US Israel Declaration To Prevent Iran Nuclear Weapons

 

 president joe biden's

the middle east trip started with interim

Israeli prime minister yar lapid

the leaders all smile at their meeting

top of the agenda Iran

signing a non-binding declaration

reiterating the Israeli partnership

america's commitment to Israel's

security and to ensure Iran would never

acquire a nuclear weapon

the other main topic of discussion

israel's integration into the region

israel's peace with its neighbors

these are essential goals

tomorrow I'll be the first American

president to fly from Israel directly to

Jeddah Saudi arabia

that represents important progress Mr

president, you will meet with the leaders

of Saudi Arabia Qatar Kuwait Oman and

Iraq

I would like you

to pass them all a message from us

our hand

is outstretched for peace

we are ready

to share our technology ready

for our scientists to collaborate and

our businesses

to cooperate

opposition leader benjamin Netanyahu got

15 minutes of facetime a man not used to

taking a back seat during us

presidential visits

Netanyahu has worked hard to undermine

his opponents accusing them of being

unstatesmen-like and unqualified to lead

but these images will no doubt work in

lapid's favor ahead of November's

elections Israel's fifth in four years

this trip is less about who is or will

be prime minister and more about Israel

as a whole its relations in the region

and countering Iran

before heading to Jeddah on Friday Biden

is scheduled to stop at Augusta victoria

hospital in occupied east Jerusalem

historic in the sense that it's the

the first time a u.s president will visit a

place in east Jerusalem away from the

old city

he's expected to pledge 100 million

dollars to help Palestinian hospitals

but this moment from the press

conference possibly won't go down well

with the Palestinians your visit

tomorrow is Jerusalem and you won't be

accompanied by an Israeli official

does this represent a change in your

administration's view regarding the

recognition of Jerusalem as the capital

of Israel and if east Jerusalem is part

of it thank you answer your last

question is no

occupied east Jerusalem is what

Palestinians see it as the capital of any

future state

an issue Palestinian president Mahmoud

abbas may raise with Biden who he will

meet briefly in Bethlehem on Friday

the Palestinians know that this trip is

not about them a few economic incentives

yes but there are no new diplomatic

offers on the table to revive

long-stalled peace talks the American

priority is to focus on a wider

geopolitical issues and encourage more

Arab countries to normalize relations

with Israel Stephanie decker al-Jazeera

west Jerusalem

many Palestinians want the u.s president

to demand accountability for Israel's

the killing of al Jazeera journalist Shireen

Abu Dakhla in may john Holman reports

from occupied east Jerusalem

this is the grave of Shireen Abu Ackley

the Palestinian-American journalist who

worked for al Jazeera this cemetery was

full of people for her funeral this may

after she was shot in the occupied west

bank

she was famous already but for a lot of

Palestinians death embodied what

they lived through the possibility that

they could be killed by Israeli forces

with little follow-up or accountability

and now that's become a Forney issue for

President Biden as he visits the region

and his administration launched an

investigation into death but concluded

that even though the bullet was likely

fired by the Israeli military it was

without the intention to kill her now Abu

Oakley's family has called that a

whitewash she was wearing a blue helmet

and vest marked press when she was shot

they've asked to meet president Biden on

this trip to where those concerns

the latest is that that's not going to

happen instead they've been offered a

visit Washington at some point that's

not going to stop the questions from coming

at president Biden especially when on

Friday he travels to the occupied west

bank and on the route there actually on

the separation wall there's gone up a

mural of Shireen Abu Ackley to remind

him and everyone else of her presence

here is a presence that is still

overshadowing this trip