Biden to Visit ’Israel’, Palestinian Authority Next Week

Local Editor

During his visit, the US vice president is set to discuss the floundering talks between Tel Aviv and Washington on American military aid to the "Israeli" entity for the next decade.

US Vice President Joe Biden is due to arrive next Tuesday for a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the White House said Wednesday.

Biden is scheduled to meet with "Israeli" President Reuven Rivlin and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in al-Quds [Jerusalem]. He is to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Biden is also scheduled to visit Jordan and the United Arab Emirates on his trip.

This will be Biden's third visit to the "Israeli" entity since becoming vice president seven years ago. His first visit, in March 2010, turned into a diplomatic dispute between "Israel" and the United States following the announcement issued during the visit about "Israel's" intention to advance construction plans beyond the Green Line in al-Quds [Jerusalem].

The next time Biden came to the "Israeli" entity was in January 2014 to take part in former "Israeli" Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's funeral.

During his visit next week, Biden is set to discuss the floundering talks between the "Israeli" entity and the United States on the US military aid to "Israel" for the next decade. The two sides had yet to reach an agreement about how much money the United States will give the "Israeli" regime annually as military assistance.

Netanyahu, who invited Biden to "Israel", hopes the vice president will persuade US President Barack Obama to increase the aid.

According to the current military aid agreement, the "Israeli" entity will receive an average of some $3 billion a year. Netanyahu wants to increase it to $4 billion a year in the new agreement.

About 10 days after Biden's visit, Netanyahu is expected to visit the United States to attend the AIPAC conference. At this stage no meeting has been set between Netanyahu and Obama, but Bibi's aides and the White House are holding talks in a bid to make that happen before Obama goes on his historic visit to Cuba on March 20.

Before Netanyahu flies to Washington, War Minister Moshe Ya'alon is due to visit the American capital to meet with US War Secretary Ashton Carter. This meeting, too, will focus on the US military aid agreement.

Source: Haaretz, Edited by website team