US President Joe Biden abruptly cancelled a domestic political trip to meet with his national security team Monday as he weighed an invitation to go to Israel to show support as it wages war against Hamas.
Biden, 80, was due to visit Colorado but stayed at the White House at the last minute for briefings amid mounting fears the conflict could escalate into a wider Middle East war.
The White House confirmed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had invited Biden following the deadly October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, but said there were no travel plans yet.
The timing of any visit would be highly sensitive, with Israel gearing up for a ground invasion of Hamas-ruled Gaza and pummeling it with air and artillery strikes that have killed at least 2,750 people.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were “briefed by their national security team on the latest updates in the wake of Hamas’s abhorrent attack in Israel and the resulting conflict in Gaza,” the White House said.
CIA chief Bill Burns, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan led the briefing, which was also joined by Biden’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients, it said, releasing a picture on social media of the group sitting in the Oval Office.
Several news outlets including Axios and CNN have reported that US and Israeli officials are discussing a possible Biden trip to Israel this week.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is already in Jerusalem, his second visit to Israel in the space of less than a week.
But Biden has also increasingly stressed the need to protect civilians amid the Israeli bombardment and siege of Gaza. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN that Biden will “stay focused on what’s going on between Israel and Hamas.”
“With respect to Israel, there was an invitation from the prime minister, but again — no travel to speak to right now,” Kirby said.
Biden had been due to travel to Colorado to visit a wind turbine plant to tout the economic revival and pro-environmental messages at the core of his 2024 reelection campaign.
The last-minute cancellation was unusual as presidential trips are tightly choreographed, and was so abrupt that White House officials had just hours earlier released details about Biden’s program.
The visit would be rescheduled, the White House said.
Fears have grown that Lebanon’s Hezbollah or Iran, which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah, could get involved in the conflict after some fighting across Israel’s northern border.
Asked in by CBS news program 60 Minutes what his message to Iran and Hezbollah was, Biden replied: “Don’t. Don’t, don’t, don’t”.
The United States has dispatched two aircraft carrier groups and a host of warplanes to the region to deter other parties from getting involved.
The United States has repeatedly said that it has no plans to put boots on the ground to support Israel, but it has been boosting its displays of support as the situation escalates.
Biden visited another war zone — Ukraine — in a high-risk trip in February that was prepared in total secrecy. He last visited Israel in July 2022. – Danny KEMP
