Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is hosting for the first time on Israeli soil the foreign ministers of four Arab countries that now have close ties with the Jewish state.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Even so, Biden's team has also embraced Trump's Abraham Accords, the deals that established ties between Israel and several Arab neighbors -- a rare piece of continuity between the two administration's foreign policies.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, walks with Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, right, at the Prime Minister's Office, on March 27, 2022, in Jerusalem.
"What we're seeing is normalization become the new normal for this region," he said during a photo op with Israeli President Isaac Herzog -- a line he deployed repeatedly during his visit."The United States is very proud to be a part of that -- to support the efforts to deepen the partnerships with countries that have already normalized with Israel and to help seek new partners.
In addition, as the State Department's team nears a renewed nuclear deal with Iran, Israel and Arab neighbors worry it will leave Iran flush with cash from sanctions relief -- ready to boost arms and funds to its proxies and expand its ballistic missile program.
But the risk of violence looms large again next month, with Judaism, Islam and Christianity's holy days virtually overlapping in April -- Passover, Ramadan, and Easter. The violence last spring erupted after Israeli restrictions on the Temple Mount during Ramadan and prospective evictions of Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem.Flags are set up during Israel's Negev summit, to be attended by the U.S.
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