US President Joe Biden gestures before departing Ben Gurion Airport for Saudi Arabia.
(Photo: dpa)
Tel Aviv Even before US President Joe Biden arrives in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah on Friday, he received a gift from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia opens its airspace to all airlines. Israel, the closest US ally in the Middle East, benefits from this because flight times for destinations such as India or China are becoming shorter.
The United States had been secretly negotiating this agreement for months. It is considered an important foreign policy success for Biden, as it could initiate a normalization of relations between Riyadh and Jerusalem. Israel’s government hopes Saudi Arabia will join Gulf countries like Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which have embassies in Tel Aviv.
Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman is already thinking aloud about a joint market with Saudi Arabia. The “sand curtain” that separates Israel from regional partners would then fall, enthuses Jon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd, one of the largest venture capital platforms based in Jerusalem.
The fact that Biden is flying directly from Tel Aviv to Saudi Arabia after his two-day visit to Israel on Friday symbolizes the new climate that is emerging in the Middle East. This is primarily about common security interests. Washington, Riyadh and Jerusalem are united by their fear of Iran’s nuclear program, which they see as a serious threat. In Jerusalem, in the face of threats from Iran, Biden reiterated the US’ “unwavering commitment” to Israel’s security.
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Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Jair Lapid signed a joint statement saying Iran will “never” have nuclear weapons. However, they do not agree on the methods. Biden hailed dialogue as the best way to thwart Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Jair Lapid signed a joint statement saying Iran will “never” have nuclear weapons.
(Photo: AP)
He would only resort to violence as a last resort, he said shortly before arriving in Tel Aviv in an interview with the Israeli television station Channel 2. Lapid sees it differently: The only way to stop Tehran’s nuclear armament is a “credible military threat “.
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Difficult talks await Biden in Saudi Arabia. During the election campaign, he called MBS, as the Crown Prince is known, a “pariah” for ordering the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi. But the 79-year-old president is a real politician and has a clear agenda when he meets the 35-year-old crown prince. Biden hopes that the Saudis will help calm the oil markets by increasing production, which would benefit him domestically.
However, the kingdom has other interests. It hopes for security promises. Like Israel, given the increasing threat from Iran and its proxies, it is seeking comprehensive guarantees for strong American engagement in the Gulf region and for Saudi Arabia’s security, says Amos Yadlin, the former head of Israel’s military intelligence service.
In the background is the Saudi “trauma” of the devastating Iranian attack on the kingdom’s oil infrastructure three years ago and the hesitant reaction of the then government under Donald Trump. According to Yadlin, however, MBS will not receive security promises for free. Biden will urge Riyadh to distance itself from China after the two countries have recently grown closer.
hot deal
647,000
tons of oil
entered Saudi Arabia from April to June via Russian and Estonian ports.
It is currently uncertain whether Biden’s “pilgrimage” (Wall Street Journal) to Saudi Arabia will be a success. MBS has recently sought closer ties with Russia after being let down by Trump.
The world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, more than doubled its oil imports from Russia for power generation in the second quarter. It is probably no coincidence that this became known on the day that Biden is expected in Saudi Arabia. Putin and MBS are close. Six years ago, he personally persuaded Moscow to coordinate Russian oil production with Opec to raise oil prices, which were then at record lows, the WSJ says.
Biden paid a high domestic price for his visit to MBS. His government is under pressure from progressives and human rights advocates for visiting the “pariah” MBS after years of war in Yemen, which the United Nations has described as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”.
>> Read also: How Saudi Arabia is making a deal out of sanctions against Russia
While in Saudi Arabia, Biden will meet for a summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah on Saturday. Topics of discussion are likely to include the war in Yemen, Iran’s regional and nuclear activities, the thaw between Israel and the Arab states, and ways to improve regional security and economic cooperation. Here, too, Biden should think about the price development in the USA and encourage the Gulf Cooperation Council to increase its oil production.
More: Not just for the sake of oil: Saudi Arabia is once again becoming a partner for the USA