Some senior members of the royal family have been arrested or had their assets seized, and others were forced into exile.ĭespite the crackdown, the crown prince has also been credited with reforms. The few who’ve been released, like blogger Raif Badawi and women’s rights advocate Loujain al-Hathloul, face yearslong travel bans and cannot speak freely. The murder was carried out by agents who worked for the crown prince, and it took place inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.ĭozens of activists, writers, moderate clerics and economists remain imprisoned for their criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. US intelligence believes that the kingdom’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, likely approved the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based writer for the Washington Post who was critical of the regime. The treatment of journalists will also be a focal point when Biden visits Saudi Arabia. Lapid is a caretaker prime minister serving while Israel braces for another round of elections later this year. The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, has grown increasingly unpopular and autocratic in recent years. But it’s unlikely that there will be an opportunity to prod either him or Prime Minister Yair Lapid to reopen talks.

That came without securing progress toward the Palestinians’ goal of an independent state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.īiden plans to visit with Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, in the West Bank during his trip. Some Palestinians feel abandoned by Arab leaders who have reached their own deals with Israel through the Abraham Accords. The Israeli-Palestinian conflictĮven though Israel is building closer ties to Arab countries, there’s been no progress toward resolving its decades-long conflict with the Palestinians. Now Israel is calling for increasing sanctions to pressure Tehran into agreeing to a more sweeping accord.īiden is scheduled to visit Israeli missile defense installations as he tries to reassure Israelis that the US is committed to the country’s protection. It didn’t like that the agreement limited Iran’s nuclear enrichment for only a set period of time, and did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program or other military activities in the region. Israel, which is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the region but does not acknowledge having such weapons, was opposed to the deal.

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