Analysis: 'The trip was worth it to his hosts in Israel and Saudi Arabia who each got what they wanted ... It is unclear what the U.S. got from this trip,' said Randa Slim, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.
, including news from around the globe and interesting ideas and opinions to know, sent to your inbox every weekday.. Here was the president of the United States — the same politician who had vowed to turn Saudi Arabia into a “pariah” — striding up to a smirking Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — the same willful royal whose alleged thuggery had spurred President Biden to make that vow — and extending his hand in a fist. The crown prince reciprocated with his own knuckles..
Rights activists and critics of Saudi autocracy, among others, saw a betrayal of values and a reminder of the impunity afforded to the crown prince. Khashoggi’s fiancee described the sight of Biden greeting the crown prince, known by his initials MBS, as “heartbreaking.” Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said the meeting “suggests the crown prince is now accepted.”
“The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake — it was shameful,” Washington Post Publisher and CEO Fred Ryan said in a statement. “It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.”
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