U.S. President Joe Biden referred to as for decreasing tensions and violence within the occupied West Bank in a gathering with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.
Biden “emphasized the need to take immediate measures to improve the security and economic situation, maintain the viability of a two-state solution and promote a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” the White House mentioned in a press release after the leaders met on the sidelines of the 78th U.N. General Assembly in New York.
“To that end, President Biden called on all parties to fulfill their commitments made during meetings held earlier this year in Aqaba, Jordan and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to include refraining from further unilateral measures,” it added.
Biden additional reiterated his issues about “any fundamental changes to Israel’s democratic system, absent the broadest possible consensus,” the White House mentioned in an obvious reference to Netanyahu and his far-right authorities’s efforts to overtake Israel’s judiciary.
The president sat down with Netanyahu for the primary time because the Israeli chief gained re-election final 12 months. Tensions between the allies have risen amid Biden’s public opposition to Netanyahu’s judicial efforts, which critics say could be a loss of life knell to the nation’s system of checks and balances.
The plan has been met with sweeping protests and strikes in Israel, however Netanyahu has marched undeterred. Israel’s excessive courtroom is now deliberating on challenges to the reform package deal.
But it has led to repeated delays in arranging a sit-down with Biden, and the choice to carry it on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York reasonably than the White House displays the stewing tensions.
Biden has invited Netanyahu to go to Washington earlier than the 12 months’s finish “to continue direct collaboration on” a broad vary of bilateral points, based on the White House.
“President Biden reaffirmed the unbreakable bond between the two countries, which is based on the bedrock of shared democratic values and the U.S.’ iron-clad commitment to Israel’s security,” throughout the assembly Wednesday.
“They also consulted on progress toward establishing a more integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Middle East region, including through efforts to deepen and expand normalization with countries in the region,” it added.
Source: www.dailysabah.com