Was Biden good to Israel?

Now that U.S. President Joe Biden has announced his withdrawal from the 2024 Presidential Campaign, many pundits and analysts have begun making statements about Biden’s legacy and his impact on various areas of foreign and domestic policy.

For those in Israel, the most significant factor in evaluating Biden’s legacy is how he has treated the Jewish nation. As it turns out, even within Israel, opinions on Biden and his treatment of the nation are mixed. To understand this, it would be good to examine his policy record and actions toward Israel, both before and after the Oct. 7 Gaza War.

Biden's approach to Israel before Oct. 7, 2023

U.S. President Joe Biden, since taking office, has been consistent in his verbal affirmation of the U.S.-Israel relationship, calling it "unbreakable" on multiple occasions.

The Biden administration has also repeatedly voiced support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a position that sometimes put it at odds with Netanyahu’s coalition government, which generally does not support the establishment of a Palestinian state. Within Israel, there is a significant divide on the issue on whether a two-state solution would lead to lasting peace, or lead to more armed conflict.

Biden and the U.S. State Department have also regularly expressed concern over Israeli settlement expansion in Judea and Samaria, as well as settler violence in those territories, viewing them as significant obstacles to peace.

Both during his presidential campaign in 2020, and from the moment he took office, Biden repeatedly spoke about his plan to revive the Iran nuclear deal, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as a means of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Israel strongly opposed the JCPOA, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even traveling to the United States in 2015 to address Congress in order to try to torpedo the agreement, then being negotiated by President Barack Obama. Biden’s support for the JCPOA and his preference for using diplomacy as the only means of dealing with Iran created some tension in the relationship between Israel and the U.S.

The Biden administration restored aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 2021, reversing a cut made by Trump after he signed the Taylor Force Act in 2018. This act required the cessation of all USAID funds to the PA until it stopped paying stipends through its Martyr’s Fund to individuals committing acts of terrorism.

Trump also cut funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) due to multiple reports of antisemitic education, incitement to violence, and anti-American sentiments among leadership.

In addition, Biden has repeatedly pushed for Israel to resume cooperation with the PA, despite its failure to uphold security agreements made with Israel requiring the Palestinian government to more strictly police extremist groups.

Unlike his predecessors, Biden did not prioritize a visit to Israel early in his presidency, which many here in Israel interpreted as a cooling of relations.

While not the architect, Biden verbally expressed support for the Trump-led Abraham Accords upon assuming office and said he would work to extend them. However, due to his own disagreement with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), Biden did not begin significantly working on a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel until halfway through his term. While many in Israel understand Biden’s early hesitancy toward MBS because of his alleged role in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, there is a widespread belief that extending the Abraham Accords to the Saudi Kingdom before Oct. 7 might have stabilized the region enough to prevent the attack from happening.

October 7, 2023: Support, but under certain conditions

Without a doubt, the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion of southern Israel represented a dramatic shift in U.S.-Israeli relations.

In light of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Biden took the unprecedented step of being the first U.S. president to visit Israel during a war situation and expressed strong support for Israel, emphasizing America's commitment to Israel's right to self-defense.

His Oct. 10 speech to the nation of Israel was one of Biden's strongest, demonstrating uncompromising support for Israel's actions against Hamas.

That support encouraged many Israelis, who felt shaken by the Hamas terror attacks and wondered how the world would react, especially in light of increasing antisemitic incidents in Europe even prior to Oct. 7.

However, even then, as Biden was pledging strong support for Israel, some Israelis were already doubtful. Based on the U.S. leader's repeated unwillingness to confront Iran or its proxies, some warned that Biden’s “bear hug” was meant to restrict Israel’s actions, not offer unlimited support.

As if attempting to prove that assessment, Biden began urging Israel to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza and minimize Palestinian civilian casualties within days of returning to the United States. Within his own administration, he faced growing pressure to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

As the war dragged on, delays in weapon shipments to Israel caused friction between the two nations. U.S. officials attributed the delays to bureaucratic processes and concerns about escalating violence. The Biden administration also began citing casualty figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, despite previously stating the numbers were flawed and unreliable.

The Biden administration also attempted to influence Israeli politics behind the scenes both before and after Oct. 7, including efforts to moderate Netanyahu's policies.

Before the war, Biden openly expressed opposition to the coalition’s judicial reforms and their impact on Israeli democracy, while refusing to publicly invite Netanyahu to the White House.

During the war effort, the Biden administration set conditions for its support, limiting military aid, and repeatedly accusing Israel of restricting humanitarian aid, even as Israel was steadily improving the flow of that aid into Gaza.

Biden urged Israel to avoid certain military activity, such as the ground incursion into Rafah, warning of a humanitarian crisis and saying such a step could destabilize the region. This was despite considerable evidence that Hamas terrorists had retreated to Rafah in order to regroup.

In fact, despite his initial strong verbal support, Biden quickly began publicly criticizing Israel's war conduct, calling it excessive and repeatedly urging greater caution to prevent civilian casualties. Preliminary analysis of Israel’s wartime actions and the civilian-to-combatant death ratio demonstrated that Israel’s conduct has been in line with other Western nations, like the U.S. and the UK in recent conflicts against ISIS, and the Taliban in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Over the past few months, the Biden administration has repeatedly called on Israel to accept hostage ceasefire negotiation proposals, even when Hamas has often been the one to reject the proposals, or make last-minute changes to agreements, adding conditions it knows Israel would not accept. In public statements, Biden officials have seldom directed as much verbal pressure towards Hamas as they have towards Israel.

Regarding the looming conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, once again, Biden appeared to say one thing and deliver another. In his visit to Israel after Oct. 7, he made a strong statement of support, warning any other groups not to try to take advantage of Israel in its weakened state. He even promised to send two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers to help “act as a deterrent for any other actor, including Hezbollah, that might think that widening this conflict is a good idea.” And he delivered on that promise.

When Iran launched its unprecedented direct assault on Israeli territory, the United States played a crucial role in helping to defend Israel. American forces, alongside other allies, assisted in intercepting a significant number of Iranian drones and missiles, demonstrating a strong commitment to Israel's security. This action was widely appreciated within Israel and appeared to reinforce Biden's verbal promises of support.

However, Hezbollah has launched an almost-daily series of rocket, mortar and drone attacks against Israel’s northern border communities. The U.S. has done nothing to stop those attacks but has repeatedly warned Israel not to escalate the situation.

When Houthi rebels in Yemen joined the conflict, Biden sent warships to protect “economic interests.” While those warships have helped shoot down several missile and drone attacks against Israel, many in Israel saw this as a widening of the conflict, and thought the Biden administration would take a firmer response.

For many Israelis, it appears that Biden has held Israel and the Palestinians to two different standards. When coalition government members, such as Itamar Ben Gvir or Bezalel Smotrich, have made statements appearing to condone violence, the Biden administration quickly condemns the statements publicly. However, when PA members celebrate terror attacks, or speak of continuing the struggle against the Jews (not Israel), there is no comment.

The legacy of President Biden towards Israel is complex and often contradictory. While Biden has made many explicit statements of support for Israel and promises to defend it against enemies, in practice, his support has often appeared conditional. This discrepancy between verbal commitments and actual policies has led many Israelis to question the depth and reliability of U.S. support during critical times. Biden's presidency has revealed a stark contrast between promised solidarity and the realities of diplomatic pressure, leaving a legacy marked by uncertainty in the U.S.-Israel relationship.