President Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the first time the two leaders have met since Netanyahu regained power late last year and established what is widely viewed as the most right-wing, ultranationalist and religiously conservative government in Israel’s history.
The meeting focused on U.S.-led efforts to achieve a deal to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to U.S. and Israeli officials, which would be a significant foreign policy achievement for the Biden administration and could reshape the Middle East.
The long-awaited encounter came amid strained relations between the two leaders, as Netanyahu’s government moves to overhaul the country’s judicial system, a shift that has divided Israelis and sparked mass protests for 37 weeks straight.
In brief remarks with reporters before the meeting, Biden said that the two would discuss “some of the hard issues,” which he said include “upholding democratic values that lie at the heart of our partnership.” Biden added that these values include “checks and balances in our systems,” an apparent reference to the judicial overhaul, which critics say will harm the balance of power between the branches of government.
Biden has publicly criticised Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul Israel’s judiciary, urging him to seek a broad consensus. A senior Biden administration official said the president reiterated his views in the private discussion.
Read thea article by Dov Lieber and Annie Linskey in The Australian (from The Wall Street Journal).