Video During a four-day trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, President Biden will focus on securing oil for America’s gas pumps, slowing Iran’s nuclear program and strengthening relations with Saudi Arabia. Credit Credit… Doug Mills/New York Times
JERUSALEM — President Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday to open a four-day Middle East visit that will focus on efforts to slow Iran’s nuclear program, supply oil to American gas pumps and improve relations with Saudi Arabia.
Nearly 50 years after he made his first trip to Israel as a senator-elect, Mr. Biden returned for the first time as president and wasted no time trying to reaffirm his steadfast support for the Jewish state despite friction surrounding his efforts to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran.
“Any chance to return to this great country, where the ancient roots of the Jewish people date back to biblical times, is a blessing because the bond between the Israeli people and the American people runs deep,” Mr. Biden said during his brief arrival ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport. “Generation after generation, this relationship grows.”
Mr. Biden, who noted, as he often does, that he knows every Israeli prime minister since Golda Meir, whom he met on his first trip in 1973, was making his tenth visit to Israel and seemed intent on dispelling the notion that he is some less supportive of the country than his predecessor, President Donald J. Trump, who has made his support for Israel a cornerstone of his foreign policy.
“Our relationship is deeper, I think, than it’s ever been,” Mr. Biden said.
Greeting him as he disembarked from Air Force One, Israeli leaders echoed the sentiment, stressing that they view Mr. Biden as a friend and don’t pay much attention to their differences. President Isaac Herzog called him “our brother Joseph,” saying, “You are truly among the family.” The country’s interim prime minister, Yair Lapid, called him “a great Zionist and one of the best friends Israel has ever known.”
“This is a very personal visit,” Mr. Lapid said, “because your relationship with Israel has always been very personal. You once identified yourself as a Zionist. You said you don’t have to be Jewish to be a Zionist. And you were right.
Without stopping there, Mr. Lapid confirmed that the two leaders will discuss Iran and their joint efforts to strengthen cooperation between the countries of the Middle East. Once isolated in the region, Israel has become increasingly involved in regional diplomacy after landmark diplomatic deals with three Arab countries in 2020 – and officials hope further progress will be made during Mr Biden’s visit.
Mr. Biden also touched on another area of potential tension by reaffirming his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after criticism that his administration has not prioritized the issue.
“We will discuss my continued support, although I know it is not in a new mandate, for a two-state solution, which I believe remains the best way to ensure a future of equal freedom, prosperity and democracy for Israelis and Palestinians alike ” Mr. Biden said.
Before his arrival, the Israeli government made several small gestures toward the Palestinians, including granting some new work permits to Gazans. But while Mr. Biden will visit President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in Bethlehem, restoring communications that were severed during Trump’s presidency, there is little expectation that the visit will lead to progress in resolving the dispute.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, cut a peripheral figure at the welcoming ceremony. Now out of office, he is the leader of the opposition and will have only a brief meeting with the president on Thursday.
But he and Mr. Biden have a warm, if often fraught, relationship that goes back four decades, and the American leader made it a point to seek out Mr. Netanyahu during a group photo for Israeli and American officials. Mr. Biden gave Mr. Netanyahu a long, warm hand, and the two men gave the impression that they were happy to see each other.
The president’s trip comes at a sensitive time in Israeli politics. A fragile ruling coalition recently collapsed, leaving Mr Lapid to serve as caretaker prime minister until elections in November, in which Mr Netanyahu hopes to return.
At the end of the acceptance ceremony, Mr. Lapid joked about his and Mr. Biden’s respective trajectories after an earlier meeting between the two in Washington.
He told Mr Biden: “I don’t know if you remember, but eight years ago we met in the White House when you were vice president. You said, “If only I had hair like yours, I’d be president,” to which I replied, “And if only I were your height, I’d be prime minister.”
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