From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 14, 2022
US official denies Washington told Israeli politicians not to expect handshakes from Biden
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
A senior US official denies that Washington was behind the directive issued to Israeli ministers at the welcome ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport not to expect handshakes from US President Joe Biden.
“We never put out guidance that nobody would shake hands or anything else,” the official says.
After fist-bumping Lapid on the tarmac, Biden went on to periodically shake the hands of other ministers.
The move was explained by some as being linked to COVID protocols.
But other analysts speculated that the directive reported by Hebrew media was put in place to prevent Biden from having to shake the hand of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later this week in Jeddah. The US has sought to gingerly improve ties with Riyadh after Biden vowed during his campaign to treat the Gulf kingdom like a “pariah” over its human rights record.
The Times of Israel Community.