US President Joe Biden arrives at noon today, Wednesday, in Israel;
The first leg of his visit to the Middle East. Tomorrow, Thursday, he is expected to sign with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid the "Jerusalem Declaration", which stipulates that Iran will not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.
Biden is also scheduled to visit the Palestinian territories, after which he will go to Saudi Arabia;
Where he will meet with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan.
US officials said that Biden's visit focuses on fully integrating Israel into the region within the framework of regional alliances that Washington seeks to form, and confronting what they call the Iranian threat.
This comes while Israel has officially talked about establishing a joint air defense alliance in the Middle East to confront what it describes as Iranian threats.
A few days ago, in an article in the Washington Post, the US President revealed the goals of his visits to the Middle East, and pledged to continue pressure on Iran to return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, saying that his tour would begin a new and promising chapter for the US role in the region.
And the White House had previously announced that Biden would make his first visit to the Middle East between July 13-16, including Israel and the West Bank, before taking off directly from Tel Aviv to Saudi Arabia.
On the last day of his visit, the US president will attend a summit that includes the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, in addition to Egypt, Iraq and Jordan.
Jerusalem Declaration
Hours before Biden's arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted an Israeli official as saying that the US President and the Israeli Prime Minister intend to sign the so-called "Jerusalem Declaration" on Thursday.
The Israeli official said that the announcement would include Biden and Lapid's pledge not to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, and to harness the power of both sides to achieve this end.
He added that the announcement would be strong, firm and unparalleled, as he put it.
He added that the declaration would reaffirm Washington's commitment to Israel's security and supremacy, in addition to enhancing its strength and capabilities to defend itself by itself in the face of any threat.
Prior to Biden's arrival, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid instructed to postpone the approval of a plan to build two thousand new settlement units in occupied Jerusalem.
For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced what he called facilities for the Palestinians, represented in approving the approval of 5,500 new “unification” requests, in addition to expanding the structural plans for construction in 6 Palestinian communities in the West Bank and around occupied Jerusalem.
It was also decided to reopen the Salem crossing in the northern West Bank to Palestinians from within the Green Line.
About 16,000 members of the Israeli police, border guards and special forces are participating in the process of securing Biden's visit to Israel, which begins today.
key files
In an interview with Al Jazeera, the Coordinator of Strategic Communications in the White House National Security Council John Kirby said that President Joe Biden seeks during his visit to integrate regional partners in the region, including Israel.
Kirby added to Al Jazeera that Iran is still working to develop its nuclear and ballistic capabilities, and its activities are destabilizing for the security of the region, noting that Washington still believes that the nuclear agreement is the best way to ensure that Iran does not turn into a nuclear state.
For his part, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the priorities of President Biden's visit to the Middle East are focused on consolidating the armistice in Yemen, fully integrating Israel into the region, and working to make progress in normal relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Sullivan added that any normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is likely to take a long time, but Biden will look to progress during his visits to Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The US official stressed that the visit also aims to confront what he described as the multi-sided Iranian threat, stressing that the US role in the Middle East will be different from what it was during the war on Iraq.
In the same context, the former US envoy to the Middle East peace process, Ambassador Martin Indyk, said that what the Biden administration seeks to reassure its partners in the Middle East that its preoccupation with Russia and China will not push it to ignore Iran and its activities in the region.
And Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz had said that he would present to US President Joe Biden upon his arrival in Israel the establishment of a joint force that he seeks to develop with partners in the region to confront Iran.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said that his country will not hesitate to defend the interests of the region (European News Agency)
Iran responds
On the other hand, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said yesterday that Tehran will not hesitate to defend the interests of the region in the face of any conspiracies or efforts to destabilize it.
Commenting on Biden's visit to the Middle East as well, Qalibaf said in a speech to the Iranian parliament that the visit takes place in full cooperation with Israel.
In turn, the Iranian Foreign Ministry responded yesterday to the article published by the US president in the Washington Post, in which he said that his administration will continue to increase diplomatic and economic pressure until Iran returns to compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement.
Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that Biden's positions in the article are a continuation of the course of the maximum pressure policy pursued by his predecessor, Donald Trump, considering that what he called the failed policy pursued by Washington with Tehran contradicts Biden's claims in the article to find a stable and secure Middle East.