Biden touts normalization with Israel to integrate Middle East

US President Joe Biden addresses the United Nations while making an impassioned case for peace and multilateralism.

“No nation can meet the challenges of today alone,” he says, noting the decision to rejoin UNESCO, though he says reforms are needed.

Biden says he will work with other leaders to make sure artificial intelligence is “used for good.”

“We will not retreat from the values we hold strong,” he says, noting efforts to spread democracy and boost economic growth worldwide.

He touts the newly announced plan to connect India and Saudi Arabia to Europe via Jordan and Israel, which he says “will spur opportunities across two continents. This is part of our effort to build a more sustainable and integrated Middle East.”

Biden appears to defend the US’s push for Arab states to normalize with Israel despite the lack of progress on the Palestinian front.

“It demonstrates how Israel’s greater normalization and economic connections with its neighbors is delivering positive and practical impacts even as we continue to work tirelessly to support a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, two states for two people,” he says.