A warm handshake to the king Saudi Salman and only a cold and silent smack with his son the prince Mohammed bin Salman. Joe Biden He greeted members of the royal family as he arrived at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah. The prince, de facto regent, welcomed him to the palace: according to US intelligence, he is the instigator of the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden resorted to this opposition and ploy (less compromising, but hypocritical according to many) to avoid the embarrassment of a gesture that would have been forever immortalized by cameras around the world after promising to close Riyadh because of the in to turn a pariah Murder of the dissident Saudi journalist. The Commander-in-Chief has agreed to avoid being accused of retreating within his party raise the issue of human rights. “My position has always been absolutely clear and I have never been silent when it came to it,” assured the US boss.
He then added: “I have told Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman what I think personally responsible for the murder of KhashoggiAnd what did bin Salman say? “Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has responded that he bears no responsibility for Khashoggi’s assassination,” Biden told Jeddah. An exchange that to define surreal is an understatement. Also because then the White House tenant adding: “What happened to Khashoggi is outrageous. I made it clear that if something like this happens again, they will have one appropriate answer“.
Biden landed in Jeddah to face the most difficult phase of his first trip as president to the Middle East: a visit that marks the return of the United States after years of retreat in the region, where it hopes to regain “a leadership role.” without leaving any gaps, filled by Russia or China, ”as he himself explained. Its main purpose is to normalize relations between Israel and the Arab countries – with a united front against the Iranian threat – under the umbrella of the Abrahamic Accords initiated by his predecessor Donald Trump, while correcting the isolation of the Palestinians. The White House tenant has already garnered openings, including Riyadh’s decision to open airspace “to all airlines,” ending the ban on flying to and from Israel and allowing its planes to fly eastbound. A turning point that allowed him to make history by becoming the first American President to fly direct from Israeli soil to an Arab country that does not recognize the Jewish state. In return, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid gave his okay for the return of sovereignty of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Riyadh to Sharm el-Sheikh. With a stop in Bethlehem, where he announced $316 million in funding and Israel’s help to upgrade to 4G to speed up the digitization of the economy, Biden also managed to mend ties with the Palestinians (in the Trump-era aborted) to resume and revitalize the dialogue for a two-state solution, although acknowledging that the conditions for negotiations are not currently in place.
But in Jeddah, where he had a bilateral meeting with King Salman before an extended meeting with MbS and various Saudi ministers, the most difficult game is being played. Actually more games. One of them is to convince Riyadh to continue on the path there normalization of relationships with Israel, entering into the covenants of Abraham. Another is to get the Saudis to increase their crude oil production to replace Russia’s, under the Western embargo on the war in Ukraine, by lowering the astronomical price of gasoline and the unbridled inflationary spurt that is hurting democratic chances in the elections undermines von Midterm and also his in the 2024 presidential election. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has previously said there will be no announcement soon, but suggests a turnaround could come in the coming weeks as OPEC gets back together. So far, Riyadh, which dictates the OPEC line, has turned the bank into the Kremlin and kept the spigots closed. Other dossiers are on the agenda: the extension of the ceasefire in Yemen brokered by the UN, renewable energies, cyber security, food and energy security, the promotion of human rights, the Iranian threat. All issues forcing Biden to change his approach to Riyadh in the name of realpolitik. Even at the price of having to exchange a less sophisticated but still meaningful fist salute with MbS.