Joe Biden “reiterated his concern over any changes to the Israeli democratic system that could be made without as much consensus as possible” during a meeting today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is pushing a controversial reform of judicial system in Israel, said the White House statement issued after the meeting in New York.

This is a clear allusion to the reform of the judicial system, which the Israeli government has begun, but this reform has sparked a mass protest movement.

The American president, however, according to the White House, “invited” the Israeli leader “to Washington before the end of the year”, thus showing a will to calm the very tense relationship between the two men.

The 80-year-old Democratic president also warned against taking new “unilateral measures” by the Palestinians as well as the Israelis, and this while Washington opposes Netanyahu’s policy of settlement activity with the creation of new Jewish settlements, mainly in the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu, who returned to power at the end of 2022, has not yet been welcomed into the Oval Office, as is customary with Israeli prime ministers, which is being interpreted as a sign of distrust on the part of the Biden administration.

Their first meeting since Netanyahu assumed the prime ministership of his country took place today in the more neutral environment of a New York hotel, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

The two men shook hands, made brief statements in front of journalists.

Netanyahu has insisted on the possibility of a normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia, a prospect strongly encouraged by Biden.

During their meeting, according to the White House, the two men “welcomed the possible upcoming holding” of a ministerial meeting between Israel and several Arab countries, with the so-called “Negev format” in order to “further advance the initiatives regional integration”.

The first Negev summit, hosted by Israel in 2022, was attended by Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates — four Arab countries that have long or more recently normalized relations with Israel.

“Without Israel, no Jew in this world is safe. Israel is important,” the US president said at the start of the meeting.

“There is one thing that will never change, and that is Israel’s commitment to democracy. We will continue to defend the values ​​that our two countries hold dear,” Netanyahu said.