Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia announced late Thursday that it would open its airspace to \u201call carriers\u201d ahead of President Joe Biden\u2019s visit, a move that ends the ban on flights to and from Israel.<\/p>\n
National security adviser Jake Sullivan commended the move, attributing the progress to Biden\u2019s diplomacy in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis decision is the result of the President\u2019s persistent and principled diplomacy with Saudi Arabia over many months, culminating in his visit today,\u201d Sullivan said in a statement issued from Israel, where it was already Friday and from where Biden would be traveling to Jeddah. \u201cThis decision paves the way for a more integrated, stable, and secure Middle East region, which is vital for the security and prosperity of the United States and the American people, and for the security and prosperity of Israel.\u201d He noted that the president would have more to say on the announcement in the coming day.<\/p>\n
The move came just before Biden was set to take flight as the first U.S. leader to travel directly from Israel to the Saudi kingdom, and could be seen as a step toward normalization of relations between the two countries \u2014 a relationship the administration is working to \u201cdeepen and expand<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n While domestic issues have weighed down Biden\u2019s presidency, he has notched multiple wins overseas this year, playing a vital role in uniting democracies amid Russia\u2019s assault on Ukraine. The president\u2019s trip to the Middle East is his next big foreign policy test<\/a> as he juggles challenges from political instability to human rights issues, energy supply and regional security.<\/p>\n After visiting Israel and then the West Bank this week to meet with Palestinian leaders, Biden\u2019s next leg of the trip in Saudi Arabia will include a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council with leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt.<\/p>\n The White House also confirmed on Thursday that Biden would meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman without King Salman in the room. The president has faced blowback ahead of this potential meeting, as human rights advocates sound the alarm that his trip could be seen as letting the country off the hook for its human rights abuses, including the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI always bring up human rights, but my position on Khashoggi has been so clear, if anyone doesn\u2019t understand it in Saudi Arabia or otherwise, they haven\u2019t been around me for a while,\u201d Biden told reporters in Jerusalem this week, not committing to raising Khashoggi\u2019s death with the crown prince.<\/p>\n