JERUSALEM: In a sign of easing tensions in Israel after the suspension of a contentious judicial overhaul, the US ambassador to Israel said Tuesday that President Joe Biden would host Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington in the coming months, but did not specify a date. The possibility of such a meeting came after other shifts in tone overnight from the Biden administration, as Washington signaled its support for Netanyahu’s decision to delay the divisive judicial plan.
But the news did not suggest a complete reset after weeks of fraught relations: The ambassador, Thomas R Nides, said that no date had been fixed for any meeting, leaving open the possibility that it could be delayed if Netanyahu pushed ahead with the plan after a delay. The news was nevertheless one of several signs Tuesday that emotions were calming across Israel after concerns over the judicial overhaul had set off civil unrest on a scale rarely seen in the country and had exacerbated tensions with Biden administration.
After Netanyahu’s reversal, the country’s leading union called off a general strike, hospitals resumed full services after reducing them in protest Monday, and the main airport began to allow outbound flights again after putting them on hold a day earlier. Protesters feared that the government would resume the overhaul after only a superficial delay, and some demonstrations were still scheduled for Tuesday.
But the news did not suggest a complete reset after weeks of fraught relations: The ambassador, Thomas R Nides, said that no date had been fixed for any meeting, leaving open the possibility that it could be delayed if Netanyahu pushed ahead with the plan after a delay. The news was nevertheless one of several signs Tuesday that emotions were calming across Israel after concerns over the judicial overhaul had set off civil unrest on a scale rarely seen in the country and had exacerbated tensions with Biden administration.
After Netanyahu’s reversal, the country’s leading union called off a general strike, hospitals resumed full services after reducing them in protest Monday, and the main airport began to allow outbound flights again after putting them on hold a day earlier. Protesters feared that the government would resume the overhaul after only a superficial delay, and some demonstrations were still scheduled for Tuesday.