Lapid going to US
Netanyahu has reportedly instructed all cabinet ministers to avoid travelling to the United States, and to avoid meeting US government officials if they do, until he is invited to the White House.
(TIMES OF ISRAEL) – Opposition Leader Yair Lapid will travel to Washington next week for high-level meetings with White House and State Department officials, his office told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.
The meetings will take place against the backdrop of evident tension between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has yet to be invited to the White House since returning to office late last year.
Lapid’s office declined to comment on whether he would be meeting Biden or Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Netanyahu received an invitation from Biden to meet in the US during a recent phone call, but it remains unclear whether the two will meet at the White House. Biden could meet Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September, which would allow the President to get the meeting out of the way without having to roll out the red carpet in Washington.
A meeting at the UN would be one of many the US President will hold that week and would be lower profile than the Oval Office photo op that Netanyahu likely envisions as he seeks to recover his diplomatic bona fides, which have taken a hit due to his government’s hardline policies.
Netanyahu has reportedly instructed all cabinet ministers to avoid travelling to the United States, and to avoid meeting US government officials if they do, until he is invited to the White House.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, was expected to meet senior US officials this week during his ongoing visit to New York. The meetings were arranged with Netanyahu’s approval, according to the report.
For his part, Lapid has pursued diplomatic meetings in places where the Netanyahu government is struggling to reach.
Earlier this month, he met with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed in Italy. According to Lapid’s office, the two discussed bilateral ties and joint projects.
Netanyahu was due to visit the UAE shortly after returning to office as his first state visit, but the trip was cancelled after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount, which Abu Dhabi denounced as a “storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard”.
In May, Netanyahu was invited to visit the UAE for the COP28 UN climate conference, which will be attended by many world leaders.
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