Why is risk-averse Joe Biden gambling on such a high-stakes visit to Israel?

The US president’s hastily arranged Middle East trip is the most extraordinary gamble for a president who rarely takes risks, says Mary Dejevsky. What can he hope to gain from such an out-of-character move?

US president Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on arrival at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport (EPA)

The matter-of-fact announcement, that the president of the United States had arrived in Tel Aviv to a warm welcome from the prime minister of Israel, presents as normal and routine something that is about as far from routine as it is possible to be.

Joe Biden’s visit, unveiled barely 24 hours beforehand, takes him into a diplomatic and security situation that is both highly uncertain and dangerous. It is an extraordinary undertaking for any US president, and risky in the extreme.

Precisely how risky became apparent even as Biden was preparing to leave Washington on board Air Force One, with the news breaking from Gaza, closely followed by angry accusations and disclaimers, that the main hospital in Gaza City had been hit by a missile, leaving hundreds dead and still more injured. The hospital was also providing refuge for Gazans ordered to evacuate or fleeing homes already destroyed by Israeli fire.