Joe Biden flies to the Middle East on Tuesday for his first trip to the region since entering the White House. Before a visit to Saudi Arabia – one which reawakens the age-old foreign policy dilemma of realpolitik versus human rights – the US president goes to Israel, where he risks becoming entangled in the storm surrounding the fatal shooting of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May.
Biden will be in Israel from Wednesday to Friday on the first stop of his Middle Eastern tour – and is expected to discuss with new Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid the deepening ties between Tel Aviv and certain Arab states, as well as US attempts to revive in some form the nuclear deal discarded by his predecessor Donald Trump.
