President Joe Biden is six years older than Israel, which was established in 1948, and he's met every one of the country's prime ministers since he was first elected as a US senator from Delaware.
His first visit was in 1973, shortly before Arab nations launched a surprise attack to begin the Yom Kippur War, and he sat down with Golda Meir.
In a story that he's told often, Biden recalls Meir chain smoking cigarettes and showing him maps of the region to explain Israel's precarious security situation. When the meeting ended, Biden says, she told him that Israelis had a “secret weapon” in their battle for survival - “We have nowhere else to go.”
Several more trips followed over the years, although not every one has gone smoothly. When Biden served as vice president, his 2010 visit was undermined by an announcement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government that Jewish settlements in the West Bank were being expanded.
There's unlikely to be such friction with Yair Lapid, the current prime minister. However, Lapid only leads an interim government that was formed when the last one collapsed, and elections are being held in November.
Published 13 July 2022, 13:53 IST