President Biden is reportedly mulling a visit to Israel, a wartime appearance to the embattled Jewish state that would certainly have some appeal to the kishkes. The Times calls the invitation from Prime Minister Netanyahu a “remarkable gamble” for Mr. Biden that would “demonstrate American solidarity with Israel” even as it “would pose enormous challenges for the White House, in terms of both politics and security.” It could, though, be historic.

If Mr. Biden decides to board Air Force One to deliver a message of unqualified support for the Jewish state, we wish him bon voyage. It would be a great thing for the American president to be ensconced at the Kiriya, Israel’s Pentagon, strategizing with Mr. Netanyahu and Israel’s military brass on how to crush Hamas. He could pledge, in person, support during the dawning war, including against a second front in the north, even one to the east, at Tehran.

The sight of an American president braving Hamas’s rockets to stand with Israel could also be a tonic at a time when support for Hamas — and its atrocities — is surging in many precincts of the left, and in influential pockets of Mr. Biden’s Democratic party. A journey to Israel would not entirely erase the shame of the retreat from Afghanistan, but it would, alongside the president’s visit to Kiev, telegraph America’s abiding, if tattered, resolve. 

The prospect of a presidential visit, though, is not without other risks. We don’t mind saying we were stunned by Mr. Biden’s comments, on “60 Minutes,” that it would be a “big mistake” for Israel to reoccupy Gaza. He accompanied that reckoning with an insistence that there “needs to be a path to a Palestinian state.” It was a reminder of the old Biden — and Obama. A visit to Israel to pressure its leaders would be counterproductive at the least. 

Mr. Biden distinguished himself in the hours after Hamas’s attack with his promise of steadfast support. American warships in Israel’s vicinity are welcome translations of those words into deed. The hard part, though, is yet to come. There will be plenty of time Mr. Biden to interfere, and pressure will build for him to do so, not least from his own caucus. The aging pol has never been one to stake out particularly courageous ground. He generally finds his party’s pulse.

We recall the trip where the announcement of some construction in Jerusalem sent Mr. Biden, then vice president, into a tantrum, in which he questioned Israel’s motives. There is no time for that now. If he offers support qualified by quibbles, and seeks to hold Israel back, then it would be best for him to stay in America. What Israel requires now is a free hand and firm backing. After this week of horror, and in this moment of resolve, it has earned both.