In a recent interview on the ’60 Minutes’ by CBS, President Biden looked straight at the interviewer and said with a somber face – ‘it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza’. A very bold statement indeed. It opened a window into his thinking on the very complex challenge. He seemed to signal one of America’s best friends to be careful. Soon after that interview, he made an unprecedent trip to Israel to show America’s strong support for Israel in the midst of the intense crisis. The visuals of his trip spoke volume of his empathy for the people in the region.

Mr. Biden is obviously undergoing a very difficult balancing act between showing America’s resolve against brutal terrorism, trying to restrain Israel’s neighbors from boiling over, how best to help and guide one of America’s closest allies and keeping a close eye on the bigger powers like Iran & Russia who are trying to take advantage of the situation. His worries are what should be the next 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 steps for America & Israel. He is clearly staying calm and trying to bring peace and justice in a region that has been in wars and destruction for over a century.

Israel has vowed to ‘finish off’ Hamas in response to the brutal and well planned attacks of October 7. It has been bombing Gaza relentlessly since the attack. Gaza is getting transformed into rubbles. Massive number of Israeli tanks and armored vehicles are lined up along the Gaza borders with some 300,000 troops ready to go in. Mr. Biden’s challenge is to not let Israel go crazy and excessive force. Hamas, on the other hand, has built intricate network of tunnels to fight the Israeli army. It is going to be hand to hand prolonged pitched battles along the way. No one knows how long it will take Israel to achieve its military goal. Over two million Palestinians living in Gaza, which is roughly the size of Washington DC, constitute one of the most densely populated areas in the world. It is anyone’s guess how many more civilians will die as the war steps up especially in light of the fact that Hamas wants to use the civilians as ‘human shield’ against the Israeli army. Where do these people go until any normalcy returns to Gaza? Most of the surrounding countries do not want any more of the Palestinian refugees because they already have many camps of refugees who were displaced through the successive wars in the region. How do you rebuild Gaza from its rubbles? Who takes the lead on that? How long will it take for the Israelis, the Palestinians and Arab neighbors to wipe the experience from their memories of the conflict and manage to live peacefully side by side? What will be the road map to build the ‘two state’ solution – separate homelands for the Israelis and the Palestinians to achieve a lasting peace in the region? Will the neighboring Arab countries help make that happen? These are some very complex questions that the US policy makers will have to grapple with as the catastrophe unfolds.

As the tension continues to rise, the US policy makers are very concerned about the potential involvement of the Hezbollah in this conflict. Hezbollah are a very well equipped & formidable force. They are active in southern Lebanon just across the border from northern Israel. They have a long history of terrorism. Iran is a major benefactor of the Hezbollah. Iran, in its march towards achieving the regional supremacy, will potentially try to use Hezbollah as a proxy for confronting Israel and try to drag the US directly into this conflict. Mr. Biden is very well aware of that. He has sent two very powerful aircraft carriers to the region to warn Iran and others. While the US does not want to commit its own troops in the area, it would be a very critical test for Mr. Biden on how to deal with Hezbollah and the Iranians should something flare up there. The other flash point between the Israelis and the Palestinians is the ‘West Bank’ (of Jordan river) which is primarily administered by the Palestinian Authority. Parts of the West Bank were captured by the Israelis during the 1967 war and growing Israeli settlements there are a constant source of  tension. Situation there has become very intense sine the Israeli bombing started in Gaza.

With the sudden explosion of crisis in the Middle East, there are several other unfolding events in the global scene that are worrisome for Mr. Biden. Of course, the war in Ukraine that the US and its allies have to continue to support does not seem to have an end in sight. Chinese premier Xi Jinping held an international conference on the ‘New World Order’ last week. None of the western leaders were invited. It was an opportunity for Vladimir Putin to attend and rekindle Russia’s relationship with China. China continues to  ratchet up its pressure on Taiwan and the South China Sea. North Korea has recently delivered more than 1000 containers of military supplies and weapons to Russia. Russia in return has supplied North Korea with missiles and advanced technologies. Iran has been supplying missiles to Russia that are being used against the Ukrainians. The totalitarian leaders of these four countries, namely Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, are bonding strongly. Their common enemy is the United States. So, there is a lot for Mr. Biden to worry about. 

The day after his return from the trip to Israel, Mr. Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office. He framed up his thoughts by linking the developments in the Middle East with the war in Ukraine.  He reminded the nation that America needs to stay vitally strong, both politically and militarily, to protect democracy and freedom in the world. As the war rages on in the Middle East, the axis of four is lurking on the side to fan the flame. It is a very dicey situation. He has acknowledged America’s over reaction to 9/11. He wants to be very careful how he navigates through this crisis. The history will judge him for his leadership now. 

Nirmalya Chatterjee has been a senior executive of several Fortune 500 companies. He was the Chairman of the Hindu Temple of Las Vegas. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of a Las Vegas based company.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the above article solely belong to author Nirmalya Chatterjee, and are not an endorsement by vegasdesi.com. The editor is pleased to provide vegasdesi.com as a platform for the community members to engage in intellectual debates, opinions, constructive criticisms, and discussions.