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US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his Zionism and the strong ties between the US and Israel in his remarks upon landing in Israel on Wednesday. “You need not be a Jew to be Zionist,” Biden said, repeating past comments to which Lapid referred in his remarks at Ben-Gurion Airport. The two-day visit to Israel is Biden’s tenth, but his first as president. Remarking on his first trip to Israel, in 1973, during which he met then-prime minister Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin, who later became prime minister, the president said he had “the great honor of living part of the history of this great place.” “Every chance to return to this great country, where the ancient roots of the Jewish people date back to biblical times is a blessing,” he said. “The connection between the Israeli people and the American people is bone deep, and generation after generation that connection grows as we invest in each other and dream together.” Biden spoke of US and Israel partnering on “the most cutting-edge defense systems in the world,” shortly before he went to a presentation by the Defense Ministry that included an Iron Dome battery and the laser-based Iron Beam missile defense system. “We will continue to advance Israel’s integration in the region and expand emerging forms and engagements like new I2U2 summit,” of Israel, the US, India and the UAE whose leaders are set to convene via video link on Thursday, “to deepen the economic cooperation between the Middle East and Indo-Pacific,” the president said. Biden said he will also discuss his “continued support – even though I know it’s not in the near term – for a two-state solution, which remains the best way for equal measures of security, freedom, opportunity and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians.” The president spoke of his strong connection to Israel and the Jewish people going back to his childhood, when his father, a “righteous Christian” told him and his siblings about the Holocaust and “imbued in us a sense of obligation.” Biden planned to visit Yad Vashem after departing from Ben-Gurion Airport, where he said he will “honor the six million Jewish lives stolen in the genocide and continue what we must do every day, to bear witness…and honor those we lost so that we never forget that lesson.” The US president did not mention Iran, but both President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Yair Lapid did in their brief remarks. “In this visit, you will discuss the security challenges emanating directly from Iran and its proxies, threatening Israel and its neighbors and endangering our region,” Herzog said. Lapid called for a “global coalition to stop the Iranian nuclear program.” Herzog hailed Biden as “a true friend, and staunch supporter of Israel and the Jewish people, of our security and wellbeing, your entire life. “Your first trip here in 1973, was just a few weeks before a terrible war broke out,” Herzog said. “Today, winds of peace are blowing from North Africa across the Mediterranean to the Gulf. This trip, Mr. President, is your journey of peace from Israel to Saudi Arabia, from the Holy Land to the Hejaz.” Biden is scheduled to fly from Israel to Saudi Arabia on Friday, and to announce an agreement between the countries involving security arrangements in the Straits of Tiran and authorizing Israeli overflights in Saudi airspace, as well as possibly allowing limited direct flights from Israel for Muslims making the pilgrimage to Mecca. Lapid called Biden “one of the best friends Israel has ever known,” and referred to the president calling himself a Zionist in the past. The prime minister expressed “the simple genuine joy brought by seeing a good friend once again.” “You will see how Israel has grown and developed, see the strength and smartness of the Israeli army, the creativity of the start-up nation and the diversity of Israeli society,” Lapid said. Joining Biden on Air Force One were US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger and State Department Senior Advisor for Energy Security Amos Hochstein were among 15 officials joining Biden on the two-day trip. Biden and Lapid are expected to hold a meeting on Thursday morning, followed by a press conference and the video meeting of the I2U2 forum. Herzog will then host Biden for a ceremony at which the latter will receive a Presidential Medal of Honor. Biden is scheduled to meet with opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu for 15 minutes at the President’s Residence. Later Thursday, Biden, Lapid and Herzog will make an appearance at the Maccabiah Games. Biden plans to meet with Palesitnian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, as well as visit a Palestinian hospital in Jerusalem.
