Biden wants Israel to be included at the Arab meeting held in Saudi Arabia

• When meeting Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden will talk about regional missile and defence capabilities.
• He will also try to include Israel in a new axis that is mostly motivated by shared fears about Iran, according to a senior administration official.
• According to the senior official, the United States is optimistic that OPEC will increase production in the upcoming weeks.

When meeting Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden will talk about regional missile and defence capabilities. He will also try to include Israel in a new axis that is mostly motivated by shared fears about Iran, according to a senior administration official.

“Since Israel needs to have strong air and missile defence capabilities, we think it is really valuable to include as many of the regional capabilities as we can. However, we are speaking with these countries on a bilateral basis “an official from the administration informed journalists.

On his first trip to the Middle East as president, Biden has downplayed his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in favour of the summit with six Gulf states, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq that is scheduled. Because of violations of human rights, that encounter has garnered condemnation in the United States.

In response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in 2018, Biden had vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” on the international stage. However, he ultimately came to the conclusion that U.S. interests required a recalibration, not a rupture, in relations with the region’s most powerful oil exporter.

At a time when crude prices are high, there are other issues relating to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and Biden supports attempts to put an end to the Yemen war where a temporary truce is in effect, he needs the support of the largest member of OPEC, Saudi Arabia. Washington also seeks to lessen China’s global influence and Iran’s hold on the area.

According to the senior official, the United States is optimistic that OPEC will increase production in the upcoming weeks. Biden is anticipated to urge additional oil production from other Gulf producers. Russia is a member of the OPEC+ alliance, which will next convene on August 3.

Prior to participating in the larger summit, where he will “lay out clearly” his vision and strategy for America’s engagement in the Middle East, the U.S. president, who began his trip to the region with a visit to Israel, will hold bilateral talks with the leaders of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq.

He is determined to prevent China and Russia from stepping in to fill a power vacuum in the Middle East, according to Sullivan.

According to a senior administration official, Biden would make the announcements that the United States had pledged $1 billion in new short- and long-term food security assistance for the Middle East and North Africa and that the Gulf States would contribute $3 billion over the following two years to projects that support U.S. partnerships in international infrastructure and investment.

Gulf governments are looking for a firm commitment from the United States to strengthen strategic ties that have grown strained due to what they perceive to be the country’s retreat from the region. Gulf states have declined to support the West against Russia in the Ukraine crisis.