Scoop: U.S. explores holding regional leaders' meeting during Biden's Middle East visit

Driving the news: During a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on April 24, Biden accepted an invitation to visit Israel in the coming months, the White House said in a statement.

• Israeli national security adviser Eyal Hulata and his American counterpart Jake Sullivan discussed the upcoming trip during talks at the White House last week, Israeli officials said.

The big picture: Sullivan and Hulata talked about the possibility of adding a regional element to Biden's visit, according to the Israeli officials.

• One of the ideas was to hold a meeting between Biden, Bennett and several other leaders from the region either in Israel or in another country as a means to continue the momentum of the the Negev summit that took place in Israel in late March and as a way to further strengthen the Abraham Accords.
• The Israeli officials stressed that the discussion was very preliminary and it is unclear if such a meeting will be possible, but talks on the issue are ongoing.
• The White House declined to comment.

State of play: Israeli officials said a final date for Biden’s visit has not been determined but should take place in the last two weeks of June.

• The visit is expected to be relatively short, with Biden spending 24-36 hours on the ground, meeting Israeli officials in Jerusalem and Palestinian officials in Bethlehem, the Israeli officials said.
• It will be Biden’s first trip to the Middle East since he took office. It is still unclear whether he will use the trip to visit other countries in the region.
• A White House team arrived in Israel on Monday to begin discussions with the Israeli government on preparing the visit.