President Joe Biden’s day trip to the Middle East was organized in no time. It fell apart just as quickly, in the blinding blast of an explosion in Gaza that killed hundreds of people in a hospital.
Even before he was in the air from Washington, the second part of the president’s regional visit — the short drive from Israel to Jordan for meetings with Arab leaders — had already begun.
The result was an American president being photographed with a hardline Israeli president, who pointed the finger at Palestinian groups for the latest atrocities.
Officials said Biden arrived with three goals: support Israel, help ease humanitarian conditions in Gaza and deter external actors (Iran and its armed allies) from becoming more deeply involved.
The one thing many in the region will remember is how Biden embraced Netanyahu.
President Joe Biden will be greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival on Israeli soil on Wednesday morning. Biden is at the heart of a geopolitical storm
Then came another photo session with Netanyahu. At 11:40 p.m., the two leaders settled into a beachside hotel to begin their meetings. Biden spoke about the Gaza hospital blast, telling Netanyahu he believed it was carried out by the ‘other team’
“You know, with all due respect, I see that President Biden only cares about one thing, which is getting re-elected, and that is why he is siding with Israel,” said Mustafa Barghouti, leader of the Palestinian National Initiative and far from a hardliner, so to speak.
It wasn’t meant to be. White House officials have spent days weighing whether a visit was worth the risk to take in the wake of Hamas terror attacks that killed more than 1,300 people.
They waited until the last possible moment on Monday, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke for seven hours with Netanyahu and his top officials, before announcing the trip.
It was intended to give both sides an equal hand in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Time in Tel Aviv standing with a grieving nation would be balanced with time in Jordan meeting with key Arab leaders such as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El -Sisi.
Any attempt to admit the wounded and vulnerable from Gaza would require help from Sisi, who controls the territory’s southern border crossings.
Everything changed on Tuesday evening when a rocket hit Al-Ahli hospital. The result was a massacre.
Rescue workers described gruesome scenes of hundreds of people buried under the rubble.
The result was immediate. As Palestinian leaders blamed Israel for the attack, protesters took to the streets across the Middle East.
In Beirut they entered the US embassy, where police had to use tear gas to keep them at bay. Israeli embassies were targeted elsewhere.
On Tuesday, bodies of victims of the strike at al-Ahli hospital are seen lined up in a courtyard
People stand in front of the fire that broke out outside the security gate, during clashes between protesters and security forces outside the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon
Another photo followed at 11:53 am, with the two leaders joining their teams
And Abbas announced that the quadruple Arab summit with Biden was off, an extraordinary criticism from leaders who are the beneficiaries of billions of dollars in U.S. aid.
It was not the first time that events had hampered a carefully drawn up plan. Instead of pouring oil on troubled waters, there was now a danger that Biden’s visit was gasoline on the fire.
Richard Gowan, UN director of International Crisis Group, told Reuters: “Biden’s visit was intended to underline that the US is in control of the situation. A tragic incident like this shows how difficult it is to keep the war under control.’
Biden, for his part, was quick to condemn the explosion. He issued a statement expressing outrage at Air Force One and said he had ordered his national security team to gather more information about what happened.
He arrived to find Tel Aviv looking less like a war zone and more like its usual Mediterranean self. The sun was shining, reflecting off the cranes towering over new office buildings.
The city’s rocket sirens did not sound at all during Biden’s seven-hour visit.
And although the downtown bus station was bustling with young men and women in military gear, they are always there: war or peace.
“You don’t leave a wounded enemy behind,” said an older man handing out free advice at the entrance. “If he’s not dead, he’s coming after you.”
Biden’s motorcade makes its way through Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning. The city’s air raid sirens remained silent during the visit
At 3:46 p.m., Biden met with family members of people killed by Hamas, as well as first responders
By the time Biden sat down with Netanyahu, things were clear about who was responsible for the hospital explosion. He appeared to support Israeli claims that the explosion was caused by a rocket launched by Islamic Jihad, another militant group in Gaza, which misfired and fell back on the hospital.
“Based on what I saw, it looks like it was done by the other team and not by you,” he told Netanyahu. ‘But there are many people who are not sure.
“We have a lot of things to overcome.”
His words were quickly seen as an example of an American president siding with Israel at the expense of the Palestinian people.
Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, said: “What’s important here is not just that Biden is claiming that Hamas bombed the Ahli hospital, but that he wants the world to know that the US is working on side with Israel.
“The timing and tone of this message will cost the US far more than it will help Biden in the election.”
Many of the voices were perhaps the usual suspects and frequent critics of America and Israel. But that’s the point.
At 5:06 p.m., Biden began his speech. He warned Israel not to be consumed by anger even as he promised that the US would stand with the Israelis after a carnage equivalent to that of September 15, 11.
Biden was back on Air Force One and headed back to Washington DC just over seven hours after arriving. He left after making it clear that he supported Israel
The US is boosting its forces in the Middle East with two aircraft carrier strike groups
Iran and its allies, such as Hezbollah, appear to be looking for an excuse to expand the conflict. Setting up Palestinian civilians for a ground invasion of Gaza, Israeli war crimes or American militancy would give them the public cover they need.
Biden did not mention Iran once during his visit, perhaps for fear of stoking its anger.
But he has an aircraft carrier strike group off the coast of Israel and another headed to the eastern Mediterranean to do the talking for him.
And for Israelis, his status as the first American president to visit during wartime meant a lot.
“I’m really glad he was here,” said Tamar, a first responder who asked that only her first name be used for fear of backlash from her liberal friends.
“This signal that he is with us could stop the opening of a new front, even if you don’t know what will happen when push comes to shove.”
For the weary Israelis it was a quiet day to say the least. An hour after Air Force One took off, the missile sirens started up again in downtown Tel Aviv, only stopping after a boom echoed through the city, signaling the Iron Dome interceptors were doing their work.