Benjamin Netanyahu announces China invite as Biden keeps him at arm’s length

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed Tuesday he has been invited to China before receiving a similar honor from the Biden White House.

The prime minister’s office tweeted that Netanyahu had informed visiting members of Congress about the invitation.

“The projected visit will be Prime Minister Netanyahu’s fourth visit to China; the American administration was updated one month ago,” Netanyahu’s office added, without indicating whether the 73-year-old had accepted the invite or when the trip would take place.

Netanyahu began his third term as prime minister of America’s staunchest Middle Eastern ally in December, but he has yet to be invited to visit Washington by President Biden.

Earlier this year, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) visited Israel to address the Knesset and said he would invite Netanyahu to address Congress if Biden did not step in.

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Earlier this year, Netanyahu and Biden publicly disagreed over the prime minister’s planned judicial overhaul.

Biden told reporters back in March that he hoped Netanyahu “walks away from” his overhaul plans and that he was “very concerned” about it. He also indicated that there were no “near-term” plans to invite him to the White House.

Netanyahu subsequently downplayed the public dust-up, saying that “friends can have disagreements on occasion.”

The proposed judicial reform would give the Knesset an avenue to overrule Supreme Court decisions.

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Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in protest of the plan, prompting Netanyahu to he indicated that he plans to plow ahead with the reform.

Relations between the US and China have been even more strained. Back in February, a suspected Chinese spy balloon floated across US airspace, prompting Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone his planned visit to China.

Blinken ultimately traveled to Beijing last week, the first such trip by a secretary of state since 2018.

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Israel enjoys close economic ties with China, but leans heavily on the US for national security assistance.

China has ratcheted up its diplomatic presence in the Middle East over recent months, helping to cut a deal back in April between Saudi Arabia and Iran to re-establish diplomatic relations.

Earlier this month, China hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.