Biden embarks on his first visit to Israel since taking office

Judy Woodruff:

As we reported, President Biden arrived in Israel today, the beginning of a four-day Middle East trip that will also take him to Saudi Arabia.

Much of today's focus was on Israel's military and regional cooperation against Iran.

But, as Nick Schifrin reports, President Biden also began his trip with a visit to a solemn site.

Nick Schifrin:

It is one of Israel's most sacred spaces, the Holocaust museum Yad Vashem's Hall of Remembrance, President Biden and Israeli leaders on the mosaic floor etched with the names of Nazi murder sites.

President Biden embraced American Israeli Holocaust survivors. And he paused above the crypt full of ashes of Holocaust victims. "Never again," say the U.S. and Israel, as Israel has tried to guarantee itself. Today, it demonstrated for the present its newest military technology, an air defense system that uses lasers to shoot-down missiles.

Israel's primary concern is Iran. And in an interview on Israeli TV released tonight, President Biden warned Iran, the military option was on the table.

Question:

In the past, said you will do anything. And you say it again, that you will ensure Iran would not acquire nuclear weapons. Does that also mean, sir, that you would use force against Iran? Is that what that means, if need be?

President Joe Biden:

If that was the last resort, yes.

Nick Schifrin:

President Biden still wants an Iranian nuclear deal over Israeli concerns. But, today, he emphasized his support for Israeli security.

President Joe Biden:

Because the connection between the Israeli people and the American people is bone-deep, we have reaffirmed the unshakeable commitment of the United States to Israel's security.

Nick Schifrin:

One of Israel's most critical points when it comes to security is here, its northern border with Lebanon. Israel's built this wall just in the last few months, on the other side of it, Hezbollah and its 130,000 rockets.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah holds extensive political and military power. It's fought two wars with Israel. And Israel says it continues to fire and deploy advanced missiles with Iranian technology on the border, including in Lebanese towns that peer over Israel's wall, between the countries, a single barrel that marks the blue line, a U.N. buffer zone.

Today, Israeli troops patrol along the border. The barbed wire is Israel, just a few hundred feet away, a Hezbollah shack. Behind its fluttering front door, members of Hezbollah hid from our camera. The group calls this an office for environmental study.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Concricus, International Spokesperson, Israel Defense Forces:

What in fact you're seeing is a Hezbollah intelligence collection center. And it's there in order to monitor Israeli activity and to collect intelligence on everything on the Israeli border.

Nick Schifrin:

Jonathan Conricus is in the Israeli Defense Forces' active reserves and is the IDF's former international spokesman. Our interview was arranged by the IDF.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus:

We're talking about 95 percent of the Israeli population is within rocket range of Hezbollah. They now today have 130,000 rockets hidden behind Lebanese civilians, and all of them aimed or in the future will be aimed at Israeli civilians.

Nick Schifrin:

And now there is a new wave of tension, the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon near a gas field that Israel considers vital to its future security.

Last week, unmanned Hezbollah drones approached the field. The Israeli military shut them down. But here, on the coast closest to the gas field, Israel knows the threat is growing, thanks to Iranian technology.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus:

Standard-level UAVs provided by Iran. Iran has a vast, deep and very developed UAV industry. And, today, there are Iranian UAVs in Yemen, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Iraq, and, of course, in Iran.

Nick Schifrin:

That spreading Iranian threat has helped spark regional coordination that Israel and the U.S. are eager to expand.

Yair Lapid, Israeli Prime Minister:

During your visit, we will discuss matters of national security. We will discuss building a new security and economy architecture with the nations of the Middle East.

Nick Schifrin:

Israel certainly hopes that architecture runs through Jerusalem. They have the military technology here, thanks to U.S. support.

What they're hoping, according to Israeli officials, is that President Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia creates more political support, Judy, for more regional integration between Israel and their Arab neighbors.

Judy Woodruff:

So, Nick, you mentioned regional cooperation. How much of that is actually happening there?

Nick Schifrin:

Yes, the key there is air defense, Judy.

And in order to have regional air defense, you have to be able to communicate instantly and digitally. And I talked to a former senior military official who has been in the middle of this effort. And this official said that they were making progress. They held some exercises regionally. They shared some data.

And they said that there are countries that are cooperating fully, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt and Israel. But, so far, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, according this official, have not been communicating as much as they need to. And Kuwait and Iraq are actually actively resisting.

So, Judy, there is a long way to go before you could actually get the kind of integrated defense and procedures that are required to do so that Israel is hoping for. But, again, Israel and the U.S. believe that the momentum is positive.

Judy Woodruff:

And, Nick, what are you hearing from U.S. officials about the possibility of military action against Iran?

Nick Schifrin:

Yes, those comments that we saw in the story just at the top that President Biden made this evening, that military action against Iran could be the last resort, U.S. officials insist that that is not a new message or a new change in policy at all.

They cite examples from Secretary of State Antony Blinken talking about military resort — military action being the last resort. But, clearly, Judy, the timing of those comments are vital as President Biden arrives in the Middle East for the first time as president. Regional actors here will certainly see those comments, and those comments will be reassuring to Israeli officials,despite, Judy, that ongoing disagreement over whether the U.S. and Iran should sign another nuclear deal.

Judy Woodruff:

Certainly, they caught our attention.

Nick Schifrin reporting from Israel.

Thank you, Nick.

Nick Schifrin:

Thank you.