When President Biden lands in France on Wednesday, he will rally European leaders to his side and show his determination to help Ukraine.
But they will also defy the same leaders and stand alone among Western democracies who still support Israel because of the war in Gaza.
Mr Biden’s trip to France to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion will be his first in Europe since the October 7 terrorist attacks led by Hamas, which killed 1,200 people in Israel and prompted military retaliation that killed some 36,000. people in Gaza. Next week he will return to Europe for a summit in Italy with the leaders of the Group of 7 countries, and three weeks after that he will host the 75th anniversary summit of NATO countries in Washington.
The series of meetings will put Mr. Biden in a position he has not experienced since becoming president: He will be embraced and isolated at the same time by the same group of allies he has been with for nearly four years. For a president who has stressed his support for America’s traditional alliances, this is a challenge that will test his diplomatic skills in an unfamiliar way.
“Gaza undermines the moral clarity of the argument we want to make about Ukraine,” said Peter Beinart, a professor of journalism and politics at the City University of New York and an analyst of Middle East affairs who has long been critical of the Israeli government. “The Gaza war makes the story less interesting for a lot of people.”
Ivo Daalder, who served as ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama, acknowledged the tension in Mr. Biden’s approach.
“Yes, it seems a little contradictory to make one argument about Russia and another argument about Israel,” said Mr. Daalder, who is now president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “But the situation is different. One is attacked, the other attacks. It’s big.”
European allies, with a few notable exceptions, have aligned with Washington for more than two years in a multinational campaign to defeat Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, matching America’s investment in the war with its own commitment to Kyiv. But Europeans are increasingly critical of how Israel has conducted operations in Gaza over the past nine months, even as the Biden administration rejected an attempt by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court to seek an arrest warrant for the Israeli leader on war crimes charges. .
Different priorities will come into play in an event intended to show the unity and resolve of the West. The D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, will be celebrated as the high water mark of the alliance that defeated Nazi Germany. President Emmanuel Macron of France will host the leaders of the partner countries of the Second World War, including King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, representing the two countries that joined the United States The United States staged a climactic amphibious invasion.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, representing the defeated enemy, will also attend the show of European reconciliation. However, there is no President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, despite the Soviet Union’s alliance with the West during the war. Mr Macron’s government initially invited lower-level Russian representatives to attend but withdrew the offer after protests over Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine. In contrast, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine will attend the ceremony, an opportunity for him to press Western leaders for more aid.
John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, said President Biden understands that not every country agrees with his policies. “Conflict with allies and partners is not a new thing for President Biden,” said Mr. Kirby, “more than unity and cooperation and collaboration, which he also does on a variety of issues.”
The meeting between Mr Biden and his allies comes at a critical time in Europe and the Middle East. Ukraine is trying to fend off an escalating Russian offensive that threatens to undermine its eastern defenses in a decisive way after two years of war. Hundreds of miles away, Israel and Hamas are both under pressure to agree to a ceasefire that could be the last chance for a path to a more sustainable peace in the region.
Mr Biden on Friday outlined a ceasefire agreement that would eventually lead to the release of all hostages held by Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a “permanent” end to the war. By hammering out a deal that Europeans can support, the president may find a way to narrow their differences when he arrives in Paris.
The Group of 7 countries, including the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, issued a statement on Monday endorsing the deal outlined by Mr. Biden and calling on Hamas to accept it.
At the same time, Mr. Biden tackled another difficult issue before his trip by authorizing Ukraine for the first time to use weapons provided by the US against targets in Russia for self-defense in limited circumstances, namely France, England, Germany, Poland and others . allies have embraced each other.
“The only way out of such a dilemma is to push ahead on two issues – help Ukraine to do better or win and get Israel on the road to peace,” said Dan Fried, a retired diplomat now at the Atlantic Council in Washington. “Hence the decision to lift some restrictions on the use of US weapons from Ukraine and push forward a complex and ambitious peace plan” in Gaza.
However, the difference remains real and tangible. Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognized an independent Palestinian state last week, just days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Most European governments approve of war crimes against Israel at the International Criminal Court. “France supports the International Criminal Court, its independence and the fight against impunity in all circumstances,” the foreign minister said in a statement.
France has not acted to recognize a Palestinian state but voted at the United Nations in May to support the inclusion of Palestine as a full member of the organization. Britain, which is no longer part of the European Union, abstained from the vote.
Mr Biden’s critics say he has no one to blame for the diplomatic challenges in Europe but himself for his inconsistent approach to international crises.
“Contradictions, I think, are in American policy,” said Peter Rough, director of the Center for Europe and Eurasia at the Hudson Institute and a former aide to President George W. Bush. “In Ukraine, he supports Ukraine against the Russian-Iranian alliance, while in Gaza he manages Israel, even limits it, because it faces Iranian proxies.”
From the other end of the spectrum, some foreign policy veterans say Mr. Biden has brought himself into trouble by being too supportive of Israel.
“I’m not sure that Biden has made the right choice on Israel-Gaza, although I admit that he is in a difficult place, as is our country,” said Eric Rubin, a long-time US diplomat and former American president. Foreign Service Association. “Israel has lost the sympathy of most other countries and their citizens, and we will never see it again in our lifetime, I’m afraid.”
But at the end of the day, some diplomats say, France and other allies ultimately defer to the United States when the issue arises. And although he will find himself on different pages, Mr. Biden enjoys a constructive relationship with his friends, unlike his predecessor, and the possible successor, Donald J. Trump, who annoys his European allies because of their disagreements and makes them fear that the potential back to the office.
“The United States still has an important role to play,” Mr. Daalder said. “Everyone wants to see how we deal with Russia, how we deal with China, and frankly how we deal with Israel. We are still viewed by our friends and enemies as the ones that will determine the outcome.