- The Saudi stop will no longer take place in late June, sources say.
- The trip to Israel will also be postponed, according to two US sources.
- The reason for the delay isn’t clear; the dates could still change again, U.S. officials say.
Several White House officials told the media on Friday that President Joe Biden’s scheduled travels to Saudi Arabia and Israel later this month have been postponed until July.
According to insiders, the White House is now preparing a larger trip to the Middle East next month.
The Saudi stop will no longer take place in late June, according to a foreign diplomat and two US officials, and the trip to Israel will also be postponed, according to two US sources.
Both trips were likely to be added to Biden’s previously planned trip to Germany and Spain later this month.
The reason for the delay wasn’t immediately clear. The foreign diplomat and two officials said they learned of the postponed travel plans on Friday.
The U.S. officials added that the dates remained in flux and could change again.
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The White House declined to comment on the travel itinerary. The Israeli and Saudi embassies in Washington didn’t immediately respond to inquiries late Friday.
Biden’s plans to visit Saudi Arabia came under swift scrutiny given the country’s human rights record and the president’s own past comments about the oil-rich country.
On the campaign trail, Biden promised to treat as a “pariah” following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
A group of relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks wrote Biden this week saying that if he travels to the kingdom, he must raise issues of “accountability” over alleged ties between some of the 9/11 hijackers and Saudi officials.
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Yet Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. economic and military ally, has traditionally been one of the first foreign stops a president makes in the Middle East.
The Biden administration has found it difficult to avoid cooperating with Saudi Arabia given its major role in many of the top foreign policy issues confronting the Biden administration, including gas prices, Israel-Palestinian tensions, and the Iran nuclear deal.
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