US President Joe Biden to Host Israeli Prime Minister

The word in Jerusalem is that Israel’s new prime minister will fly to Washington for his first official meeting with US President Joe Biden in August. Atop the agenda is Iran, which is expected to hold off on negotiating the renewal of the nuclear development agreement pending the installation of its new president. Hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi, who will assume office in early August, will take over the talks about returning to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, that former US President Donald Trump exited in 2018. Little progress has been made until now, with six intense negotiating sessions in Vienna since April leaving little to show for the efforts. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will be the third Israeli leader President Biden has reached out to since eschewing former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during his final months in office. The American president hosted former Israeli President Reuven ‘Ruvi’ Rivlin and spoke with recent successor President Isaac Herzog.