The superlatives from Israeli leaders continued after the fall of Biden. Prime Minister Yair Lapid called the visit “historic,” and President Isaac Herzog took it a rhetorical step further, likening Biden to the biblical Joseph “on a journey of peace from Israel to Saudi Arabia, from the Holy Land to the Hejaz.” But the results of the trip were at least pedestrian. And in a way, the week should be a wake-up call for Israel. “The higher the expectations, the higher the disappointment,” said Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. Hours before Biden flew to Jeddah on Friday, the announcement Israel had been waiting for finally came. Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority said all civil carriers can now fly over the country. The Saudi statement did not mention Israel at all, but Lapid called it “the first official step toward normalization with Saudi Arabia.” Get The Times of Israel Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms Biden cast the announcement in a similar light, calling it “a big deal … the first tangible step on the road to what I hope will eventually be a broader normalization of relations.” But the Saudis, at least publicly, were quick to play down that idea. “This has nothing to do with diplomatic ties with Israel,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan insisted, telling reporters as Biden headed home. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud speaks during a press conference after the end of the Security and Development Summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, July 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Despite the exaggerated messages coming from official Israeli channels—perhaps unsurprisingly in the run-up to an election—it should have been clear to everyone that Biden’s visit was not really about us. “Biden has had one central goal, and that is to try to alleviate the global energy crisis by increasing production in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,” said Moran Zaga, a Gulf expert at the Mitvim Institute. “Everything outside of that in my view was a kind of decoration, an attempt to divert attention to other parts that fit Biden’s politics — on liberalization, peace, rights, the Palestinians.” “Even when rumors started circulating about opening up the airspace, the question became, ‘Okay, so what?’ Zaga said. That didn’t stop Israeli leaders from doing what they could to inflate the size of the visit to Israel itself. Lapid and Biden signed the Jerusalem Declaration during the trip, which a senior Israeli official told reporters represented “a historic statement … that shows the unique nature of what we have between our countries.” Lapid even framed the document and hung it himself in the cabinet meeting room on Sunday. Prime Minister Yair Lapid closes the Jerusalem Declaration, signed by Israel and the US, in the cabinet meeting room in Jerusalem, July 17, 2022 (Haim Zach/GPO) But there was nothing particularly new in the statement, which commits the allies to work together to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, continue to discuss Israeli-Palestinian relations, seek to expand the Abraham Accords and fight anti-Semitism – all this was happening anyway. Israel did its best to keep Biden suitably busy while he was in the country, helping him hide the real purpose of his trip to the region. Herzog presented him with the Presidential Medal of Honor, the same award awarded to Czech President Milos Zeman days earlier. Biden also waved to athletes at the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Games and participated in a Zoom call with the leaders of India and the UAE. US President Joe Biden speaks with Holocaust survivors Giselle Cycowicz (bottom-R) and Rena Quint (bottom-L), in the Hall of Remembrance of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, on July 13, 2022. (Menahem KAHANA / various sources / AFP) That’s not to say there weren’t some shocking moments. Biden’s extended conversation on one knee with two Holocaust survivors at Yad Vashem returned him to his younger political persona, a tactile, caring man with a knack for connecting with the public. His Medal of Honor acceptance speech was warm and heartfelt. President Isaac Herzog presents the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor to US President Joe Biden at the Presidential Residence in Jerusalem on July 14, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) But the hype surrounding the trip and minor developments in Israeli-Saudi relations overrode the standard liberties government officials take on presidential visits. The messages may even have damaged Israel in the eyes of Saudi Arabia. “I think Israel caused damage here,” Guzansky lamented. “They inflated the Saudi issue with all kinds of leaks and updates. It was not historic, neither in Israel nor on the Saudi side.” “I think it reflects a lack of understanding in Israel about where the Saudis are, what their sensitivities are, what their interests are,” he continued. “They added nothing to Israel’s diplomatic efforts,” agreed Zaga. Right now, Riyadh has no reason to give Israel – or the US – free gifts. Any gestures were made as part of a tough deal with the US. After a relative decline in the regional regime as a result of the war in Yemen and the fallout from the 2018 assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudis—and particularly de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman—have been interested in reasserting their leadership position. Arab world. In this file photo taken on October 10, 2018, a protester dressed as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) with blood on his hands demonstrates outside the Saudi embassy in Washington, demanding justice for the missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Jim WATSON/AFP) And they were the big winners from the trip, getting what they wanted. “First, since Biden’s visit,” Zaga said, “he bowed to them, agreed to accept the Saudis as what he called protecting American interests.” “Secondly, as part of the visit, Saudi Arabia hosted this major inter-Arab summit. And once again, it is the country that hosts, that takes initiatives, a leader, a guide.” The Saudis weren’t afraid to flex their muscles either. When Biden reportedly began targeting MBS over the Khashoggi murder, the Saudi prince responded by asking about the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and abuses at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison. As Biden returned home, Israel wondered how close it really is to normalizing with the Saudis. After last week, it doesn’t seem that close at all. Despite intelligence cooperation and converging interests, the current relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not comparable to the state of Israel and Emirati ties prior to the Abraham Accords. With the UAE positioning itself as a leading international center of culture and commerce, Israelis have been present at multilateral forums and international competitions. The view of Saudi Arabia from an Israir flight on November 8, 2020. (Israir/Twitter) Saudi Arabia is not the same type of country. There is not the same openness to the world or familiarity with Jews and Israelis. And Saudi Arabia’s role as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques means it must be much more cautious about Israel’s overt relations without a solution to the Palestinian issue. Other regional developments this week were not particularly encouraging for Israel either. The much-discussed regional security alliance against Iran appears to be far less advanced than Israel would have hoped. Context reports during the visit were extremely vague, far from a NATO in the Middle East. Even the United Arab Emirates, the jewel in the crown of the Abraham Accords for Israel, sent an encouraging message during the visit. “The UAE is not part of any axis against Iran,” presidential adviser Anwar Gargas said, adding that Abu Dhabi was considering returning its ambassador to Tehran. The same spirit has been evident across the Gulf in recent months, as Arab countries counter a reduced US presence in the region by escalating with Iran. The need to express excitement about the visit of a US president is completely understandable. But Israeli leaders would do well to keep in mind that countries will shape their policies toward Israel according to their own needs and interests. Three countries may have moved on to normalization, but other potential partners are eyeing the benefits of the Abraham Accords while keeping a close eye on Iran. In the meantime, Israelis will have to make do with the view of the kingdom from 30,000 feet.
