023
Following a protracted delay regarded as a slight to the Israeli leader, President Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in months on Wednesday.
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Prior to Wednesday, Biden had missed nine months of opportunities to see Netanyahu. Another subtle criticism was the meeting’s venue—New York City as opposed to the White House. The initiatives of Netanyahu to reform Israel’s court system have drawn criticism from Biden.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu and Biden made light of the situation and parted ways on Wednesday with an offer to visit the White House before the year is through.
“I suffer from an oxymoron, Irish optimism. If you and I 10 years ago were talking about normalization with Saudi Arabia, I think we’d look at each other like, ‘Who’s been drinking what?” Biden said to Netanyahu.
“Good Irish whiskey,” Netanyahu replied.
In order to negotiate an agreement to mend ties with Saudi Arabia, Biden joined Netanyahu at the negotiation table. According to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a deal is “getting closer.”
“For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We need to solve that part,” Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud said. “We got to see where we go. We hope that will reach a place, that it will ease the life of the Palestinians, get Israel as a player in the Middle East.”
In the private meeting on Wednesday, Biden and Netanyahu addressed discussions with the Saudis.
Although American officials have been upbeat about the accord, they have also emphasized that there is still “work to be done.”
“Normalization is a very complicated issue. We have been making some progress, but there’s some ways to travel on this before we get there,” a senior U.S. official told reporters. He asked to remain anonymous.
A normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia would put an end to a series of peace agreements reached under the Abraham Accords under previous President Trump with Israel and surrounding Arab nations.
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