US President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Israel next month, an official familiar with the issue told The Times of Israel on Saturday.
The meeting was not originally planned, but was added to Biden’s schedule following Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s decision to dissolve the Knesset by sending Israel back to the polls.
The Biden administration wants to avoid feeling like it is interfering in the Israeli election, and there is a precedent for presidents to meet with both the prime minister and the opposition leader during the election campaign, the official said.
Bennett and Foreign Minister Jair Lapid announced their decision last week to dissolve the 24th Knesset after just one year in power for failing to maintain a closer, more politically diverse coalition. If all goes according to plan, Israel will head to its fifth national election in less than four years in the fall.
The Knesset is expected to pass final legislation for its distribution on Monday, and Lapid will take office as prime minister on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to reports Saturday.
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Lapid will meet Biden at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on July 13 and hold several meetings with the president during the trip, the US official said. Bennett will also meet Biden, with whom he has built a relationship over the past year.
Lapid and Biden are believed to have met only once before, in 2013, when Lapid was finance minister and Biden was vice president.
Biden and Netanyahu have a long relationship, albeit with some political controversy. Netanyahu was at loggerheads with former US President Barack Obama, of whom Biden was vice president.
From July 13 to 16, Biden will travel to Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, where he will attend a meeting of regional leaders.
A senior U.S. official, discussing Biden’s visit, hinted Wednesday that more Arab nations are seeking gestures to improve relations with Israel.
“We work in a non-public space with several other countries. And I think you’ll see some interesting things during the president’s visit, “said US Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs Barbara Leaf to a subcommittee of Congress.
A report Wednesday also said U.S. officials had asked Israel to limit the guest list and the length of the reception ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport when Biden arrived, possibly due to Biden’s age or weather conditions.
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