U.S. President Joe Biden visits the West Bank on Friday, where he is scheduled to meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Biden is expected to announce a significant funding package for hospitals in East Jerusalem, according to a senior administration official.
Other planned announcements include those focusing on Palestinian economic development, such as developing 4G wireless networks in Gaza and the West Bank.
Biden is not, however, bringing any new plans for peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Later Friday, Biden heads to Saudi Arabia. Just hours before his arrival, Saudi Arabia announced late Thursday that it was opening its airspace to “all carriers,” which ends the country’s ban on flights to and from Israel.
On Thursday, Biden met with Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid. After their meeting, the two leaders held a joint news conference to share their agreement that they would not allow Iran to become a nuclear power.
They could not, however, agree on the most effective means of preventing Iran’s nuclear development.
“I continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to achieve this outcome,” Biden said.
“The only thing that will stop Iran,” said Lapid, “is knowing that if they continue to develop their nuclear program the free world will use force.”
Israel was a major critic of the international agreement signed in 2015 between Iran and a group of world powers that restricted Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Biden served as U.S. vice president when the agreement was signed, and it was his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, who withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018.
There have been recent efforts to try to bring both the U.S. and Iran back to the agreement, including indirect talks in Vienna.
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