CAN BIDEN REIN IN ISRAEL?

As Middle East wars escalate, U.S. presidents usually act to contain hostilities. This time looks different

- DANIEL BUSH

AMERICA'S RESPONSE TO OUTBREAKS OF violence in the Middle East conflict has followed the same pattern for decades: U.S. presidents from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton to Barack Obama pledged support for Israel, then urged restraint and eventually called for an end to the fighting as the death toll rose.

But President Joe Biden faces a unique combination of factors that may constrain his ability to rein in the war between Israel and Hamas-including the unprecedented scale of Hamas's attack, the growing threat of a regional war, a hostage crisis involving American citizens and growing calls for de-escalation from progressive Democrats who have become increasingly vocal in their support for Palestinians in recent years-and whose support is vital to Biden's 2024 re-election campaign.

As Israel's newly formed emergency wartime government prepares for a likely ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, it's unclear when Biden may step in to try to de-escalate the conflict, or how much leverage he'll have to rein in Israel once the toll on civilians starts to rise.

"Biden faces more of a challenge than U.S. presidents have in years" in containing a war in the Middle East that involves Israel from spinning out of control, John McLaughlin, who served as acting director of the CIA under George W. Bush, tells Newsweek.

"The American task at this point is to keep it from going beyond where it is," McLaughlin says. "Once you get past this phase, you can start thinking about de-escalation."