Status: 17.10.2023, 02:46 a.m.
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US President Joe Biden will travel to Israel. © Susan Walsh/AP/dpa
US Secretary of State Blinken has been on the road in the Middle East for days as a crisis diplomat. President Biden held the strings together on the phone. Now he has decided to travel to Israel.
Washington/Tel Aviv - US President Joe Biden plans to visit Israel tomorrow in view of the escalation of violence in the Middle East. This was announced by the White House yesterday evening (local time).
The U.S. government headquarters further announced that Biden will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others, for talks in Israel. On the same day, the US president plans to travel on to Jordan to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II, among others.
Speculation about visit
Media had previously speculated about the 80-year-old's trip. Netanyahu is said to have invited Biden to Israel during a phone call over the weekend. Biden had spoken regularly with Netanyahu after the devastating terrorist attack on Israel by the Islamist Hamas, 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 U.S. stands unconditionally on Israel's side. 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 United States is supporting the country with billions of dollars. Biden had announced that he wanted to apply for more funding for the country in the US Congress.
U.S. warships in the Mediterranean
The US is determined to avoid a further escalation of the conflict in the region. That is why the US has deployed several warships to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent. These include 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 had recently emphasized that it had no plans to send ground troops to Israel. Dpa