Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be the first Middle East leader to speak with President Biden, a call expected sometime “soon” after several weeks of silence.
“I don’t have an exact date for you, but it is soon,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday, telling reporters, “Stay tuned.”
Biden has made about a dozen calls to foreign leaders in North America, Europe, and Asia since taking office but has yet to speak with the heads of Middle East states, driving speculation over the nature of the delay.
Psaki said last week it was “not an intentional diss,” but Biden’s two-hour phone call with China’s president, Xi Jinping, and outreach to other leaders stoked concern among some observers.
The delay also stands in contrast to relations under former President Donald Trump, who talked to Netanyahu within days of taking office and traveled to Saudi Arabia on his first foreign trip.
When Biden does reach out to Saudi Arabia, it will be “counterpart-to-counterpart,” meaning a call with King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and not the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, Psaki said.
Known as MBS, the younger leader had a close relationship with the Trump White House.
The White House said U.S.-Saudi relations would change under the new administration.
Biden is “going to recalibrate our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” she said.
While the United States will continue supporting Saudi Arabia’s “critical self-defense needs,” Washington intends to “make clear areas where we have disagreements,” a departure from the Trump administration, Psaki noted.
Last week, Psaki deferred to “internal interagency processes” when asked about U.S. policy goals for the region and whether Washington still considers Saudi Arabia and Israel important allies.
Asked on Tuesday, Psaki issued a stronger message of support for the latter country, stating that “Israel is, of course, an ally.”
