Israel revels in Biden’s visit, but it will take more to charm the Palestinians

For all those who suggest that the United States is a declining world power, there still are few countries in 2022 where passions would not be stirred by the prospect of Air Force One arriving for a visit.

So too in Israel, where Joe Biden landed this week for a two-day visit that would include Yad Vashem and the opening of the 2022 Maccabiah Games.

Israel and the United States are close allies, of course, but they do differ markedly over how to confront Iran’s growing influence in the region. Biden has tried, despite Israeli opposition, to reverse his predecessor Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of a nuclear treaty with the Iranians. The negotiations to reinstate that deal are not going well and the intelligence assessment is that Iran has moved much closer to developing a nuclear weapon.

But the differences were not about to unsettle the spectacle of Biden’s visit.

Even before Air Force One touched down at Ben Gurion Airport, Israel and the United States had announced a strengthened partnership that would see scientists and experts from both countries meet to work on projects including new AI technologies and research into quantum and climate change.

A vast red carpet stretched out on Wednesday afternoon across the tarmac from Air Force One, with a parade of military service personnel and dignitaries flanking the path into the terminal. At the very front of the line was President Isaac Herzog, the new prime minister Yair Lapid and his immediate predecessor Naftali Bennett.

And as the presidential convoy swept into Jerusalem it passed nearly a thousand American flags raised on the streets for the occasion.

For Lapid, a new prime minister who will only stay in the job if he does well in November’s Knesset elections, the Biden visit could help bolster his credentials as a world leader — but it’s unlikely to sway vast numbers of voters in a contest that is still three months away.

Biden delighted his hosts by uttering the phrase “you do not need to be Jewish to be a Zionist” within minutes of his arrival. But the president will also be looking further ahead: he has a difficult task rebuilding ties with the Palestinians that were almost destroyed by his predecessor.

On Friday, he had a meeting planned with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem. Before that, he was due to break protocol by visiting the Palestinian hospital Augusta Victoria.

That will be the first visit by a US president to East Jerusalem, territory that both Israel and Palestine claim as their own. Whether the gesture will resonate with Abbas is another question altogether.