Joe Biden didn’t have much to say to Israel except that he loves it. And the American president received, Wednesday July 13 and Thursday July 14, a reception of a heat of which it cannot dream any more in the United States, where its popularity rating is in free fall. The country came to a standstill to salute this “zionist” claimed, who is making his tenth trip here, and who is so fond of recalling his first visit, in 1973, when he met Prime Minister Golda Meir.
In Jerusalem, Mr. Biden above all laid the necessary foundations for his trip to Saudi Arabia, carried out in stride on Friday. He facilitated a gradual rapprochement between the Jewish state and Riyadh, continuing the policy of his predecessor, Donald Trump, without ever naming him. Overnight Thursday-Friday, Biden hailed the kingdom’s decision to open its airspace to Israeli jetliners. Shortly before, anonymous Israeli sources had affirmed that they had not “no objections” until Saudi Arabia regains control of the islets of Tiran and Sanafir, in the Red Sea, which until now have been controlled by Egypt.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned the president would limit physical contact during his trip. No handshake was to be expected, officially for fear of the coronavirus epidemic. These precautions also appeared as a way to excuse in advance the distance at which Mr. Biden will seek to keep Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salman in Riyadh.
Many accolades
However, the dike quickly gave way. Mr. Biden multiplied the accolades with the Israeli ministers on the tarmac of the David-Ben-Gurion airport, lingering with the former Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu. A way to cut short accusations of election interference, as Israel returns to the polls on 1er november. At the Yad Vashem memorial, he knelt for long minutes next to two Holocaust survivors.
Yair Lapid’s government was keen to display a restored “bipartisan” relationship, after years during which Mr. Netanyahu anchored the Israeli cause in the Republican camp, giving air to voices critical of the occupation of the territories Palestinians in the Democratic Party. On Friday, Mr. Biden was to visit a hospital in East Jerusalem, then meet in Bethlehem with President Mahmoud Abbas.
Mr. Biden reiterated his commitment to a two-state solution that would respect “the equal rights of their citizens”which alone can guarantee that Israel remains “an independent Jewish and democratic state”. But, as soon as he arrived, he reiterated how far this file is in the order of his priorities: “I know it’s not for soon. »
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