Biden shakes hands with former Israeli PM, begins ‘no handshake’ policy just before Saudi meeting

President Biden appeared to quickly drop his “no handshake” policy during his Middle East tour, leading some to speculate that the White House adopted the policy merely to avoid a politically uncomfortable encounter later in the trip. 

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced Wednesday that the president would avoid shaking hands during the four-day trip out of an abundance of caution due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The president appeared to abide by the policy when he arrived in Israel, greeting Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and other officials with fist bumps. 

But not long after that Biden shook hands with former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – all while not wearing a facemask or taking COVID-19 precautions of any kind. 

Biden visited Madrid in June to attend a G7 conference during a time when the city’s COVID-19 cases had reached a rolling 7-day average of over 2,000 new cases. During that time, Biden had no problem shaking hands and getting close and personal with a range of leaders from across the globe, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – a man who has been condemned for his country’s crackdown on human rights activists, as well as clamping down on press freedom, and the arrest and harassment of journalists.

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The handshake with Netanyahu has led some to believe that the White House policy has nothing to do with COVID-19 and everything to do with avoiding a bad press moment with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. The White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment or clarification. 

Biden will fly to Jeddah and meet with King Salman and the Crown Prince on Friday, according to the New York Times. The apparent flip-flop on his handshake policy will only heighten attention to how the world leaders will greet each other. 

The White…