President Biden arrived in Israel Wednesday for a four-day visit that includes a stop in Saudi Arabia. Israel’s interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid held a red carpet ceremony as Biden landed in Tel Aviv, giving him what The New York Times called a “rapturous welcome,” calling him “our brother Joseph.” Meanwhile, Biden vowed to deepen Israel’s ties with the U.S.
Biden and Lapid will also participate in the first-ever — they just did — the first-ever I2U2 virtual summit. “I2U2” stands for India, Israel, the UAE, United States. That’s along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
But first, the Middle East trip comes as the Biden administration is facing pressure to scrap plans to build a U.S. embassy in Jerusalem after a Palestinian legal group revealed the proposed diplomatic compound is located on land that was illegally confiscated by Israel from Palestinians in 1948. The historical documents were made public by the Palestinian legal group Adalah ahead of Biden’s trip to Israel and the occupied West Bank.
— source democracynow.org | Jul 14, 2022