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BIDEN IN THE WEST BANK: In a small step he hopes pays off big, President Joe Biden has proposed a series of initiatives to mend America’s ties with Palestinians that the Trump administration severed, POLITICO’s Alex Ward reports from Jerusalem. Today, Biden visited the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, which serves Palestinians, where he announced $100 million in U.S. health care funding as part of a $316 million economic package.

In the absence of a peace process with Israel, Biden repeated his administration’s refrain that, “Palestinians and Israelis deserve equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity and dignity.”

Biden’s trip to the West Bank came after he spent the last two days in Israel. Arriving at Al-Muqata'a, the Palestinian Authority’s presidential compound in Bethlehem, West Bank, Biden was welcomed by Mahmoud Abbas and children bearing flowers. A portrait of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh hung on the wall.

Biden then visited the Church of the Nativity before leaving for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia lifts all restrictions on Israel overflights: Hours before Biden’s arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to all air carriers that meet its requirements, paving the way for more overflights to and from Israel. The Kingdom said the decision was in line with its obligations under international conventions that state there should be no discrimination between civil aircraft. Biden praised the move, which he said, “can help build momentum toward Israel’s further integration into the region.”

Draghi not leaving just yet: Italian President Sergio Mattarella has rejected the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who offered to step down Thursday after his coalition fell apart. Instead, Mattarella asked Draghi to address Parliament and see if the government can weather the political storm

Good Friday morning. I’m Elise Labott, a contributing editor at POLITICO Magazine and the founder of Zivvy Media, a new digital media platform that engages Gen Z on global and political issues. I’m filling in for the intrepid Ryan Heath, who is on a well-deserved break in the south of France (and making me jealous with the incredible pictures he texted!).

‘Brother Joseph’ comes home: Declaring upon his arrival in Israel that “I am home” and that American and Israeli ties were “bone deep,” Biden spent the last two days trying to prove he‘s Israel’s “brother Joseph,” as President Isaac Herzog called him.

Alongside Israel’s newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Biden promised to nurture Israel’s growing regional integration with Arab states and push for normalized relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. He signed the “Jerusalem Declaration” to combat the Iranian threat and solidify U.S. support for Israeli defense spending.

Biden also had a rendezvous with former prime minister and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is pushing for a comeback in November elections. In all of his meetings, he walked a fine line between preserving a diplomatic option to deal with Iran’s nuclear program and assuring Israelis that a credible military option was on the table as what he called “a last resort” if nuclear negotiations fail.

The visit to Israel was the easy part. On his next stop — Saudi Arabia — he will attempt to reset the frayed relationship with the kingdom and meet with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, plus Egypt and Jordan.

Chapter and verse have been written about the deterioration of the U.S.-Saudi relationship and the recent rapprochement that led to Biden’s visit. Your host wrote about Biden’s reality check on the need to reengage the kingdom. Alex Ward is traveling with Biden and Saudi ambassador to the United States. Reema bint Bandar Al Saudoffered her government's take on how Biden’s visit presents an opportunity for Washington and Riyadh to build a forward-looking partnership.

But beyond the “will he or won’t he” meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (he will), little has been said about what to expect from Biden’s meeting with nine leaders in this critical region.

The truth is, not much. There will be a few announcements on food security, electricity for Iraq and other areas of regional cooperation. And some of those initiatives, like a joint maritime task force with the U.S. Navy to keep Red Sea trade routes open, have already been in effect for some time.

But expectations are mediocre for any major breakthroughs. Biden will secure some modest commitments on increased oil production, but gas isn’t going to drop to $2 a gallon. Beyond Saudi Arabia’s overflight announcement, Israel is expected to bless the transfer control of two strategic small islands near its southern coast from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. But the two countries are not close to normalizing relations. As one pragmatic diplomat told me, “This visit is not gonna cure cancer.”

To be fair, such visits are not where breakthroughs are made. After Biden’s hand-off approach to the region since taking office, this is just the beginning of the U.S. trying to bring the region together to address problems like the energy crisis or the economic impact of the war in Ukraine. The essential theme of the president’s remarks will be that the U.S. wants a more stable, integrated and prosperous region and is committed to sticking around.

Still, Biden isn’t bringing any party gifts, including movement on an integrated air defense architecture that many countries in the region — including Israel — have expressed an interest in. Countries are looking for a strategic vision for the region — security or otherwise — that would suggest a long-term U.S. commitment.

Your host caught up with Abdulla Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s ambassador to the United States, who is in Jeddah for the Biden visit. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Will there be concrete deliverables from President Biden’s visit? 

We all know that the meeting can’t be the message and is about much more than a mere photo op. The heads of state of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq are not going all the way to Jeddah for just a handshake. I expect there will be announcements of important and long-term reciprocal commitments in the field of security cooperation, energy and trade and investment.

What would make this trip a success? What actions are needed to demonstrate America’s long-term commitment to the region? 

As far as Bahrain is concerned, we have no doubts whatsoever about America's long-term commitment to the region. Our two countries have enjoyed a close strategic relationship for over 70 years. Moreover, Bahrain has been the anchor point for America's naval presence in the Arabian Gulf since the early 1980's, and no one expects that to change any time soon. So, I think the discussion in Jeddah will focus rather on how do we, as a collective, adapt to a multipolar world where the nature of the challenges we face — economic, military and political — are changing rapidly.

Does the U.S. have a strategic vision for its relationship with the Gulf states?

Yes, I think that it does. The United States understands the pivotal importance of our region in terms of its relevance to America's global strategic interests as well as the significant contributions we make to the U.S. economy. And we all share a fundamentally common vision: responsible and accountable governance, a respect for the rules-based international order and a recognition of the United States as a force for good in the world. What we're trying to accomplish not just in this meeting but in our ongoing discussions is how we can cooperate more effectively to ensure a more stable, prosperous future for our peoples.

Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords with Israel. How do you see Israel’s further integration into the region? 

The Abraham Accords really are a game changer for the region. The speed, breadth and scope of cooperation that has developed between its signatories in the past two years attest to their impact, and I think there is strong potential for expanding on them.

Several countries in the region are asking for a joint security architecture with the U.S., like NATO has, including air defense. Can we expect movement on this issue?

Given the changing nature of the threats we face, it's clear to Bahrain at least that we need to move beyond a purely bilateral security relationship. The security of our region requires economies of scale and defense capabilities that go beyond the borders of any single country. Now, what does that architecture look like? Who does what, where, and in which circumstances? Those are complicated questions that need thrashing out, but the good news is that we're having serious discussions about them.

Farmers for Freedom: The protest movement by Dutch farmers angry at government plans to curb nitrogen pollution is once again gaining international attention after police opened fire at a 16-year-old boy in a tractor this week. The farmers are trying to force a referendum on the government’s goal of reducing harmful nitrogen compounds in some areas by up to 70 percent by 2030, which would require them to use less fertilizer and reduce livestock by an estimated 30 percent. Their tactics — blocking supermarket distribution hubs and highways, forcing businesses across the country to close — have drawn comparisons to Canada’s “Freedom Convoy.” The farmers recently got a shout-out from Mick Jagger at a concert in Amsterdam and are finding common cause with nationalist and populist right-wing groups railing against global efforts to crush freedom.

Remember Syria?  After months of negotiations, the U.N. Security Council voted this week to extend delivery into Syria from Turkey for six months through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, the only aid crossing in northwest Syria. The council called for an additional six-month extension that will require yet another negotiation.

POLITICO’s Carmen Paun caught up with Houssam al-Nahhas, Middle East and North Africa researcher at Physicians for Human Rights, who called the extension the “bare minimum” the Council could do for Syrians. Al-Nahhas said six months isn’t nearly enough for aid groups to plan and will make the border crossing less stable for the delivery of humanitarian aid. He warned of a “devastating impact on more than 4 million people in northern Syria” if the border closes in January when the extension expires.

The U.K. after Boris: Before he left for vacation, Ryan Heath sent us this video explaining what’s next for the U.K. as Boris Johnson is (slowly) out the door.

Is the U.S. a fragile state?: The Fund for Peace’s Fragile States Index, which tracks social, economic and political trends across 179 countries, was released this week. As predicted in last year’s report, this year’s index revealed how Covid-19 deepened vulnerabilities that served as a catalyst for violence, political upheaval and frayed social cohesion

Here’s a gut check: The United States, which saw the largest worsening on last year's fragility scale, continued a downward trend on many points on the index that experts found dangerous. Covid proved to be the first domino in a chain of cascading crises that ignited longstanding and deep-seated grievances that prevented the country from pulling together. America’s strong economy, powerful military and world-renowned hospitals and schools couldn’t prevent the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. That shows social capital is often more important than financial and human capital. Without it, even the wealthiest and most powerful countries are as vulnerable as poor ones in the event of another global shock.

Conversely, Ukraine has been able to maintain itself as a functioning society and state in ways that truly fragile states have been unable to, despite political upheaval, corruption and, now, the Russian invasion, because of its strong social cohesion.

Vaccination backsliding: Covid was responsible for the largest sustained backslide in a generation, with 25 million children around the world missing out on routine vaccinations last year that protect against life-threatening diseases, according to new figures released by the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health Organization.

UNICEF described the drop in vaccination coverage as the largest sustained backslide in childhood vaccination in a generation, taking coverage rates back to levels not seen since the early 2000s.

Population growth is fueling inequities: The U.N.’s global population projections released this week found the world population will reach 8 billion by November and should peak at 10.4 billion around 2080. That suggests a slow-down in global population growth due to progress in health and reproductive services in the developed world. But it still means an additional 65 million people per year — mostly in poorer countries, where the rapid growth will bump up against local natural resource constraints and compound food insecurity, poverty, pandemic recovery and lack of access to education. All of this will create deeper disparities in countries which can least afford it.

Mandela lives On. With Nelson Mandela Day approaching on Monday, Mandela’s legacy of freedom and human rights is now becoming increasingly visible in the younger generation that weren’t around when he was in office. The 2022 African Youth Survey, sponsored by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation (founder and African conservationist Ivor Ichikowitz was a close confidant of Mandela) found a decade after his death, Mandela is still the most influential person among Africa’s youth, even in the face of nationwide xenophobic violence that threatens Mandela’s legacy of the Rainbow Nation.

“We're dealing with a new generation of things differently and that is exactly the way Mandela would have wanted them to think,'' Victor Zazeraj, an executive with the foundation who served as South Africa’s ambassador to Poland and Chile, told POLITICO. “Mandela would be pleased to see the values and the standards that he upheld and are now being reflected in a new generation of young Africans.”

More good news:A recent Gallup poll found more than half of 15- to 29-year-olds (58 percent) in South Africa are more optimistic about their future than older age groups. This is consistent with polling across sub-Saharan Africa, where 54 percent of young people remained more optimistic than their elders

The High-Octane Coffee Fueling Ukraine’s Front Line Forces:Vadym Granovskiy, owner of the Coffee in Action cafe in Kyiv, gained rock-star status among the Ukrainian military for the “Ukrainer,” his special bitter, strong brew keeping the troops awake and alert. Granovskiy now sends packages of beans and materials for the beverage to soldiers on the front lines, allowing them to prepare the beverage together using the traditional cezve brewing method (think Turkish coffee) for a pleasant and relaxing social ritual. Go back to our item above on why Ukraine is so resilient: their people.

Emily, the Bridgertons and you? Burning to stand in the London parlor where Anthony Bridgerton tells Kate Sharma: “You are the bane of my existence?” Or eat at the Paris restaurant where Gabriel cooked himself into Emily Cooper’s heart? This week Netflix teamed up with SANDEMANs New Europe Tours to offer a series of free guided walking tours in London, Paris and Madrid that pair historical details from the cities and highlight iconic locations from the streaming services most popular shows and films. If you are across the pond, you might be able to grab a slot for one of the tours, which end Saturday.

Last but not least: Did Anne Frank have white privilege? Twitter wants to know. I can’t even.

With thanks to Alex Ward, Carmen Paun, Ryan Heath and editor John Yearwood.