When Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the emergency government during his visit to Israel, the American president stated, "I don't believe you have to be Jewish to be a Zionist, and I am a Zionist." An American official familiar with the comments made during the closed meeting reported that the politicians and generals gathered in a hotel hall in Tel Aviv nodded in agreement. This coincided with Israel's bombing of Gaza in response to an attack by Hamas militants on Israeli towns, as preparations were underway for a ground invasion.
Biden, who is of Irish Catholic descent, has used similar language in the past to express his connection to Israel. However, this unprecedented moment demonstrates how he seems guided by the decades he has spent in American politics as one of the leading "friends of Israel" during a stormy crisis in his presidency. The statements also highlight the challenges Biden faces in balancing continued support for Israel while persuading Netanyahu to avoid further civilian casualties and prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as well as to navigate the complexities of securing the release of more American hostages.
Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator who worked with six U.S. secretaries of state during the terms of both Democratic and Republican presidents, said, "Biden's connection to Israel is deeply rooted in his political DNA... whether he likes it or not, he is in the midst of a crisis that he will have to manage."
Reuters interviewed 12 current and former aides, lawmakers, and analysts; some suggested that Biden’s current embrace of Netanyahu in wartime could provide the U.S. with leverage to mitigate Israel's response in Gaza. A second American official familiar with the talks mentioned that there was no visible tension between Biden and Netanyahu during their private meeting with their aides on Wednesday. The official noted that Biden did, however, pose tough questions to Netanyahu regarding the upcoming offensive, such as asking, "Have you thought carefully about what will happen the next day and the day after?"
American and regional sources expressed skepticism about Israel, which has pledged to destroy Hamas, having a plan to end this conflict in its favor.
Biden risks losing some progressives in his Democratic Party by aligning with the right-wing leader while seeking reelection in 2024, amid increasing international condemnation of Israeli tactics that also place some blame on the U.S. This has led many Palestinians and others in the Arab world to consider Biden excessively biased toward Israel, making him ill-suited to play a fair mediating role in peace.
Biden partially ascribes his pro-Israel worldview to his father, who insisted after World War II and the Nazi Holocaust that there is no doubt about the justification for establishing the State of Israel as a homeland for Jews in 1948. A former American official said that Biden's recognition of the persecution of Jews over the centuries and awareness of the record rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. last year could also explain why the recent Hamas attack on Israel has raised concerns for the 80-year-old president.
Since entering the American political arena in 1973, Biden has spent the next five decades shaping his political stances, strongly supporting Israel's security while also advocating steps toward establishing a Palestinian state, eventually becoming a senator, then vice president under Barack Obama, and now president. His career is marked by deep engagement in the Israeli-Arab conflict, including a frequently recounted meeting with Prime Minister Golda Meir, who told him when he was a young legislator in 1973, before the October War, that Israel's secret weapon was "we have no place else to go."
During his 36 years as a senator, Biden was the largest recipient of donations from pro-Israel groups in the history of the Senate. According to the OpenSecrets database, Biden received $4.2 million. While vice president, Biden frequently mediated the tense relationship between Obama and Netanyahu.
Dennis Ross, a Middle East advisor during Obama’s first presidential term, noted Biden intervened to prevent a retaliatory response from Netanyahu over a diplomatic stance that showed disdain during a visit in 2010. Ross said that Obama wanted to strongly condemn Israel’s announcement to expand housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem. He stated, "Whenever things got out of control with Israel, Biden was the bridge... His commitment to Israel is that strong... and that is the instinct we see now."
Despite acknowledging that he and Netanyahu are long-time friends, their relationship has soured in recent months, with the White House supporting opponents of Netanyahu’s plans to limit the powers of the Israeli Supreme Court.
Both find themselves in an unstable alliance that could be tested by an Israeli ground attack. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham expressed confidence in an interview with Reuters that the "sequence of events" in the Biden-Netanyahu relationship will allow them to work together. However, Graham, who spent years as Biden's colleague in the Senate, made a veiled criticism, stating it is "essential" to draw "red lines" to keep Iran, a supporter of Hamas, out of the conflict. Biden has warned Iran against intervening but has not specified the consequences.
While Republicans have shown near-unanimous support for any actions taken by Israel, Biden faces opposition from a faction of progressives demanding that Israel exercise restraint and declare a ceasefire. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American congresswoman, addressed Biden in front of her supporters, saying, "Not all of America is with you on this, and you need to wake up and understand... We are literally watching people committing genocide."
However, experts believe Biden can garner support from independent voters who share his alignment with Israel. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday showed American public sympathy for Israel is stronger than in the past, with support for Israel at its highest among Republicans at 54 percent compared to 37 percent among Democrats. Additionally, younger Americans show less support for Israel compared to older ones.
Biden, who faces low approval ratings, along with some fellow Democrats, is also expected to be wary of confronting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the main pro-Israel lobbying group influential in U.S. elections. However, the crisis also fuels criticisms of Biden for not dedicating enough attention to the plight of Palestinians whose hopes of establishing a state under Israeli occupation have diminished. American officials have stated that the time is not right to resume long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
According to Khaled el-Gindy, a former advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team, "the neglect by the U.S. administration of this issue is a major factor in where we are today." El-Gindy, who now works at the Middle East Institute in Washington, added that Biden's "blank check" for Israel's attack on Gaza may have "irreparably shattered what remains of the United States' credibility."
