Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the US this month, for the first time since his re-election, the Israeli government announced today, against the background of tensions in his relations with American President Joe Biden.

Netanyahu will arrive in San Francisco on September 18 to have meetings in Silicon Valley before heading to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, according to the statement.

No meeting with American officials is scheduled during his visit, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister told AFP.

Netanyahu’s US trip comes amid tensions between the countries over a controversial judicial reform promoted by the Netanyahu government, a reform that has been openly criticized by the US president for many months.

The reform, which aims to increase the powers of the elected power over those of the judiciary, has sparked the largest protest movement in the history of the Jewish state.

Biden called on Israel’s leaders not to rush to impose the “divisive” reform.

At the end of July, the White House described as “regrettable” the Israeli parliament, a measure considered “key” to the adoption of the measure.

Since his return in late 2022 to the leadership of the Israeli government, the most right-wing in the history of the Israeli state, Netanyahu has not been invited to the White House while Biden recently hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

The White House said in July that the two leaders “will meet in the US later this year,” without giving details.