Biden's message of caution needed in Gaza crisis

Hate-filled extremism has inflamed the crisis in Israel and Gaza, which already has claimed thousands of civilian lives. But it is moderation — the empathetic voice of reason and compassion through diplomacy — that must find a way out of this current deadly dilemma to avoid an even wider conflict.

During Wednesday’s trip to Israel, President Biden carried this important message to the world. Despite the inherent risks, Biden’s arrival on the scene was a bold, calculated gamble to help alleviate the tensions that have boiled over into war and to help find solutions to what threatens to become an intractable maelstrom of violence throughout the Middle East. The crisis was initiated by Hamas' shocking and outrageous slaughter of more than 1,400 people in Israel earlier this month and the taking of dozens of hostages into Gaza, some of them Americans. 

Biden’s task was made more difficult shortly before he left Washington Tuesday when a rocket exploded close to the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, killing more than 300 people. Palestinians immediately blamed Israel for the attack, and sympathizers took to the streets in neighboring countries repeating that claim. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed "barbaric terrorists" inside Gaza for the attack; Biden, citing U.S. intelligence, says that appears to be the case. Unfortunately, the hospital strike resulted in Arab leaders canceling a meeting with Biden in Jordan.

While in Tel Aviv, Biden wisely counseled caution. In doing so, he acknowledged the lasting lessons from our own 9/11 terrorist experience, which prompted an ill-fated excursion into Iraq and a 20-year war in Afghanistan. “While you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it," Biden told the Israelis. “After 9/11, we were enraged in the U.S. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.” His visit seemed to have an immediate effect: Israel said it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of food, water and humanitarian aid to Gaza, where thousands are currently without those essentials because of the Israeli blockade following the Oct. 7 attack.

Biden’s calm assurances of U.S. backing mean a great deal to Israel, battered and bloodied after the terrorist attack by Hamas. Like the best of friends, Biden has told Israel that it can count on America’s resolute support through a crisis that now has also claimed at least 3,400 Palestinians killed in Israeli retaliatory attacks against Hamas in Gaza. 

Biden’s visit provided the knowledgeable and compassionate leadership that hopefully will eventually lead us away from an even wider war in the Middle East. But that was the easy part for Biden. The more difficult test will be finding and supporting Palestinian leaders who can work toward improving life for Gaza's impoverished residents and easing what have been unending tensions with Israel.