The Reuters news agency, in an article titled “How Joe Biden’s lifelong bond with Israel shapes war policy”, cited a US official as saying that the politicians and generals gathered in the ballroom of the Tel Aviv hotel nodded in approval after Biden uttered those words, the IRNA reported on Sunday.
Biden, who is of Irish Catholic descent, has publicly expressed his support for Israel in the past, but the moment illustrated how Biden’s decades as one of the leading “Friends of Israel” in American politics seem to be guiding him during a defining crisis of his presidency, read the article.
It added that the moment also underscores the challenges he faces balancing unwavering support for Israel with persuading Netanyahu – with whom he has a long history – to avoid worsening the civilian death toll and humanitarian meltdown in Gaza as well as complicating further releases of American hostages.
“Biden’s connection to Israel is deeply engrained in his political DNA,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator who served six secretaries of state in both Democratic and Republican administrations. “Whether he likes it or not, he's in the midst of a crisis he'll have to manage.”
Meanwhile, Khaled Elgindy, a former Palestinian negotiations adviser, said Biden’s “blank check” for Israel’s assault on Gaza has “shattered, perhaps irreversibly, what little credibility the US had left.”
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