US President Joe Biden leaving Israel on a historic first direct flight to Saudi Arabia, the culmination of his first Middle East tour, July 15, 2022. (Credit: Ariel Schalit / POOL / AFP)
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia Friday. While campaigning for the presidency he’d vowed to make the Gulf monarchy a "pariah."
Air Force One landed in Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia, after a direct flight from Israel, a first as Washington seeks to normalize relations between its two most important partners in the Middle East.
Air Force One took off in the afternoon from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport , and arrived Friday evening in Jeddah, the last destination in Biden’s first Middle East tour.
“This is a first step,” said Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, “thanking” Saudi Arabia for this measure.
Shortly before his trip to the Gulf monarchy, two key pieces of news were released: Israel said it had “no objection” to two strategic islands being given to Saudi Arabia; the latter announced the opening of its airspace to “all carriers” including Israelis, a “historic” decision.
These two initiatives could, according to analysts, pave the way for a possible rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which in 2020 normalized relations with two Saudi allies — the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The Saudi announcement came before Biden took his direct flight from Tel Aviv to Jeddah. Saudi Arabia does not officially recognize the Jewish state.
Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, had flown in the opposite direction, from Saudi Arabia to Israel.
Meeting with MBS
After two days of openly warm exchanges with his Israeli allies and talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Joe Biden will tackle the most strategic and perhaps most complex side of his journey – Saudi Arabia, widely accused of serious human rights violations.
While he was still a presidential candidate, Biden vowed to make the Gulf oil monarchy a “pariah” because of the murder and dismemberment of Saudi journalist and regime critic Jamal Khashoggi.
Once elected, he allowed a scathing report blaming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for Khashoggi’s murder to be declassified.
In Jeddah Friday, Biden is scheduled to meet with King Salman and to participate with his team in discussions with Saudi ministers and MBS, the kingdom’s de facto leader.
Biden is trying to remain faithful to his defense of human rights and to convince the kingdom to increase oil production in hopes of lowering the price of a gallon of gasoline in the run-up to the US midterm elections.
On Saturday, Biden will participate in a summit of Gulf Arab monarchs, which will also host other Arab leaders.
An opportunity to push Arab state normalization with Israel, in order to forge a united front against Iran, which Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid did not fail to point out Thursday.
“Mr. President, you will meet with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Iraq. I would like you to pass them all a message from us: our hand is extended in peace!,” said Lapid.
The Palestinian political class is opposed to normalization between Israel and Arab countries, as long as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not resolved.
Aid to Palestinians
Before going to Saudi Arabia, Biden visited Augusta Victoria Hospital Friday in occupied East Jerusalem, where he pledged $100 million in aid to support local hospitals.
He then met with Abbas in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank.
Demonstrators were waiting for him with banners demanding “justice” for Shireen Abu Akleh, the American-Palestinian reporter killed while covering an Israeli military operation in the West Bank.
During a press conference, Biden announced a project to upgrade the internet service of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to 4G by 2023.
While he reiterated that the ground is not ripe at present to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been stalled since 2014, he suggested that this impasse could not continue.
“We have never given up the work for peace. There must be a political horizon that the Palestinian people can actually see or feel for the future. We cannot allow hopelessness to steal away the future,” Biden said at a press briefing with Abbas.
Abbas insisted on political measures to end Israeli “apartheid” in Palestine’s occupied territories.
He also asked Biden to reopen the consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem, closed by the Trump administration, and to hold Israel “accountable’ for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, who according to the UN, Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations, was killed by an Israeli bullet.
A devout Catholic, Biden went to the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, to complete his Palestine visit.
This story was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour, translated by Joelle Khoury.