Netanyahu confirms that he will travel to China and assures that the US “was informed a month ago”

June 27 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has confirmed this Tuesday that he will make an official trip to China and has assured that the United States is aware of his plans, given the rise in tensions between Washington and Beijing and after the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, recently paid a visit to the Asian giant.

Netanyahu’s office has indicated in its account on the social network Twitter that ‘Bibi’ has moved his plans during a meeting with a bipartisan delegation of members of the United States House of Representatives.

“He has informed them that he has been invited to visit China. The planned visit will be Netanyahu’s fourth to China. The US Administration was informed a month ago,” he said, hours after Israeli media reported by sources about Prime Minister’s plans.

Likewise, Netanyahu stressed during the meeting that “cooperation at the level of security and intelligence between the United States and Israel is at its highest moment in history”, before extolling that “the United States will always be the most vital ally and an ally irreplaceable”.

The Joe Biden Administration has so far declined to visit Netanyahu to visit the country after taking office after the September 2022 elections, which allowed him to return to power at the head of a coalition made up of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

The United States has also been critical of Israeli authorities’ plans to increase the construction of settlement housing units and announced its decision on Monday to stop funding scientific research activities by Israeli institutions operating in the West Bank.

Abbas traveled to China on June 13 for a series of meetings with senior officials of the Asian giant, including President Xi Jinping, who expressed his desire for the Palestinian state to be a full member of the United Nations, while reiterating the China’s willingness to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

China has increased its role in the Middle East and has played a key role in the agreement signed in March between Iran and Saudi Arabia –the two main powers in the area– to restore their relations, broken in 2016. The agreement has allowed a reduction of tensions in the Middle East and acceleration of contacts in search of a peace agreement in Yemen.