The meeting between Biden and Herzog will help lay the groundwork for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in the fall. But it will also highlight Biden’s concerns about Israel’s future as a democracy and escalating violence with Palestinians.
Prime Minister of Israel
“I am certain that behind-the-scenes Biden will be communicating to Herzog all of the different ways in which the administration is upset with the Israeli government and with the direction that Israel is taking,” said Michael Koplow, chief policy officer of Israel Policy Forum, a nonprofit that supports a two-state solution to the Israeli and Palestinian conflict.
“What this Biden administration has done, I think has been disgraceful, the way they treat a strong ally like Prime Minister Netanyahu has been disgraceful,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a leading GOP presidential contender, said in remarks Monday at the Christians United For Israel Conference. Biden has held back on criticizing Israeli military operations targeting Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with those operations drawing intense criticism from progressive Democrats over Palestinian civilian casualties caught up in the fighting.
“It’s clear that the administration is trying to get a breakthrough on Saudi Arabia and to try to get an interim deal … with Iran to avoid a deterioration, I think there’s no doubt that that is where their energy is,” said David Makovsky, Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Undermining Biden’s efforts to bridge divides between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority are far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition, who promote settlement expansion and incite violence toward Palestinians. This includes Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir.
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