Israel hopes Biden’s visit to lead to common Mideast market

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman voiced hope Monday that a planned regional visit by US President Joe Biden this week will lead to a common market in the Middle East.

Biden is scheduled to arrive in Israel on July 13 as part of a regional tour that also includes the West Bank city of Ramallah and Saudi Arabia.

Asked about what he expects to arise from Biden’s visit, Lieberman said: “The creation of a new, common market in the Middle East. That’s the big challenge.”

“It will change the reality here from end to end, in both the fields of security and of economics. Therefore, I hope the emphasis during Biden’s visit will be on creating this new market in the Middle East,” he added.

In 2020, Israel signed US-sponsored agreements to normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, in a move decried by Palestinians as a “stab in the back”.