The US president is in the Middle East for the first time since taking office in early 2021 and arrived in Israel on Wednesday for talks with Israeli leaders. He has also met with Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank ahead of talks with Saudi leaders and other Gulf allies in Jeddah on Saturday. “I — my background and my family’s background is Irish-American and we have a long history — not essentially unlike the Palestinian people with Great Britain and their attitude towards the Irish Catholics over the years, over 400 years,” he said. Biden. she said in a speech on Friday. “But my colleagues, when I was a US senator, always joked with me that I was always saying Irish poets when I was on the Senate floor. “And they thought I did it because I’m Irish. That is not why I did it; I did it because they are the best poets in the world. He then quoted from Seamus Heaney’s poem “The Cure at Troy”, which he described as “classically Irish, but could also suit the Palestinians” to say that hope springs eternal. Mr. Biden also referred to his legacy as he wrote an inscription in the guest book at the presidential residence in Jerusalem upon his arrival. “From our shared Irish roots to our shared love of Israel, we are united in heart and spirit,” he wrote. “May our friendship endure and continue to grow! That’s Irish, as my grandfather Finnegan would say. God bless you, Joe.” Mr Herzog also spoke fondly of his own Irish heritage, describing the meeting as “a great day for the Irish”. Isaac Herzog’s father, former Israeli president Chaim Herzog, grew up in Dublin, where he became Ireland’s bantamweight boxing champion. His grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac HaLevi Herzog, was the rabbi of Dublin after Irish independence. President Herzog awarded the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor to the US leader at a ceremony in Jerusalem on July 14 in recognition of his 50 years of support for the country as a politician. “I can say without hesitation that being known as a friend of Israel and receiving this award today is one of the greatest honors of my career,” Biden said. The president said he would not shy away from talking about human rights when he visits Saudi Arabia on the second leg of his Middle East trip and stressed that his position on slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi was “absolutely” clear. But he said the goal was to reorient — not break up — a strategic relationship that has weathered many storms over eight decades.
