Biden looks to help get Jordan-Israel ties back on track
King Abdullah II will be the first Arab leader to meet with US President Joe Biden on July 19.
![Jordanian King Abdullah meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (unseen) at Bayt al-Urdon, Amman, Jordan, May 26, 2021.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/2021-07/GettyImages-1233118759.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=NkmfMsZn)
Jordan and Israel, with US backing, are looking to reset bilateral ties after more than a decade of a roller-coaster diplomatic ride that saw relations, under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reach rock-bottom levels. But even as a new coalition government took over in Israel June 13, it took the new premier, Naftali Bennett, almost a month to reach out to Jordan's King Abdullah.
According to Israeli media, Bennett paid a secret visit to Amman in the first week of July — a specific date was not mentioned — that would have made it the first meeting between the king and an Israeli prime minister in three years.