U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to visit Jerusalem, Israel, and Ramallah, a Palestinian city in West Bank, next week.
It will be his first visit to Israel since the new Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, took power.
More:
- The far-right elements of the new Israeli government have already exacerbated tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
- Itamar Ben Gvir, the new national security minister, has previously been convicted of terrorism support and anti-Arab racism.
- Blinken's trip follows visits by Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, and CIA Director Bill Burns.
- The U.S. government has sought to avoid publicly criticizing the new government in Israel.
- According
to the president of the J-Street advocacy group, Jeremy Ben-Ami, the
Biden administration should try to "articulate both privately to the new
Israeli government as well as publicly the things that the U.S. would
find unacceptable."
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