US President Joe Biden will receive his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog on July 18 at the White House, his spokeswoman announced today, amid strained relations with the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and a resurgence of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

The president “will insist on the importance of the democratic values ​​we share and the means to advance freedom, prosperity and security for Palestinians and Israelis,” Karine Jean-Pierre said in a news release, adding that Biden would confirm also Washington’s “unwavering support” for the security of Israel, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

The visit comes as diplomatic relations between Israel and the United States are strained, with the Biden administration repeatedly calling for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and criticizing Israeli settlement activity under Benjamin Netanyahu.

The latter, who leads one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history, has not been invited to the White House after his re-election in November 2022.

The Israeli prime minister, however, recently mentioned that he had been invited to go to China.

When asked last weekend on CNN why Netanyahu had not been invited, the US president replied that the prime minister was “trying to manage his current problems at the level of his (governing) coalition,” one of the most “extreme” he has ever seen. .

The Israeli army regularly raids the northern West Bank, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups. This area has recently seen a wave of attacks against Israelis, as well as violence against Palestinians by Jewish settlers.

The two leaders will also discuss “the increasingly close military ties between Russia and Iran and Tehran’s destabilizing actions in the region,” the White House statement said.

Herzog, who has an essentially ceremonial role, will also address a plenary session of both houses of Congress during the visit on July 18 and 19.