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For his first foreign trip, Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia. Then, he goes to Israel.

Is this the first time that a US president arrives in Saudi Arabia before Israel?

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  • Just to clarify, are you asking for direct trips, i.e. going from Saudi Arabia to Israel directly? Or are you asking for separate trips, i.e. going to Saudi Arabia first and then go to Israel a few months or years later?
    – Panda
    Jun 4, 2017 at 9:31
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    i mean priority. 1st, 2nd.
    – user 1
    Jun 4, 2017 at 10:30

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No,

  • Richard Nixon visited Saudi Arabia first on June 14-15, 1974 and then visited Israel on June 16-17,1974

  • Jimmy Carter visited Saudi Arabia first on January 3-4,1978 and did not visit Israel until March 10-13,1979

  • George H.W Bush's visited Saudi Arabia twice and never visited Israel, his first trip was on November 21-22, 1990 and his second on December 31,1992

  • Bill Clinton was the first President to visit Israel before visiting Saudi Arabia as his first trip to Israel was on October 27-28,1994 and his first trip to Saudi Arabia was on October 28,1994

  • George W. Bush also visited Israel before Saudi Arabia as his first trip to Israel was on January 9-11, 2008 and his first trip to Saudi Arabia was on January 14-16, 2008.

  • Barack Obama visited Saudi Arabia first on June 3-4, 2009 and then visited Israel later on March 2-22,2013

These are the only 6 presidents (not including Donald Trump) to have visited either Israel or Saudi Arabia and 4 of them visited Saudi Arabia first. Including Trump 5/7 presidents (a significant majority) visited Saudi Arabia first before visited Israel.

Source.

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Yes, it's the first trip made by a US President from Saudi Arabia to Israel directly.

George W. Bush made a similar trip in May 2008 as Donald Trump's but in the other way around.

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According to the US State Department's Office of the Historian, these are the trips where a US President visited both Saudi Arabia and Israel on one single foreign trip, most of which not directly:

  • Richard Nixon went to Saudi Arabia, followed by Syria and then Israel in June 1974.

  • Bill Clinton went to Israel, followed by Kuwait and then Israel in October 1994.

  • George W. Bush went to Israel and then Saudi Arabia directly in May 2008.

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