Advertisement

Biden's intrepid trip to Israel

The president must declare full support for Israelis while also expressing concern for the people of Gaza, U expert says.

October 18, 2023 at 10:30PM
President Joe Biden meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18. (KENNY HOLSTON, New York Times/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

•••

Landing in a nation at war, President Joe Biden told Israel's leaders — and most importantly, its citizens — that "I want you to know you are not alone. We will continue to have Israel's back as you work to defend your people."

Biden's gutty travel was "deeply, deeply moving," said his counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I know I speak for all the people of Israel when I say thank you, Mr. President; thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow and always."

Indeed, Ron Krebs, a University of Minnesota political science professor, told an editorial writer via email that "The very fact that President Biden is visiting Israel, and quite literally putting his life in danger, will surely be taken as a sign of his deep and enduring support for the state of Israel."

Krebs, whose scholarship focuses on international conflict and security, added that "Biden's presumably unscripted comment less than a month ago that 'without Israel, there's not a Jew in the world that's secure,' resonated strongly with Israelis, American Jews, and the global Jewish community. And it showed that deep in his heart Biden grasps the Jewish historical narrative."

He also grasps the American one. Including the righteous anger so many felt after 9/11 — and the profound foreign policy mistakes that followed. And because Biden is looked at as a lifelong friend of Israel, he can caution Netanyahu and everyday Israelis that "I understand. Many Americans understand." Referencing the tragic loss of at least 1,400 Israelis, many brutally slaughtered by Hamas terrorists using ISIS-like tactics, Biden continued: "You can't look at what's happened here … and not scream out for justice." And yet, he wisely added, "While you feel that rage, don't be consumed by it." After 9/11, Biden said, "We were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes."

Tragically, the entire region — and increasingly, beyond — seems consumed by rage, especially after a Gazan hospital was struck by a missile on Tuesday, killing hundreds. Biden backs the Israeli and American assessment that it was an errant missile from Islamic Jihad, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. Gazan authorities' claim that the carnage was from an Israeli missile strike has further inflamed a region already engulfed in anger against Israel and its ally, the U.S.

Advertisement
Advertisement

The horrific hospital bombing scuttled what was to be the other portion of Biden's trip: meeting with the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, the ostensibly more moderate faction that governs portions of the West Bank. Canceling that confab will make it that much harder to push for de-escalation, let alone a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

On a grander geopolitical scale, it's a missed opportunity to bring the two sides together — just as in a smaller but fundamentally important way efforts to bridge divides between Israelis and Palestinians will be more difficult than ever, as Arie Zmora describes in a Thursday Star Tribune Opinion commentary. Zmora previously led multiple exchange programs among Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and Lebanese through a Hamline University program.

Biden, Krebs said, will be "under immense pressure to square a circle that even a more rhetorically adept president would not be able to square: to declare unbridled support for a traumatized Israel, while also expressing concern for the people of Gaza and putting pressure on Israel to dial back its operation."

Expressing continual concern for Palestinians, who are also held hostage by Hamas, is imperative. Biden importantly struck that note when he said, "Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people, and it has brought them only suffering," while also announcing that he had secured an agreement from Israeli authorities to allow humanitarian aid to finally begin flowing into Gaza. Additionally, Biden pledged $100 million in humanitarian assistance for Gaza and the West Bank.

Pressuring Israel to dial back will be difficult, Krebs said, especially because a policy of maximal force has support across the political spectrum. But Biden must try to square the circle Krebs described. And because he indeed has not left Israel alone, the U.S. president is in a unique position to influence the critical days ahead.

about the writer

about the writer

Editorial Board

See Moreicon
Advertisement
Advertisement

To leave a comment, .

Advertisement