Jewish leaders at home and in Israel have heaped praise on the president for his unequivocal support for the state
By Amie Parnes and Nicole Gaudiano
President Joe Biden’s image and the message “Thank you, Mr. President” were emblazoned on a billboard stretching across the length of a building in Israel.
The mayor of Tel Aviv said he lit up city hall with alternating Israeli and American flags, “in recognition of the steadfast support” from Biden and the U.S.
And the Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon wrote that Biden “set a new standard of support” for the Jewish state and people during tragedy and war.
All week, Jewish leaders in Israel and at home have praised Biden not only as a devoted ally but a source of moral clarity, placing himself firmly on the side of Israel following the brutal attack by the terrorist group Hamas that killed more than 1,000. The death toll includes 27 Americans, while 14 others are still unaccounted for.
The support is a lift for Biden’s presidency, which has been beset by low approval ratings and disapproval for his handling of border security and the economy. House Republicans are working to impeach him, and he’s deadlocked in recent polls with former President Donald Trump, his likely GOP rival in the 2024 presidential election. Allies say the moment, however, has displayed Biden’s strengths.
“We’re seeing Biden at his best, when he authentically channels grief and moral outrage and it connects with people,” said former Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) who served as the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and is a longtime Biden ally. “This isn’t a political calculation for him. This is where his heart is.”
At home, Biden faces criticism from Republicans, who are pressuring him to take a harder line with Iran, a key supporter of Hamas, and progressives who want him to call for restraint. But the U.S. response to Israel this week has been uniquely Biden’s, relying on his experiences personally and during more than 50 years in public life.
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While age is often noted as a liability for the 80-year-old president and a constant talking point for Republicans, his longevity in politics allowed him this week to invoke memories from 50 years earlier – as a young senator– meeting with then Israeli prime minister Golda Meir.
And he was able to empathize with those feeling a “black hole” in their chests while mourning loved ones, drawing from his own experiences of losing his wife and two children. He met with the families of unaccounted for Americans on Zoom, he told 60 Minutes, “because they have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about what's happened to them. Deeply.”
Biden has been in close contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the attacks – speaking to the prime minister multiple times by phone – and has directed a surge of military assistance to Israel while also moving the U.S. carrier fleet to the eastern Mediterranean.
He has repeatedly warned other countries and extremist organizations against “taking advantage” of the unfolding situation: “Don’t,” he said in a speech on Tuesday.
In addition, the U.S. has “made it clear” to Iran to “be careful.”
“My commitment to Israel’s security and the safety of the Jewish people is unshakeable,” Biden told Jewish community leaders at the White House Wednesday. “The United States has Israel’s back. And I have yours as well, both at home and abroad.”
The Democratic Majority for Israel, one of the groups represented at the White House, responded to his speech on X after the meeting. “He gets us,” the group wrote.
Ron Klain, who served as White House chief of staff until earlier this year, said the moment was made for Biden.
“His experience and wisdom matters the most when the stakes are the highest,” Klain told The Messenger. “His compassion and humanity shine through when inhumanity is on display. And his resolve and steadiness count for the most when events seem most erratic and unstable.”
Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, wrote that she “got emotional” when Biden spoke about bringing his children and grandchildren to Dachau, hoping it would make a profound impression on each of them.
“My grandparents survived the Holocaust; most of their families did not,” she wrote on X. “Their granddaughter met yesterday with the president -- who unequivocally has our community’s back at this crucial moment.”
‘Nuance is dangerous’
Republicans and vulnerable Democrats are calling for additional action from Biden. They want him to refreeze $6 billion in Iranian funds that were made accessible to the country for humanitarian purposes as part of a prisoner swap with the U.S. White House officials have said Iran has not accessed any of the funds.
“Allowing $6 billion to flow into Iran's economy, even if the purpose is for humanitarian aid, allows the Iranian regime to reallocate even more funds to supporting terrorism,” wrote 20 GOP senators in a letter to Biden.
And progressives members of his own party want him to take a more nuanced approach, challenging the Jewish state’s treatment of Palestinans and calling for restraint and even a ceasefire in the region.
“We must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid,” Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., wrote in a statement after the attacks.
Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told The Messenger that the U.S. should empathize with Palestinians as “victims of their own leadership,” but that should not undermine Biden’s strong response to terrorism from Hamas.
“Nuance is dangerous because it leads to miscalculation,” said Hoyer, a longtime leading voice in the House on U.S.-Israel relations. “We have international law being flagrantly violated, war crimes committed against innocent people, and that is not a time for nuance. That is the time, as the president said, to look evil in its face and call it for what it is. And Biden not only did it intellectually, he did it emotionally, because we ought to have an emotional response.”
A contrast with Trump
During their last meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Biden acknowledged “some differences” with Netanyahu on policy. Among the Biden administration's concerns are Netanyahu's plans to overhaul the country's judicial system and the government's opposition to an Israeli-Palestine two-state solution.
But Biden has known Netanyahu since the mid-1970s, having served for decades on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a member and chairman and later as vice president.
Former Sen. Ted Kaufman of Delaware, Biden’s longtime chief of staff in the Senate, said Biden and Netanyahu have a “good relationship.”
“A lot of it has nothing to do with policy,” Kaufman said. “It’s just that they’ve been thrown together in so many situations that they’re really, really good acquaintances and I’d say almost friends.”
Former President Donald Trump also maintained a strong relationship with Netanyahu during his presidency. Jewish Israelis overwhelmingly approved of Trump and his decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – even while Trump complained that “evangelicals appreciate it more than the Jews” in the U.S.
But his response to the attacks was the polar opposite of Biden’s. He used it as an opportunity to disparage Netanyahu, saying he “let us down” by backing out of participation in the killing of an Iranian general in 2020. Trump also praised the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah as “smart.”
He was forced to walk back the comments following criticisms from Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 presidential rival. “#IStandWithIsrael #IStandWithBibi,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, using Netanyahu’s nickname.
Still, the White House maintained the comments as “dangerous and unhinged,” and Biden weighed in on X.
“Our nation’s support for Israel is resolute and unwavering,” Biden wrote, sharing a video of Trump. “And the right time to praise the terrorists who seek to destroy them is never.”