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Biden begins Middle East tour with visit to Israel

US President Joe Biden begins Middle East tour with visit to Israel
World
7 min read
13 July, 2022
Biden is set to arrive in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, before heading to Saudi Arabia on Friday, for his first tour of the Middle East as the US President.

US President Joe Biden lands in the Middle East on Wednesday for a trip that will see Israeli leaders urge tougher action against Iran, before travelling to Saudi Arabia on Friday.

The trips from a part of Biden's first tour of the Middle East as the US president.

The 79-year-old leader's visit to Jeddah 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 Gulf kingdom that does not recognise its existence.