Wearing his trademark aviator sunglasses, Mr Biden initially pumped his fists as he stepped off Air Force One. But he soon threw caution to the wind, throwing an arm around Mr Lapid and shaking hands with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s former prime minister. The president then posed with Israeli leaders for a photo on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport before attending a briefing on Israeli air defense systems. Mr Biden’s tactile greetings will complicate White House efforts to avoid a handshake between Mr Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the US has concluded killed a Washington Post reporter. Mr Biden hopes his visit to the Kingdom will encourage it to increase oil production and therefore lower prices for Americans at the pump. Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran analyst at the Washington-based Iran Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said Biden’s commitment to use military force to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions was “remarkable and primarily telling.” He added: “But it may fall on deaf ears in contrast to the year and a half of reluctance to put non-kinetic pressure on Tehran.”
“Democrats want me to run again”
Under pressure at home, the president shrugged off polls showing him bleeding support and tried to highlight employment data and other strong indicators in the US economy. Biden insisted Democrats “want” him to seek re-election when asked about a poll showing 64 percent of Democratic voters would prefer a new leader for the 2024 election. “They want me to run,” Biden said. He added: “That poll showed that 92 percent of Democrats if I said they would vote for me.” Biden failed to mention that the NYT/Siena College figure was among the Democrats choosing between him and Donald Trump. The survey did offer Biden some comfort, with voters nationwide saying he would beat Trump in a potential rematch in 2024 by 44 percent to 41 percent. It came as Biden’s approval rating rose three points in a Reuters-Ipsos poll on Wednesday from a record low of 36 percent last week. “Read the polls. Read the polls,” Biden chided a White House reporter, adding, “You’re all the same.” The US president deviates from the most troubling figures in the NYT poll, which found just 26 percent of Democrats believed Biden should be the party’s nominee. Biden, who at 79 is the oldest president in American history, has repeatedly said he plans to run in 2024, health permitting. His allies say he remains Democrats’ best hope to keep Trump out of the White House amid speculation the Republican will announce a presidential bid within weeks.
