International press review
Headlines: US President Joe Biden's visit to Israel
Audio 04:29
US President Joe Biden greets Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, upon his arrival in Tel Aviv on July 13, 2022. © AP / Evan Vucci
By: Anne Corpet Follow
4 mins
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Joe Biden's trip to the Middle East is making headlines in the United States, and the handshakes exchanged by the American president are widely commented on.
On board Air Force One, the press had been warned, explains the
New York Times
: Joe Biden would refrain from physical contact during this trip to the Middle East, officially to avoid any contamination with Covid-19.
No one was fooled: it was above all a question of avoiding any handshake with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed ben Salman, during the next stage of his tour.
“
The president actually avoided shaking hands on landing,
reports the American daily,
but once the speeches on the red carpet were over, the instructions seemed to have been forgotten by Joe Biden, who notably exchanged a long handshake with former Israeli Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Benjamin Netanyahu
”.
"
The president continued to shake hands when he visited the Holocaust memorial
," adds the
Washington Post
, which recounts the surprise of a Holocaust survivor: "
We were told not to touch the president,
says she
but you saw how he hugged me
?
He asked if he could kiss me and continued to hold my hand
.
The word "peace" disappears from speeches
In Israel,
Haaretz
looks at the substance of the speeches when Joe Biden arrives and notices a change in this traditional exercise.
"
Usually, the word 'peace' sprinkles generously in speeches during visits by American presidents, but it was totally absent from the Israeli Prime Minister's address, and Joe Biden only uttered it once
," notes the newspaper that continues: "
The US president's true policy on the Israeli-Palestinian issue was revealed in a few casually mumbled, barely understood words
: 'We will discuss my continued support
- even though I know it's not to short term
– to a two-state solution
”.
The Hareetz
concludes: “
The nine words 'even though I know it's not in the short term' have made clear the whole sense of desperation with which the US administration views the subject.
This lip service message from Joe Biden and the absence of the word “peace” in Yair Lapid’s speech describes the reality
: no one wants peace anymore
”.
The Israeli newspaper also notes in another article that
sixty Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli armed forces over the past six months
.
This is almost as much as during the whole of last year and three times more than in 2019 and 2020.
The forced deportation of Ukrainians to Russia
In the United States, the
Washington Post
returns to a statement by the American Secretary of State about the Ukrainians forcibly deported to Russia.
They are between 900,000 and one million six hundred thousand, according to figures released yesterday by Antony Blinken, who spoke of a “
systematic filtering operation
”.
These civilians are transferred to detention centers in Donbass before being evacuated to Russia.
The American Secretary of State estimates in particular that 260,000 children have been taken from Ukrainian orphanages to be placed with families in Russia.
Threats to gas supply worry Germany
In Germany, it is the threats to the gas supply that are causing concern.
“
We are facing the biggest crisis the country has ever known.
We have to be honest and say
: we are going to lose the prosperity that we have had for years
”.
This statement by Rainer Dulger, the president of the German employers' union, is echoed by the entire press.
Since Monday, Russia has stopped supplying gas through the important Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline due to maintenance work.
The work should last until July 21, "
but it is not known whether the gas will flow again thereafter
", indicates
Die Welt
.
And the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
explains: “
In view of the looming gas crisis, industry and consumers could be faced with significant energy saving measures
”.
"
To avoid the shortage, there will be no other choice but to consume less
", adds
Le Soir
in Belgium.
The newspaper specifies that the European Commission must present its plan on July 20 to deal with a possible lack of gas.
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