Biden cancels Colorado visit as he weighs trip to Israel in show of support
Israel’s US envoy says nothing finalized; National Security Council spokesman says US president now at White House to ‘stay focused on what’s going on between Israel and Hamas’
WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden abruptly called off a trip Monday to Colorado, as he weighs an invitation to go to Israel to show support, as it wages war against Hamas.
The White House said Biden would remain in Washington for national security meetings, in light of concerns that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could escalate into a regional conflagration.
Numerous news outlets have reported that US and Israeli officials are discussing a possible Biden trip to Israel this week, as it gears up for a ground invasion of Gaza, with some Hebrew media outlets suggesting it could be as soon as Wednesday or Thursday. However, Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Mike Herzog, said Monday evening that while the idea had been discussed, nothing had been finalized.
“The president’s trip to Colorado is postponed and it will be rescheduled. The president will remain at the White House to participate in national security meetings,” the White House said.
Biden, 80, had been due to travel to Colorado to visit a wind turbine plant where he was 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 the Colorado visit.
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.
The Hamas terror group launched a devastating onslaught on October 7 that killed some 1,300 Israelis, most of them civilians. Some 200 people were abducted by terrorists during the unprecedented assault and are being held inside the Gaza Strip.
Israel has since responded with an intense bombing campaign that Hamas-supported Gaza health ministry officials say has claimed at least 2,750 lives. Israel says its offensive is aimed at destroying Hamas’s infrastructure, and has vowed to eliminate the entire terror group, which rules the Strip.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jerusalem on Monday, his second visit to Israel in the space of less than a week.
Blinken also visited six Arab states on a whirlwind diplomatic mission aimed at coordinating efforts against Hamas, while finding ways to alleviate Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.
‘Worrisome’
Biden has repeatedly pledged strong support for close US ally Israel as it retaliates from the shock Hamas-led attack.
Fears have grown that Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which, like Hamas, is backed by Iran, could get involved in the conflict after the terror organization and allied Palestinian factions have carried out repeated rocket and missile attacks by Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in recent days, leading to Israeli reprisal strikes.
“It’s worrisome, the possibility of having some northern front open up,” Kirby said.
“As of this morning, we haven’t seen any firm indications that Hezbollah has decided to go all in here and truly open up a second front.”
The United States has dispatched two aircraft carriers — the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower — to the region to deter other parties from getting involved.
Blinken was meanwhile working “very, very hard in the region” on trying to secure the opening of the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip from Egypt, which would allow aid in and foreigners out, Kirby said.
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 warned, however, in an interview broadcast Sunday that any move by Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a “big mistake,” while also saying Israeli forces must eliminate Hamas.
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.
