The New York Times: Biden will find a different Middle East region than his last visit 6 years ago

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published by The New York Times says that President Joe Biden will find - during his visit to the Middle East this week - that the region has changed a lot compared to his last visit in 2016.

The report, written by Patrick Kingsley, the newspaper's director of the newspaper's office in Jerusalem, shows that when Biden arrives in the Middle East this week, on his first visit as president of America, he will find the region where alliances, priorities and relations with the United States have changed dramatically since his last official trip, 6 years ago.

Absence of the Palestinian cause

The New York Times bureau chief stated that Biden would find Israel working to build relations with Arab countries, rather than working with the Palestinians, which has been at the heart of US policy in the Middle East.

Biden's visit to Israel will therefore focus on Tel Aviv's strong relations with Arab states and the emerging Arab-Israeli military partnership to counter threats from Iran.

The report pointed out that when Biden last visited Israel 6 years ago as Vice President, Israel had diplomatic relations with only two Arab countries (Egypt and Jordan) and now, it has become an integral part of the diplomatic ecosystem of the Middle East after several deals brokered by the administration of former President Donald Trump, which It led to the normalization of relations between Israel and 3 other Arab countries: Bahrain, Morocco and the UAE.

Managing the Israeli-Arab alliance is a priority

In the West Bank, Biden will meet Palestinian officials and may announce new economic support.

But analysts and diplomats said that they do not expect major developments in Israeli-Palestinian relations, as participation, let alone US presidential interference, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no longer a priority.

Washington's management of the anti-Iranian Arab-Israeli alliance has become much more important than resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, Palestinian officials said they hope the US administration will at least persuade Israel to implement less significant projects, such as a 4G mobile phone network, in Palestinian-administered areas of the West Bank.

The report indicated that since the departure of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a year ago, who had a fractured relationship with the Democratic Party, relations between Washington and Tel Aviv have improved, and both parties have begun to talk about warm interactions.

This warmth continues despite the recent collapse of the Israeli government and the inauguration of a temporary prime minister (Yair Lapid). Biden is expected to work to reassure Israel that his country supports it in its confrontation with Iran, despite Washington's continued pursuit of a nuclear agreement with Tehran.