President Biden spoke to a crowd of Democratic donors over the weekend about a decades-old photo of him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This was Biden’s way of reestablishing his unwavering support of Israel.
On Thursday, the White House released a video of the president commenting on the ongoing war in the Middle East.
President Biden: As I emphasized earlier, we will continue to have Israel’s back as you work to defend your people. We’ll continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians.
Biden has promised to support Israel following the Hamas attack on October 7th which killed about 1400 Israelis. More than 200 people remain hostage with four people having been released as of today’s show.
The president has been walking a fine line between supporting the United States’ longtime ally in the Middle East while also listening to many of his democratic supporters calling for Israel to use restraint in their retaliation.
For the past two weeks the Israeli government continues airstrikes on Gaza, and the death toll continues to rise.
According to PBS, shortly after receiving a small amount of aid into Gaza, Israeli warplanes attacked the besieged area which was home to Palestinians seeking refuge.
Israel has also struck the occupied West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon, amidst fears of further turmoil in the Middle East most specifically Hezbollah.
Professor Emerita of Political Science and Middle East Studies, Laurie Brand explains that support from the Arab community is a critical aspect for Biden’s re-election.
Laurie Brand: So, it’s possible to me, I mean Arab-Americans, Palestinian Americans are an important part of the electorate in Michigan and Michigan is an important battleground state.
Besides the politics, Brand also praises Biden’s empathy.
Brand: I thought it was interesting that he mentioned the six-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was murdered, I believe, in the Chicago area. Seemed to be an attempt to try and humanize Palestinians, which is not generally done, I think, by U.S. presidents or U.S. representatives in general.
Much of the scrutiny Biden’s facing is from his own party with many older, more centrist democrats support his actions and support for Israel.
Benjamin Radd, a fellow at the Center for Middle East Development at UCLA recognizes where most democrats are leaning towards.
Benjamin Radd: I think the majority of the party, I’d say overwhelming majority, is in favor of Biden’s support of Israel.
But some younger, more radical democratic lawmakers are divided over the conflict calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota spoke over the weekend, questioning Biden’s Democratic leadership over his overwhelming support for Israel.
Ilhan Omar: Israel has dropped more bombs in the last 10 days then we dropped in a whole year in Afghanistan. Where is your humanity? Where is your outrage? Where is your care?
According to the Health Ministry in Gaza more than 4,300 Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks.
President Biden faces a backlash from other lawmakers in his own party and at least one State Department official has resigned over Biden’s support for Israel. They want him to press Israel more to follow international and humanitarian laws of war.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Sixx Orange.