Israel is getting ready for transport chaos amid the large-scale security deployment planned for the arrival of President Biden on Wednesday.

The arrangements announced by the police yesterday are set to cause massive disruption, with the main road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem – Route 1 – to be closed in both directions for a few hours on Wednesday afternoon, when the president’s plane lands at Ben Gurion Airport.

Dubbed “Blue Shield 3”, the police operation will involve more than 16,000 officers, officials and volunteers.

Further road closures will affect residents in Jerusalem for the duration of the visit, going on until Friday.

Private aircraft will be banned from the skies over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem throughout this time.

As well as talks with prime minister Yair Lapid, the programme for the president includes a visit to Yad Vashem, a meeting with President Herzog – who is set to award him the Israeli Presidential Medal of Freedom – and a speech at the Maccabiah Games.

Biden has visited Israel on nine occasions beorfe, but this is his first time as president. He will be flying on to meet with Saudi leaders on Friday.

Meanwhile, some 60 per cent of Israelis say they have confidence in Biden to do the right thing in world affairs – down from 71 per cent who said the same of President Trump in 2019, according to a poll by Pew Research.

The survey, conducted between 16 March and 1 May, also reveals that 83 per cent of Israelis have a positive view of the US, while 55 per cent of Americans say the same about Israel.