Joe Biden to visit Israel Wednesday

US President Joe Biden credit: Reuters Jonathan Ernst
US President Joe Biden credit: Reuters Jonathan Ernst

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the presidential visit as well as plans by Israel and the US to extend humanitarian aid to Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday night that President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday. Speaking in Tel Aviv, Blinken outlined the aims of Biden's visit.

He said, "First, the President will reaffirm the US's solidarity with Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security. President Biden will again make clear, as he’s done unequivocally since Hamas’s slaughter of more than 1,400 people, including at least 30 Americans, that Israel has the right and indeed the duty to defend its people from Hamas and other terrorists and to prevent future attacks. The President will hear from Israel what it needs to defend its people as we continue to work with Congress to meet those needs."

Blinken continued, "Second, President Biden will underscore our crystal-clear message to any actor, state or non-state, trying to take advantage of this crisis to attack Israel: Don’t. To that end, he’s deployed two aircraft carrier groups and other military assets to the region. "Third, the President will continue to coordinate closely with our Israeli partners to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas - including men, women, small children, Holocaust survivors, and American citizens - as an indispensable humanitarian effort."

Blinken added that, "Biden will receive a comprehensive brief on Israel’s war aims and strategy and will hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas."

In Israel, Biden will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. While in the region he will meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah.

Blinken also announced plans by Israel and the US to extend humanitarian aid to Gaza. He said, "The US and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza - and them alone - including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm’s way. It is critical that aid begin flowing into Gaza as soon as possible.

"We share Israel’s concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza or otherwise preventing it from reaching the people who need it. If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we’ll be the first to condemn it and we will work to prevent it from happening again."

According to a report in "The New York Times", Israel has requested $10 billion in emergency aid from the US. According to the report, the US is putting together an aid package for both Israel and Ukraine. Prime Minister Netanyahu has spoken to Russian president Vladimir Putin and told him that Israel will not end the fighting until it destroys Hamas’s military and government capabilities. General Erik Kurilla, commander of United States Central Command, is in Israel to meet senior defense officials. "I’m here to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself, and am particularly focused on avoiding other parties expanding the conflict," Kurilla said. Israel attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon overnight. Since the start of the war with Hamas, two US Navy aircraft carrier groups have moved to the East Mediterranean.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 17, 2023.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.

US President Joe Biden credit: Reuters Jonathan Ernst
US President Joe Biden credit: Reuters Jonathan Ernst
Tel Aviv credit: Shutterstock Meitav sees Israel housing prices falling

More Israeli households are expected to prefer renting a home rather than buying their own apartment and the consequences will be negative, Meitav investment house chief economist Alex Zabezhinsky predicts.

Sasha Troufanov credit: IDF Spokesperson Amazon CEO welcomes release of employee Sasha Troufanov

Andy Jassy said that Amazon has not commented publicly on the hostages for fear that it would negatively impact their ability to be released, or how they were treated in captivity.

Israeli apartments Credit: Shutterstock Apartments sold and rented

A selection of recent real estate deals in Israel in Tel Aviv, Ra'anana, Netanya, Mazkeret Batya, Maalot-Tarshisha and Beersheva.

MK 84 bombs credit: Reuters IMAGO US shipment of MK-84 900 kilogram bombs arrives in Israel

One of the first steps taken by US President Donald Trump was to release the heavy deep-penetration bombs, which former President Joe Biden had halted the supply of.

BIG Glilot credit: Tel Aviv online BIG Glilot - Israel's biggest shopping center set to open

The shopping center will send shockwaves throughout the retail sector in Tel Aviv and the Sharon region and could put some of the area's malls out of business.

Inflation credit: Tali Bogdanovsky January CPI reading lifts inflation, housing prices rise

In the twelve months to the end of January 2024, inflation has risen to 3.8%, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports.

Credit Card payment terminal credit: Seika Chujo Shutterstock Cyberattack again disrupts Israel's credit card payments

Check Point chief of staff Gil Messing: "These are the capabilities of a state actor. This does not necessarily mean Iran, but in the past Iranian entities have been behind such attacks.

CyberArk offices credit: Eyal Izhar CyberArk buys US co Zilla Security, reports strong Q4

CyberArk, which will pay $165 million for the US identity governance and administration company, has surpassed Teva to become Israel's second most valuable company.

mSphere credit: Mer Group Mer launches armored vehicle awareness protection system

mSphere's comprehensive monitoring eliminates blind spots, enhances detection capabilities, and enables crews to identify and respond to potential threats swiftly and accurately.

Mortgage taking credit: Shutterstock Steep fall in mortgage taking in Israel in January

Mortgage taking was down 50% from the preceding month but up 30% from January 2024, the Bank of Israel reports.

Shekel-dollar ASAP Creative Shekel rebounds against dollar

Bank Leumi: The possibility of further appreciation of the shekel, raises the question of whether portfolio owners with high exposure to foreign exchange have a reason to hedge their investment portfolio.

Amnon Shashua  credit: Eyal Izhar Shashua's Mentee Robotics unveils robot for manual work

MenteeBot V3.0 takes on lifting tasks that would typically be strenuous for human workers over extended periods.

New housing credit: Satenik Guzhanina Shutterstock 50% of housing deals in 2024 were developer loans

What made 2024 distinct was that 50% of deals involved special offers by contractors and developers for apartments not yet built, the Ministry of Finance reports.

Donald Trump  credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid Trump administration reaffirms AI chip restrictions on Israel

Sources say the US will demand Israel passes regulations to prevent tech leakage to China and may even include removal of the restrictions as part of a multilateral Middle East agreement.

Accountant General Yali Rothenberg credit: Cadya Levy Israel raises $5b international bond

Accountant General: This is an important public offering that indicates the financial stability of the State of Israel and the high confidence of global investors in the Israeli economy.

Check Point Chairman Gil Shwed and CEO Nadav Zafrir credit: Check Point Check Point teams with Wiz to challenge Palo Alto

The veteran cybersecurity company has formed a strategic partnership with Israeli company Wiz to provide end-to-end cloud security.

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018