Joe Biden refused to speak to de facto Saudi governor Mohammed bin Salman and speak only to King Salman’s father as part of a ‘rebalanced’ relationship with the kingdom, the White House says
- President Joe Biden rebalances America’s friendship with Saudi Arabia
- That involves communication through Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz rather than Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
- The move is very different from Trump; Jared Kushner was close to MBS
- ‘We have made it clear from the outset that we are going to renew our relationship with Saudi Arabia,’ said White House press secretary Jen Psaki
- President Biden’s first call to a leader in the Middle East would be with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
- There is no timeline yet as to when Biden will call as Israelis ask what awaits
- ‘Soon,’ said Psaki when Biden would call Netanyahu
President Joe Biden will rebalance America’s friendship with Saudi Arabia and communicate through Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz rather than Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the White House said Tuesday.
‘We have made it clear from the outset that we are going to renew our relationship with Saudi Arabia,’ White House news secretary Jen Psaki said at her briefing on Tuesday.
She said part of that reshuffle would involve Biden talking to the Saudi king, replacing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – a significant change in policy since the Trump administration.
‘Part of that goes back to an opposition communications partner, King Salman is the presidential representative and I expect, in due course, to have a conversation with him,’ Psaki said.
President Joe Biden rebalances America’s friendship with Saudi Arabia and communicates through Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz rather than Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
The Biden administration is changing President Trump’s policy with Saudi Arabia, Trump and Jared Kushner’s son-in-law frequently meeting and talking to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto power behind the king- city
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and chief adviser Jared Kushner was close to MBS, as the Saudi crown prince is known. MBS re-emerged in June 2017 after a power struggle with a rival. It is said to be the power behind the throne.
MBS, as it is known, is the apparent heir apparent of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz
Kushner ‘s close relationship with him – the two were texted and communicated through apps – raised eyebrows at what was happening outside of diplomatic channels, Kushner’ s lack of foreign policy knowledge and MBS ‘reputation as a despot.
The crown prince is accused of torturing human rights activists; a Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen that has exacerbated humanitarian crisis and famine; members of the Saudi royal family were arrested in November 2017 where he imprisoned several of his royal cousins at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyad; and the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Psaki also said President Biden’s first call to a leader in the Middle East would be with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, although she did not provide a timeline for that conversation.
Psaki just said it would be ‘soon.’
‘He will have his first call with a leader in the department with Prime Minister Netanyahu, he will be soon. I don’t have a definite date for you but it’s soon, ‘she said.
Biden has called on U.S. alliances in Europe and Asia, including the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and South Korea, but not Netanyahu, who has raised questions about why Israel left -mach.
Psaki said last week it did not represent ‘diss dissional’ but Israeli officials are asking why Biden did not call.
‘Is Biden ghosting Netanyahu?’ read a recent headline in the Israeli paper.
Meanwhile President Biden would have the first call to a leader in the Middle East by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Israelis question why he did not call; Biden, as vice president, is seen with Netanyahu in March 2016
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama did not get along
In contrast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump were close to Trump calling Netanyahu two days after he became president
At the same time, Netanyahu expressed confidence that Biden would call.
He told the Israeli Channel 12 television channel on Monday: ‘He says … We have had very friendly relations for almost 40 years, going back to the time I came to Washington as an Israeli diplomatic representative and he was a a young senator from Delaware. ‘
Netanyahu and former President Barack Obama, of which Biden was vice-president, did not get along – an issue that was intertwined with Netanyahu’s speech at Congress in in 2015, where he came out against the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration, which upset Obama.
In contrast, Netanyahu and Trump got on well. Trump announced Netanyahu within two days of joining the White House in 2017. President Trump moved the American embassy to Jerusalem – a move that the Biden administration signaled he would keep – and recognized sovereignty Israel over the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that captured Israel from Syria in 1967 – which could reverse the Biden administration.