It is customary not to visit countries in wartime… Strict secrecy when visiting
This time, the visit and detailed schedule were announced in advance and broadcast on TV.
Secret Service’s first briefing on how to respond to air raid warnings on Air Force One
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 19th (local time) that U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel, where war is taking place, is an unusual case in which the president risks his personal safety. The following is a NYT reporter’s report on Air Force One.
As reporters accompanying President Biden boarded Air Force One (private plane), measures to respond in case of a rocket attack were announced.
All the while Air Force One was en route to Israel, security personnel explained tips for not dying to accompanying reporters.
The pocket-sized booklet they handed out was full of small text. Things like what to do when a Hamas rocket attack alert sounds while in Israel. For example, if an alarm sounds while you are standing on the runway after getting off Air Force One, you are told to wait until the president departs.
There were also countermeasures during the car ride and at the hotel where Biden and Israeli officials met. Although there would be no time to read the contents written in clear letters when the alarm sounded.
As someone who has been in and out of the White House since 1996, this was my first time experiencing a briefing like this. This is because the president and his entourage visited a country that was a war zone while it was broadcast live on TV in broad daylight.
◆Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, where passenger flights from various countries have been canceled
Because Ben Gurion Airport, where Air Force One lands, is within the range of Hamas rockets, airlines around the world have canceled passenger flights. A few days ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had to evacuate from a private plane as an alarm sounded at the airport.
Chancellor Scholz’s accompanying reporters lay flat on the runway until the warning stopped. Reporters who visited Israel accompanying U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken had to hurriedly get off the plane, take a van, and go to the stairwell of a building.
President Biden’s visit to Israel was unusual in many ways. The president’s plan to visit Jordan was canceled due to the bombing of a hospital in Gaza just before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base.
It is common for U.S. presidents not to visit countries at war. Although there have been past visits, thorough security measures were followed each time. It was the first time that President Franklin D. Roosevelt flew to Casablanca, North Africa, where World War II was in full swing.
At the time, President Franklin’s trip was kept secret until he landed in Casablanca. The accompanying reporters were informed that the president was going to his home in Hyde Park, New York.
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama also made secret visits to Afghanistan and Iraq. The visit was not announced in advance, and they stayed at the local US military base for only a few hours. President Bush almost got caught when his secret vehicle was stopped at a red light and a beggar approached him. At that time, the bodyguard used his wits to give the president a few dollars so that the president would not notice that he was in the car.
President Biden’s visit to Ukraine this year marks his first visit to a country without U.S. troops. At the time, the visit was conducted in complete secrecy. To avoid a Russian anti-aircraft missile attack, he took a nine-hour train to Chiiu with a small number of aides, bodyguards, and accompanying reporters.
This time it was completely different. The White House announced in advance Biden’s visit to Israel. The White House asked accompanying reporters not to report details of the itinerary until arriving in Israel, but the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced the location and time of Biden’s visit.
The security briefing held on Air Force One was something I had never imagined before. There has never been a briefing like this before for reporters who accompanied former Presidents Bush and Obama to a war zone.
◆In case of an air raid warning, the evacuation time is 1 minute.
It was said that there was only one minute left until the air raid warning sounded and the rockets fell. If an alarm sounds while on the runway, they are told to run as quickly as possible to the nearest vehicle. If the alarm goes off while you are in the car, you are told to stay in the car. This is the exact opposite of Israel’s security rules, which require people to get out of cars that could be targets of attack and take refuge.
If an alarm was raised while President Biden was meeting Prime Minister Netanyahu at a hotel in Tel Aviv, reporters had to go to a room designated as an evacuation room. Even after the warning stopped and we were notified that the rocket had been intercepted or landed somewhere else, we were told to stay in the evacuation room for a few minutes because there might be debris. There was a phone number written in the briefing booklet in case we got separated from the president or Air Force One took off without picking us up.
Fortunately, nothing that President Biden feared occurred during his stay in Israel. The beaches of Tel Aviv were the same as usual. Heavily armed soldiers were guarding the roadside, but this is always the case when the president is on the move. Israeli residents wearing shorts and T-shirts took pictures of the presidential procession with their cell phones.
During the president’s stay, the air raid alarm never sounded. I heard the alarm was raised in other areas and it was raised after we left Tel Aviv. During the seven and a half hours that Hamas stayed with Biden, he seemed determined not to be provocative.
◆The alarm did not sound during Biden’s stay for 7 and a half hours… Hamas appears to have restrained itself.
On the flight home, President Biden stood in front of reporters. It was something that had never happened before. (Biden would tell reporters they were “troublemakers.”)
Biden, wearing jeans and a zipper sweater, said this trip was a gamble. At least in political terms, that was the case. A president’s overseas visit usually takes place only when the results are visible in advance. This time it was unclear whether he would be able to achieve results.
President Biden seemed satisfied with getting what he wanted and said, “It was worth it.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.