Joe Biden’s peace mission to Israel exposed the limits of US global influence | Martin Kettle

The stakes couldn't be higher. A wider war in the Middle East could embolden Russia in Ukraine and encourage China over Taiwan

The White House's collective stress level must have gone up several notches as Joe Biden and his entourage sat on the runway waiting to leave for the Middle East on Tuesday night. After the violence and emotions of the past two weeks, the president's visit was already a political gamble. But, as news came from Gaza of the bombing of the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital, anxiety about what the visit would be able to achieve surely reached new levels.

If so, those doubts were soon confirmed. With the Gaza hospital death toll soaring, and with popular outrage coursing through the region, Arab leaders pulled out of their scheduled meeting with Biden in Amman. By doing so, the Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders made at least one of Biden's key objectives - using face-to-face US presidential influence to discourage escalation - instantly more difficult.