In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas terror attack on Israel, its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the US and UK as the “two countries in the frontline of support”.
And it is in that spirit Rishi Sunak will on Thursday follow President Biden in a diplomatic dash to the region.
This visit is intended as a show of solidarity with Israel.
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Mr Sunak will also use it to try to build on the work of the US in pushing for humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians, prevent the escalation of the Israel-Hamas war into a broader regional conflict, and show support for British nationals in Gaza, while raising the cases of the nine missing Britons.
“The PM’s main message will be to urge calmness and cool heads,” says one government figure.
“No one, especially not Israel, wants this to escalate into regional conflict. We have good diplomatic relations in the region and we think we can help.”
But, at such a febrile and tense time in this war, Mr Sunak’s visit comes with obvious risk.
You only have to look at how President Biden’s carefully choreographed visit unravelled mid-flight following the devastating blast at al Ahli hospital in Gaza City, which killed hundreds of people and prompted Arab leaders to cancel a previously scheduled summit with the US leader.
After “unfortunate timing” for President Biden, the PM’s team are keen to downplay expectations of what, if anything, he can achieve in the coming couple of days.
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His team are keeping under wraps what other countries he might visit beyond Israel, with one eye on security concerns and the other on what happened to carefully laid US plans in light of the bombing.
To that end, government figures are downplaying expectations, cautioning that they don’t expect a “rabbit out of a hat” or agreement on some of the very live issues around this war, not least the opening of the Rafah crossing to let Palestinian civilians flee Gaza, despite allied optimism earlier this week that this humanitarian corridor would be opened.
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At such a pivotal and unpredictable time in this war, with so much uncertainty about how the coming days will unfold, what the prime minister hopes to do – alongside allies President Biden and German Chancellor Scholz who also visited Israel this week – is demonstrate public solidarity with Israel, while working furiously for de-escalation behind closed doors.
As the prime minister himself said “too many lives have been lost following Hamas’s horrific act of terror”, while the al Ahli hospital attack should be a “watershed moment” for leaders in the region and around the world to contain and limit this war.
But Mr Sunak only has to look to the global leader in chief President Biden, to see how delicate diplomatic missions like this carry real risk; and as much as Number 10 will try to lower expectations of what can be achieved, Mr Sunak will want to come out of his visit with some concrete progress around his aims.
