Israeli government ministers were informed prior to US President Joe Biden’s visit that he would not be shaking hands due to “COVID.”
Instead, Biden greeted Israelis VIPS with fist bumps, apart from opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu, who was “zocheh” to a handshake.
So Biden certainly isn’t avoiding all physical contact with others and was even photographed coming in close contact with others and putting his arm around people. Additionally, unlike at the beginning of the pandemic, the current consensus of scientists is that COVID is solely airborne and cannot be transmitted via physical contact.
So what’s the real reason why Biden is trying to avoid handshakes? According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, the real reason is that the White House has instructed him to avoid handshakes in order to prevent photos of Biden shaking hands with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, otherwise known as the “pariah” – when he arrives in Saudi Arabia.
Biden, who prior to entering office strongly denounced the kingdom as a pariah and vowed to recalibrate the U.S.-Saudi relationship, became stuck between a rock and a hard place when rising oil prices made a trip to Saudi Arabia necessary. Now he’s trying to minimize the damage, defending his decision to visit the kingdom in an opinion article in The Washington Post, and apparently hoping to avoid overly friendly photos with the Crown Prince.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
Handshake?
He’ll be on his knees prostrated before the Saudi.
Interesting/awkward “handshake” moment this evening at the award in Yerushalayim where singers Ran Danker and Yuval Dayan performed during the ceremony in which President Herzog presented Biden with the Medal of Honor. After a great performance of the Lu Yehi adaptation of the Beatles hit Biden approached to shake hands with the duo. After shaking hands with Danker, Biden reached out to Dayan, who bowed slightly to acknowledge the president’s outreach, while declining to shake his hand. It was later explained to the media that as a “frum” woman, Dayan doesn’t shake hands with men. She later was quoted as follows: “I had no intention, God-forbid, of insulting anyone. I just wanted to represent our country honorably while remaining true to my values as religious young woman.”
For those familiar, does she normally perform with Danker in mixed audiences??