US President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East, which was planned for late June has been postponed to July, two senior Israeli officials and a US official said.
This will be Biden's first trip to the region since taking office.
The two Israeli officials said, according to the US news website Axios, the US officials informed Israel on Friday evening that the visit would be postponed to next month due to scheduling problems and the need for more time to work on preparations for the trip.
A US official also confirmed that the visit was postponed to July but stressed the reason was the president's tight schedule with his trip to Europe. The official said the postponement was not connected to the domestic political situation in Israel.
The trip was expected to include a summit in Saudi Arabia with the leaders of nine Arab countries, as Axios previously reported. Biden also planned to visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The Us president was expected to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the US intelligence community says is responsible for the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
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