Meeting with Netanyahu and Abbas
Biden visits Israel on Wednesday
October 17, 2023, 3:43 a.m
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The war in Gaza is a high priority for US President Biden – so high that he is traveling to Israel this week. He will meet Prime Minister Netanyahu on Wednesday. He recently called for civilian casualties to be kept as low as possible.
US President Joe Biden wants to visit Israel on Wednesday in view of the escalation of violence in the Middle East. The White House announced this on Monday evening (local time). The US government headquarters also announced that Biden would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. The US President wanted to travel to Jordan on the same day to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II, it said.
The media had previously speculated about the 80-year-old’s trip. Netanyahu is said to have invited Biden to Israel during a phone call at the weekend. After the devastating terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas on Israel, Biden spoke regularly with Netanyahu, sometimes several times a day. He also sent his Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel and other countries in the region. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was also in Israel for talks.
Biden had repeatedly emphasized that the USA unconditionally stands by Israel. At the same time, he pointed out that the number of civilian casualties must be kept as low as possible. As Israel’s most important ally, the USA supports the country with billions of dollars. Biden had announced that he would request further funding for the country from the US Congress.
The USA absolutely wants to avoid a further escalation of the conflict in the region. Therefore, the USA has deployed several warships to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent. These include, among others, the aircraft carriers “USS Dwight D. Eisenhower” and “USS Gerald R. Ford”. Air Force squadrons with their fighter jets were also sent to the region. The White House recently emphasized that it had no plans to send ground troops to Israel.