White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed on Friday that President Joe Biden will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week.
The meeting will take place on Wednesday in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Sullivan said Biden and Netanyahu will “discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues focused on the shared democratic values between the United States and Israel and a vision for a more stable and prosperous region.”
The two leaders will also “compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran”, he added.
Sullivan’s announcement comes a day after Netanyahu’s office said that Netanyahu will meet Biden during his visit to New York.
On Monday, Channel 12 News reported that Netanyahu will meet Biden next week, though the meeting will not take place at the White House but on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City.
On Wednesday, the White House refused to confirm that Biden will meet Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
“No meetings to speak to at this point,” said John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, when asked by reporters about the meeting.
President Biden has not invited Netanyahu to the White House since the latter took office nearly a year ago. President Isaac Herzog was invited to meet with Biden at the White House in July.
The Biden administration has opposed the Netanyahu government's attempts to reform Israel's judicial system and expressed its displeasure with the policies and statements of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Rosh Hashanah in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)