AP

Biden to ping through Israel’s iconic spots on Mideast tour

Jul 12, 2022, 11:11 AM | Updated: 11:57 pm

FILE - The exterior of the King David Hotel is seen from King David street in Jerusalem, Dec. 11, 2...

FILE - The exterior of the King David Hotel is seen from King David street in Jerusalem, Dec. 11, 2007. U.S. President Joe Biden's dash through the Israel and the occupied West Bank this week is expected to cut across some of the region's most iconic places. Both luxurious and grueling, Biden's visit starts with a VIP arrival at Israel's main commercial airport and pings through Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Most of his travels are focused on business, but in between his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, he will visit a host of well-known sites while staying at a historic Jerusalem hotel. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File)

(AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File)


              FILE - People look at an exhibit as they tour the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Jerusalem, Sunday, April 23, 2017. U.S. President Joe Biden's dash through the Israel and the occupied West Bank this week is expected to cut across some of the region's most iconic places. Both luxurious and grueling, Biden's visit starts with a VIP arrival at Israel's main commercial airport and pings through Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. In between his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, he will visit a host of well-known sites while staying at a historic Jerusalem hotel. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)
            
              FILE - Augusta Victoria Hospital is seen ahead of a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden, in east Jerusalem, Monday, July 11, 2022. Biden's dash through the Israel and the occupied West Bank this week is expected to cut across some of the region's most iconic places. Most of his travels are focused on business. But in between his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, he will visit a host of well-known sites while staying at a historic Jerusalem hotel. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)
            
              FILE - People visit the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, on Christmas Eve in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, Dec. 24, 2021. U.S. President Joe Biden's dash through the Israel and the occupied West Bank this week is expected to cut across some of the region's most iconic places. Both luxurious and grueling, Biden's visit starts with a VIP arrival at Israel's main commercial airport and pings through Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. In between his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, he will visit a host of well-known sites while staying at a historic Jerusalem hotel. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)
            
              FILE - The exterior of the King David Hotel is seen from King David street in Jerusalem, Dec. 11, 2007. U.S. President Joe Biden's dash through the Israel and the occupied West Bank this week is expected to cut across some of the region's most iconic places. Both luxurious and grueling, Biden's visit starts with a VIP arrival at Israel's main commercial airport and pings through Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Most of his travels are focused on business, but in between his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, he will visit a host of well-known sites while staying at a historic Jerusalem hotel. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File)

JERUSALEM (AP) — President Joe Biden’s dash through Israel and the occupied West Bank this week is expected to cut across some of the region’s most iconic places.

Both luxurious and grueling, Biden’s visit starts with a VIP arrival at Israel’s main commercial airport — an on-and-off nightmare for regular travelers this summer due to huge lines and delays — and pings through Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Most of his travels are focused on business. Upon arrival, he will get a close-up look at Israel’s advanced missile-defense technology. The threat of Iran’s nuclear capabilities and the 2022 U.S. midterm elections shadow the whole exercise as Biden steps back on the world stage in his first visit to the region as president.

But in between meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, he will visit an array of well-known sites while staying at a historic Jerusalem hotel. Here’s a look at some of the expected highlights of Biden’s tour before he flies off to Saudi Arabia on Friday.

—-

FAMOUS DIGS

The King David Hotel is fully booked this week for Biden and his retinue of hundreds of staff, security and journalists.

It’s Biden’s first time as president bedding down behind the building’s iconic pink limestone façade, which overlooks the domes and minarets of Jerusalem’s Old City.

The King David has been a witness to — and sometimes a participant in — Israel’s history.

It was opened in 1931, when the area was still governed by British mandatory authorities. A bombing by a Zionist militant group in 1946 struck its southwest facade, killing 91 people. After Israeli independence in 1948, it overlooked a valley in no-man’s land.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin were photographed having a tense dinner in 1977 ahead of the Camp David Peace Accords.

Hollywood has been here, too. Movie stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton reportedly quarreled in public during their stay. Scenes from the 1960 movie “Exodus” were filmed in the gilded lobby and on the hotel’s fancy terrace.

Presidents going back to Richard Nixon have stayed at the King David. Dozens of kings and prime ministers also make the hotel’s client list.

Tiles that span the building’s first floor bear images of the signatures of luminaries, from Madonna to former President Donald Trump, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. A stairwell behind the reception desk doubles as a gallery of famous faces in the house, including a priceless image of then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter in shorts as he returned from a morning jog.

All that history and the sweeping views don’t come cheap. The 153 square-meter (1,600 square-foot) presidential suite goes for more than $3,800 a night the week after Biden leaves, according to the hotel’s web site.

—-

YAD VASHEM

Biden on Wednesday will stop at Israel’s Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, which memorializes the 6 million Jews killed during World War II by the Nazis and their allies.

The spike-shaped building in Jerusalem tells the story of the Holocaust emphasizing the experiences of the individual victims. It’s about 180 meters (591 feet) long and slashes through a mountain, its upper edge protruding through the ridge.

Biden will rekindle the Eternal Flame and lay a wreath on a slab over a spot where ashes from the extermination camps are buried, the museum said.

He’ll also meet with two survivors, Rena Quint of the former Czechoslovakia and Giselle Cycowicz of Poland in the Museum of Holocaust Art.

___

FROM THE WHITE HOUSE TO THE PRESIDENT’S RESIDENCE

U.S. and Israeli flags have been ironed and displayed. A long red carpet has been rolled out. A stage has been built.

Such are the preparations at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, where Israel’s Isaac Herzog will present Biden with the country’s highest civilian award. The Presidential Medal of Honor has been awarded since 2012 to 26 people who have “made an extraordinary contribution to the State of Israel or to humanity through their talents, their service, or in any other way,” according to the government.

Herzog’s office said Biden has proven himself over a half century in American public service to be “a true friend of the whole Jewish People.” Other recipients include former President Barack Obama. Biden served as his vice president.

Home to Israel’s president since 1971, the residence sits in an upscale Jerusalem neighborhood on about 2.5 acres (1 hectare). Israel’s third president, Zalman Shazar, asked that it be situated in accordance with the biblical verse, “Among my own people I dwell.”

AUGUSTA VICTORIA HOSPITAL

Biden is expected to cross to east Jerusalem to visit Augusta Victoria Hospital for a meeting with the heads of six hospitals that serve Palestinians in the area.

Two Palestinian officials said that Biden is expected to restore the $25 million that Trump cut in 2018 after his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. They spoke on condition of anonymity pending the formal announcement.

The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as the capital of a future state and Biden’s visit to a Palestinian hospital in the area carries deep symbolism. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem in a move that is not internationally recognized.

Augusta Victoria Hospital opened in 1910 and provides specialized cancer and dialysis treatment to east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank as part of a six-hospital network.

Biden is looking to shore up relations with the Palestinians after he has struggled to unwind some of Trump’s foreign policy in the Mideast.

He is to wind up his visit by meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. He also plans a stop at the Church of the Nativity — built at the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born.

MACCABIAH GAMES

Biden is expected to visit with the athletes participating in the Maccabiah Games at Teddy Stadium on Thursday in Jerusalem.

Also known as the “Jewish Olympics,” the games are the country’s largest sporting event. Olympian Mark Spitz is the games’ most recognizable claim to world fame. He swam in his first international competition at the 1965 Maccabiah Games and returned four years later in preparation for his dominant performance in the 1972 Olympics.

Once every four years, Israeli and Jewish athletes from all over the world compete in their events. This year’s games, slated to take place over a two-week period, are expected to draw some 10,000 athletes from 60 countries, competing in dozens of sports.

Follow Kellman at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

19 hours ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

20 hours ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

20 hours ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

4 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

6 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

6 days ago

Biden to ping through Israel’s iconic spots on Mideast tour