American presidents are accustomed to assuming the role of father of the nation at times of collective national trauma or remembrance.
So it was with Joe Biden in Tel Aviv. His empathy for the survivors of Hamas attacks and the relatives of those who lost loved ones came with a personal touch that distinguishes Biden from so many of his predecessors in the role. The President flew out from Israel, having at least got both the Israeli cabinet and the Egyptian president to allow some humanitarian aid into Gaza. And he pledged $US100 million in aid to Palestinian civilians.Still, when put alongside his public admission that initial US intelligence suggests that the deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday was caused by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the anger on the streets of Gaza and elsewhere in the region is only likely to be further inflamed.
Acknowledging that this is not just Israel’s 9/11 moment, but for its relative size probably the equivalent of 15 such attacks, Biden served the Israeli leadership with an unmistakable dose of caution: in asking “hard questions” about its wartime decisions, it had to confront an “honest assessment about whether the path you are on will achieve these objectives”.