SOCIALISTS in Kuwait have hit out at what they claim to be an attempt by US President Joe Biden to form an alliance with reactionary Middle Eastern states to shore up support for Israel. 

The Kuwaiti Progressive Movement has accused Mr Biden of seeking to consolidate support for Tel Aviv at a forthcoming summit in Saudi Arabia. 

“It is no longer a secret to anyone that the main objective of US President Joe Biden’s visit to our region … is not limited to the issue of energy and its pricing as it attempts to compensate for Russian oil and gas because of the Ukrainian war, as was previously reported,” the leftists said. 

The main objective of the meetings, they claimed, relates to what Mr Biden has previously described as “Israel’s national security.”

Mr Biden has planned a tour of the Middle East next month. He will visit Israel and the occupied West Bank during his trip which will culminate in a summit in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.

There he will meet with officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain — members of the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council — along with the leaders of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan.

While the meetings will focus on energy and Israeli-Palestinian relations, the Kuwaiti Progressive Movement warns that Mr Biden is trying to gain support for Tel Aviv’s New Middle East project. 

The socialists say that the project has been planned since the 1990s and aims not only to integrate Israel in the region, but also “to impose its hegemony on the region, its economies, wealth, and security.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has confirmed that Mr Biden will be discussing the expansion of Israel’s integration in the region, among other issues during his visit. 

The Kuwaiti Progressive Movement told the Morning Star that it rejects any such alliances which seek to impose US-Israeli hegemony over the region and the continued plunder of natural resources. 

It said that the plans would also damage the Palestinian cause by “turning the enemy into an ally” and condemned the “normalisation” process that was started under Mr Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump. 

“We call on our proud Kuwaiti Arab people … political currents of all kinds, their labour, professional and student unions, writers, intellectuals and activists” to reject “hostile schemes” and reject normalisation with Israel, the organisation said. 

It called for the continuation of Kuwait’s national independence by not participating in such alliances.