Biden to meet with Netanyahu at UN General Assembly for first face-to-face meeting since Israeli PM returned to office

President Joe Biden next week will hold his first face-to-face meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the Israeli leader came back into office.

Biden will meet Netanyahu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington later in the week.

“On Wednesday, President Biden will sit down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues focused on the shared democratic values between the United States and Israel and a vision for a more stable and prosperous and integrated region, as well as to compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters during Friday’s press briefing.

Netanyahu has not been invited to the White House since he returned to office in December, a move widely interpreted as linked to the Biden administration’s disapproval of the Israeli government’s proposed judicial reforms.

Netanyahu’s office trumpeted in July that he had been “invited” to meet Biden in the United States, but the White House pointedly declined to call it an invitation and previously wouldn’t say where the leaders would meet.

Upon his return to Washington, Biden will host Zelensky on Thursday for his third White House meeting, which Sullivan told reporters “certainly comes at a critical time, as Russia desperately seeks help from countries like North Korea for its brutal war in Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces continue to make progress in their counter offensive.”

“President Biden looks forward to hearing President Zelensky’s perspective on all of this, and to reaffirm for the world, and for the United States, for the American people his commitment to continuing to lead the world in supporting Ukraine as it defends its independence, its sovereignty and its territorial integrity,” he added.

Zelensky’s visit to Washington comes as Republicans in Congress signal displeasure at additional funding for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. CNN reported earlier this week that Zelensky would also visit Capitol Hill during the trip.

“I think he’s looking forward to the opportunity, not just to see President Biden here at the White House, but also to see congressional leaders from both parties, to make the case that the United States has been a great friend and partner to Ukraine throughout this entire brutal war, and that the United States should continue to do that,” Sullivan said Friday.

In addition to the Netanyahu sit down, Biden is scheduled to address the General Assembly Tuesday, where Sullivan said “he will lay out for the world the steps that he and his administration have taken to advance a vision of American leadership that is built on the premise of working with others to solve the world’s most pressing problems,” before meeting with the presidents of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

On Wednesday, Biden will meet with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, joining the Brazilian leader for an event with labor leaders from both countries.