President Biden Middle East trip to unite Israel and Saudi Arabia to meet Iran threat
Patrick Semanski/AP
We ran the numbers: There are 773 news articles covering this topic. 28% (218) are left-leaning, 18% (135) are centrist, and 54% (420) are right-leaning.
President Joe Biden begins a four-day trip to the Middle East on Tuesday to Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia. While left-leaning articles focus on how Biden can unite Israel and Saudi Arabia over a shared anti-Iran goal, right-leaning articles focus on potential future U.S. - Saudi relations.
A left-leaning article from The Washington Post highlights Biden’s ability to build a successful coalition in the Middle East under a shared interest to counter Iran. Israel and Saudi Arabi do not have diplomatic relations and thus are unlikely to cooperate extensively, especially in public. Saudi Arabia seeks concessions from Israel regarding the Palestinians before beginning diplomatic relationships.
A centrist article from The Hill published an article reporting on the similarities between Donald Trump’s and Biden’s Middle East policy. While Biden’s rhetoric is different, his actions largely continue those of Trump.
A right-leaning article from the New York Post highlights how the White House is exploring restarting arm sales to Saudi Arabia after Biden had previously banned their sale in February 2021. A final decision on this, however, depends on Saudi Arabia ending the civil war in Yemen. While the U.S. needs Saudi Arabia’s help to increase the global oil supply, reversing the previous arms ban is likely to elicit bipartisan opposition in Congress.