For Israel, Under Fire on Two Fronts, Biden Trip Projects Restored Security

President Biden's visit to Israel Wednesday will offer the Israeli government an opportunity to prove that the country has restored enough security following the Hamas attack to ensure the personal safety of a sitting U.S. president in an active conflict zone.

The dramatic visit by Biden is intended first and foremost to send the message that the United States stands by Israel as it prepares to launch a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas's military capacity.

But it will also give the Israeli government a chance to demonstrate that it is working quickly to restore a sense of order and safety within its own borders just 10 days after the attack by the militant group that controls Gaza exposed glaring security and intelligence system failures.

"It means that Israel is basically secure, that they've pushed back the attack and that they can host a U.S. president," Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at Brookings and former Clinton White House aide, told Newsweek.

"The threats against a U.S. president are always high anywhere in the world," she added. "The fact that Israel can do this now is a testament to the strength of its military" in recovering from the attack.

The security situation in Israel is still far from stable, despite Biden's visit. More than 1,400 people in Israel were killed in the attack, and more than 2,600 Palestinians have died, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Clashes in northern Israel between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah have sparked fears of a wider regional war.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were forced to shelter in a security bunker Monday when air raid sirens interrupted their meeting in Tel Aviv, a sign that the nation remains in a state of high alert ahead of Israel's likely ground incursion into Gaza.

Israel also won't be solely responsible for protecting Biden during the few hours that he'll be in the country on Wednesday before continuing on to Jordan for a meeting with other Middle East allies.

The United States government is ultimately responsible for ensuring the president's safety wherever he goes. American presidents travel in a vast security bubble, and extra safety measures are taken on the rare occasions when a president sets foot in a country at war.

White House advisers expressed confidence ahead of Biden's trip that the necessary security arrangement had been made.

"We wouldn't make a trip obviously if we did not believe that proper security parameters would be in place," a senior White House aide told reporters in a preview of the president's visit.

Biden's surprise trip to Kyiv earlier this year to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for example, was kept hidden in advance by the White House to minimize the security risks. In that case the White House warned Russia ahead of Biden's trip to ensure that Moscow would not retaliate.

It's unclear whether Hamas received a similar warning. And unlike with Moscow, the administration does not have much leverage over Hamas —which is listed by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization—to keep the group in line while Biden is in Israel. It will also be impossible for Israel to prevent Hamas or Hezbollah from firing rockets into the country while Biden is there.

The possibility of a rocket attack during Biden's visit puts additional pressure on Israel, which is still reeling from the Hamas attack and can't afford another embarrassing security failure.

There are other considerations around Biden's visit for America and Israel that go beyond concerns for the president's safety.

Iran and other adversaries will argue that Biden is complicit in Israel's killing of Palestinian civilians in response to the Hamas attack. Biden will also surely face criticism from progressive Democrats and aid organizations who are sounding the alarm about a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has been cut off by Israel from food, fuel, electricity and water.

Still, if Israel can host a visit by Biden, experts said, it would show the world that the country is not as vulnerable as it appeared following the initial attack by Hamas.

"Biden's visit is an assertion of confidence in Israel's ability to bounce back from this horrible tragedy," Bruce Hoffman, a professor at Georgetown University who studies terrorism and insurgency, told Newsweek. "But it's also designed to send a powerful deterrent message."

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