Joe Biden landing in Israel, will see Israeli leaders take on tougher actions against Iran, before a delicate stop in Saudi Arabia.
United States President, Joe Biden, on Wednesday embarked on his first visit to the Middle-East since he assumed office 18 months ago.
Joe Biden landing in Israel, will see Israeli leaders take on tougher actions against Iran, before a delicate stop in Saudi Arabia.
The president's visit to Jeddah on Friday will be the focus of the tour, after Biden branded Saudi Arabia a "pariah" over the 2018 murder of dissident Saudi journalist and US resident, Jamal Khashoggi.
Air Force One -- which has left the United States and is expected to land at 1230 GMT in Tel Aviv -- will also make an unprecedented direct flight between the Jewish state and the conservative Gulf Kingdom that does not recognise its existence, according to AFP.
The 79-year-old will meet Israeli leaders seeking to broaden cooperation against Iran, and Palestinian leaders frustrated by what they describe as Washington's failure to curb Israeli aggression.
The persistent frustrations of Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy are nothing new for Biden, who first visited the region in 1973 after being elected to the Senate. Iran and Israel were allies then, but the Jewish state now considers Tehran its top threat.
Israel's caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who took office less than two weeks ago, has said talks "will focus first and foremost on the issue of Iran."
Moments after Biden touches down, Israel's military will show him its new Iron Beam system, an anti-drone laser it claims is crucial to countering Iran's UAV fleet.
Israel insists it will do whatever is necessary to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions, and is staunchly opposed to a restoration of the 2015 deal that gave Tehran sanctions relief. The country said is raising 1,000 flags across Jerusalem to welcome the US leader, who has not reversed former president Donald Trump's controversial decision to recognise the city as the capital of the Jewish state.
Palestinians claim Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as their capital and, ahead of the visit, have accused Biden of failing to make good on his pledge to restore the United States as an honest broker in the conflict.