Agenda items: Maliki at the White House, Sarko’s got Obama’s back, Jones/Ross/Gates to Israel, US China dialogue

Maliki at the White House. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki meets with Obama at the White House this afternoon. "In the afternoon, the President will hold an expanded meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, followed by a one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office," the White House schedule said. Obama and Maliki will also hold a news conference. Obama’s recently appointed Iraq point man Vice President Joseph Biden is currently traveling in Georgia after meetings in Ukraine. Maliki speaks to an invite-only meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace tomorrow morning.

U.S.-Israel Bilateral. National Security Advisor Gen. Jim Jones is due to lead a multi-agency delegation to Israel for talks on Iran, Jones confirmed to Foreign Policy. Jones told FP outside the White House Wednesday night that it wasn’t yet clear if deputy national security advisor Tom Donilon, who had been tasked with spearheading the US-Israel Iran working group, would come on the trip or someone would have to stay behind. "Next Wednesday, a senior U.S. delegation led by National Security Adviser James Jones will arrive in Israel," Ha’aretz reports. "He will be accompanied by President Barack Obama’s special Mideast adviser, Dennis Ross, who recently served as Clinton’s special adviser on Iran.  The delegation will also include representatives of the CIA, Defense Department, Treasury and State Department. These officials were invited to Israel by National Security Advisor Uzi Arad, who will lead the Israeli side in what is said to be a continuation of talks held in Washington around three weeks ago." Defense Secretary Robert Gates is also scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday for talks, a Defense Department official said. Gates’ trip is separate from the Jones-led one, the official said.

Sarko’s got Obama’s back on Israeli settlements. The French foreign ministry yesterday summoned the Israeli ambassador in Paris "to demand a halt to Jewish settlement building in east Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday, following similar U.S. action," Agence France Press reports.

A European diplomat in Washington told The Cable that French authorities "simply wished to remind France’s position on the settlements issue." On the substance, it’s a well established position, he continued: the subject was raised by French President Nicolas Sarkozy during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on June 24, as indicated in the communiqué published that day: "France is calling for the international community to commit itself swiftly to sponsoring such negotiations, and for the implementation of a regional peace framework. Within this context, the President of the Republic called on Israel to take all possible trust-building measures without delay, beginning with a total freeze on settlement activities, as well as a decisive improvement in access and movement for Palestinian civilians."

Last week, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren was summoned to the State Department for talks with Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew and others, who told him construction must stop on an East Jerusalem Jewish home building project at the site of the former Shepherd Hotel. Netanyahu has rejected the American request.

U.S.-China Dialogue: Next week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner co-host the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue in Washington. Obama is due to address the conference Monday. "Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo will chair the ‘strategic track’ [with Clinton], and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan will chair the ‘economic track’ of the talks," with Geithner, the AFP reports. (Chinese President Hu Jintao is not scheduled to come, as previously said. FP regrets the error.)