US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel is the 12th visit of an incumbent American president to Israel, although Biden is the seventh American leader to visit Israel during his tenure, out of 14 presidents who have served since the establishment of the State of Israel. The first visit was by Richard Nixon, followed by most US presidents visiting Israel, with the exception of Gerald Ford who served a partial term and visited shortly after his term ended, Ronald Reagan who skipped us, and Bush Sr..
Prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, a number of presidents visited the Land of Israel or at least planned to visit it, mainly for religious reasons. Abraham Lincoln planned to visit Israel, but his assassination prevented the plan from being implemented. About two decades later, Ulysses Grant visited Israel shortly after the end of his term.
John F. Kennedy visited Israel in 1939, long before he became President of the United States. He was then 22 years old, the son of the U.S. Ambassador to London, Joseph Kennedy. He later said that he was in Israel at the time of the publication of the White Paper, and thus was exposed to the Jewish-Arab conflict up close. In the opposite direction, former President Gerald Ford visited Israel after retiring from the White House.
Although US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not come to Israel, his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, came here again and again. She was very involved in humanitarian activities, and came to visit Israel several times during the 1950s. So much so that she agreed to be the organization’s global patron, and during her visits to Israel she met with the country’s leaders, but also visited absorption centers around the country.
Decades of developing relationships
In the first years of the establishment of the state, relations between Israel and the United States were not very warm, but still relatively warm compared to the rest of the world. The United States supported the UN partition plan at the end of 1947, and immediately after the declaration of independence, the United States de facto recognized Israel, thus becoming the first country to do so, and on January 30, 1949, de Jura also recognized it.
During the War of Independence, the United States obeyed the declaration of the UN arms embargo and refused to sell military equipment to Israel. The FBI even arrested American Jews who transferred weapons to Israel. After the war, the United States opposed the retaliatory actions taken by Israel and contented itself with rhetorical statements about the right of Israeli ships to pass through the Suez Canal.
The United States rejected Israel’s request to assist in obtaining the reparations agreement from Germany. In contrast, the United States began providing small amounts of tens of millions of dollars a year, which remained at this level until the early 1970s. In July 1952, the Truman administration announced that it still held a view contrary to Israel’s approach, that an international regime should be established in Jerusalem. In addition, the Americans continued to try to mediate on the issue between Israel and the Arab states.
During Operation Kadesh, the United States acted against him while exerting pressure on France and Britain, and immediately afterwards the United States, together with the Soviet Union, demanded that Israel evacuate the Sinai Peninsula and that Israel be forced to do so. In return, the United States undertook to ensure the freedom of movement of Israeli vessels in the Tiran Straits. In contrast, the transfer of Nikita Khrushchev’s secret speech to the United States led to the creation of intelligence contact between the two countries. Until the Six Day War, France was Israel’s main supplier of weapons. However, beginning in the early 1960s, the United States began selling weapons to Israel, first defensively and then offensively.
In May 1961, a first meeting was held between the Prime Minister of Israel and the President of the United States. In May 1963, President Kennedy announced in an official speech that the United States would intervene in Israel’s favor in the event of aggression. On December 12 of that year, an extradition treaty was signed between the two countries and on December 27, Kennedy declared that the United States has as special a relationship with Israel in the Middle East as it has a special relationship with Britain in other parts of the world. In June 1964, Levy Eshkol became the first Israeli prime minister to be invited to pay an official visit to the United States and to meet with the President of the United States at the White House. Following this, the two countries signed a secret “memorandum of understanding” on March 10, 1965.
The first visit
President Richard Nixon was the first of the presidents of the United States to visit Israel. The two-day visit took place 26 years after the establishment of relations between the two countries. It was at the end of Nixon’s tenure, less than two months before he resigned following the Watergate affair. During his visit, Nixon held working meetings with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who had taken office two weeks earlier, and with some of his cabinet ministers. The parties discussed various security, policy and economic requests raised by Israel. Nixon also visited the presidential residence and the home of former Prime Minister Golda Meir. After the visit, President Nixon left for Jordan.
The May 1974 newspaper Davar describes Jerusalem’s preparations for Nixon’s arrival: decorating the streets with Israeli and US flags, security arrangements, a rigid schedule and calling on Jerusalem residents and children to take to the streets and welcome the president. There were also difficulties during the visit – Israeli staff Suffered from over-intervention by the American team, which led to tensions between the two teams.
Peace visit with Egypt
President Jimmy Carter visited Israel in March 1979, with the aim of initiating negotiations on the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, which ran into difficulties. Under the Camp David Accords of September 1978, a peace treaty was to be signed within three months, but talks reached a deadlock again.
In early March, Carter decided to go to Cairo and Jerusalem on his own to settle the remaining disputes. On March 8, Carter came to Egypt and on Saturday night, March 10, he arrived in Israel for a three-day visit that combined ceremonial events with negotiations. With the consents of Prime Minister Menachem Begin obtained only at the end of the visit, Carter returned to Egypt and received the consent of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for them. On March 26, the peace agreement was signed in Washington.
Carter was greeted at the airport by state officials and a state ceremony was held. The next day, during breaks in the political talks, Carter and his wife visited the Presidential Palace in Jerusalem, the Yad Vashem Institution, and the graves of Herzl and Jabotinsky on Mount Herzl. Rosalyn Carter visited an absorption center. In the evening, Carter and his wife attended a state dinner at the Knesset with 500 guests. The next day, the day he left Israel, Carter spoke in the Knesset plenum, and visited the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum.
The president who came 4 times
President Bill Clinton visited Israel for a record number of visits – four in number. The large number of visits mainly expressed the special relationship that his government had with Yitzhak Rabin and his government and Clinton’s extensive involvement in the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Clinton’s first visit to Israel took place in October 1994, immediately after the signing of the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan. During this time he visited Yad Vashem and delivered a speech in the Knesset plenum.
Clinton’s second visit was to attend Yitzhak Rabin’s funeral on November 6, 1995. At that time, an obituary for Rabin was delivered on Mount Herzl.
Clinton visited Israel for the third time in March 1996, with the stated aim of reaffirming the peace process with the Palestinians, which was damaged following a series of terrorist attacks in Israel. Some claim that he also came with the aim of helping Shimon Peres defeat Benjamin Netanyahu in the prime ministerial election.
Clinton’s fourth and final visit was in December 1998 when he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, shortly after the signing of the agreement. During this time, Clinton visited Masada and also went to Gaza, where he addressed the Palestinian National Council.
Festive visit
President George W. Bush visited Israel twice. His first visit was to advance peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority following the Annapolis Conference. Bush met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres. And dedicated the day of his second visit to the Palestinian Authority. He also attended a dinner held in his honor and visited Yad Vashem.
Bush’s second visit to Israel took place a few months after the first visit, in honor of the country’s 60th Independence Day. Bush met with Prime Minister Olmert and President Peres and spoke at the Knesset plenum and the Presidential Conference in Jerusalem. Bush and his wife also visited Masada and the Bible Lands Museum and they held a reception at the Israel Museum.
Mrs. Bush and Prime Minister Aliza Olmert’s wife visited the milk drop station and a bilingual school in Jerusalem and the Western Wall Tunnel. As on his first visit, Bush made his way to and from Jerusalem on a flight in Marine 1 that was brought to Israel for him. During the visit, Bush clarified to Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak his opposition to Israel attacking the facilities of the Iranian nuclear program.
A visit for the funeral
President Barack Obama arrived in Israel for a three-day visit. At Ben-Gurion Airport, Obama was presented with an exhibition of the Air Defense system, including Iron Dome batteries, David’s Sling, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3. Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Peres, who presented him with the Medal of the President of Israel, and the Chairman Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas on a visit to Ramallah.
Obama also visited the Israel Museum, Yad Vashem and Bethlehem, laid wreaths at the graves of Herzl and Yitzhak Rabin and attended two official dinners. He delivered his keynote address during this visit to students from Israeli universities, the Nation Buildings in Jerusalem. From Israel, Obama left for Jordan.
On September 30, 2016, President Obama arrived in Israel for a quick visit to attend Shimon Peres’ funeral, which was held that day in Jerusalem, and was among the subjects of the eulogy for Peres during the ceremony. Immediately after the funeral, Obama left Israel.
Historical visit
President Donald Trump arrived in Israel for a two-day visit as part of his first trip outside the United States after his election as president. After visiting Saudi Arabia, his plane landed at Ben-Gurion Airport, and a reception was held for him in the presence of most of the country’s top officials. From there, Trump took a helicopter flight to Jerusalem, where he visited the presidential residence and met with President Reuven Rivlin.
Trump later visited the Western Wall, and became the first incumbent president to do so. The visit was defined as “private” and was not accompanied by an official Israeli delegation. He was greeted at the Western Wall by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Places. The president and his wife observed the sanctity of the place at the Western Wall, he and his son-in-law prayed with the help of the men, while his wife and daughter prayed with the help of the women, they were greeted by Rebbetzin Yael Rabinowitz, the wife of the Western Wall rabbi.
Afterwards, President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu met at the King David Hotel. The two leaders later made statements to the media at the prime minister’s residence, in which Netanyahu and his wife hosted Trump and his wife for dinner.
On the second day of the visit, Trump met in Bethlehem with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He then visited Yad Vashem and laid a wreath at the Tent of Remembrance, and delivered the keynote address of the visit to the Israel Museum. He returned to Ben-Gurion Airport by helicopter, and left Israel.