Biden starts ME tour in Israel
US President Joe Biden yesterday arrived in Israel, which embraced him as an old friend on the first leg of a high-stakes trip dominated by efforts to bring it closer to Saudi Arabia and to persuade Washington's Gulf allies to pump more oil. Landing at Ben Gurion Airport, whose tarmac he first trod in 1973 as a senator, Biden bumped fists with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and President Isaac Herzog and, in a speech, described the connection between the two nations as "bone-deep". "You do not need to be a Jew to be a Zionist," Biden added, voicing support for the ideology behind Israel's foundation on lands with ancient Jewish roots, and which is deeply resented by many Palestinians. Biden also reiterated US desire for negotiations, stalled since 2014, to create a Palestinian state on Israeli-occupied territory, calling this two state solution "the best hope" for both peoples. Biden will spend two days in Jerusalem before meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday in the occupied West Bank. He will then fly directly from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for talks with Saudi officials and to attend a summit of Gulf allies.
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