With Stakes High, US President Biden Aligns With Israel at War

Support for Israel may impact domestic and international dynamics as reelection looms

For over two weeks since the war between Israel and Hamas began, US President Joe Biden has adopted a clear pro-Israeli stance that has broad international ramifications but also comes at a certain political risk for him internally as he is up for reelection in a little over a year. 

President Biden has put all his political clout into aligning with Israel. With the backing of most of the Democratic Party, the American leader has set aside his many differences with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and provided military, diplomatic, and other support for the Jewish state.

“Biden has always been a traditional friend of Israel going all the way back. He has never been in love with Netanyahu—but with Israel, yes,” said Marc Schulman, an American Israeli who publishes a daily Tel Aviv Diary. “The images were so strong and overwhelming, that it would make sense for the administration to take this position.”

Since the beginning of the war, the US has sent aircraft carrier forces, other naval support, and a continuous ammunition supply including the restocking of Israel’s aerial defense array. It has sent—and plans to continue sending—transportation, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assistance.

The American president understood immediately that this is not a local incident between Israel and Hamas, but rather a wider conflict between the axis of democracies versus the new … axis, or Iran, Russia and China.

“The American president understood immediately that this is not a local incident between Israel and Hamas, but rather a wider conflict between the axis of democracies versus the new … axis, or Iran, Russia, and China,” said Prof. Eytan Gilboa, an expert on the US at Bar-Ilan University and senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. “Biden believes the ramifications of this event could affect the balance of power between the axes and also the war in Ukraine.”

The extent of US involvement in the release of two American hostages who were being held by Hamas since the beginning of the war is unclear. The two were among another 212 hostages being held captive in the Gaza Strip. Some of them are dual citizens of Israel and other countries, including the US. Most of them hold only Israeli citizenship, and most of them are civilians. It is unclear how many Israeli soldiers are being held captive. According to the Israeli Defense Forces, approximately 30 of the hostages are children and another 20 are above the age of 60.

There are also at least 20 Americans among the 1,400 Israelis that have so far been killed since the fighting began 16 days ago.

Last week, when President Biden made a half-day trip to Israel under fire, he met with the relatives of a handful of hostages and vowed to help secure their release. In footage released from the meeting, the president was visibly moved by the stories he had heard. Two days later, a mother and daughter, both American nationals, were released into the hands of the International Committee of the Red Cross and then handed over to Israeli authorities. President Biden spoke to them shortly after their release.

“I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their family, who has been wracked with fear,” the American president said in Washington.

According to Gilboa, President Biden should have demanded the release of the children and the elderly first.

“He probably thought this wouldn’t work and would risk the release of Americans, but he should have tried,” Gilboa told The Media Line. “Like Israelis, Americans are very sensitive to their citizens being held hostage.”

Several distant relatives of the two, apparently not holders of dual citizenship, are still in captivity.

“These two hostages live in the US, which is the center of their lives, and they are not Israeli,” said Schulman. “The United States feels a responsibility for them.”

Hours after the two were released, the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was opened to allow humanitarian aid to enter the war-torn territory.

The war between Israel and Hamas comes a little over a year before the US federal election in which the incumbent president will try to be reelected, facing a yet unknown Republican candidate.

A poll conducted by Quinnipiac University last week showed that most respondents supported Israel, with a slim majority supporting the policy adopted by the Biden Administration.

Earlier this year, a poll conducted by Gallup found that for the first time in many years, voters for the Democratic Party are siding more with the Palestinians than Israelis.

President Biden, 80 years old, has been chastised for being too old to lead, even from within his own party. A string of incidents that highlighted the president’s age and perhaps vulnerability had most Americans saying his age was a major concern ahead of the elections.

“Democratic strategists were wondering how they could show that Biden is up for the job,” said Schulman. “This is the perfect opportunity for him to show he is capable, and this helps him politically. The polls also show it is a popular position to adopt.”

Throughout his term, President Biden has had to deal with a progressive minority in the Democratic Party. In recent years, these elements have become more vociferous, encouraging the party to abandon its previous, almost unconditional, support for Israel.

“The far left is a very small minority, and, in the end, they will not vote for a Republican candidate,” said Schulman.

Last week’s remarks by former President Donald Trump, who is also seeking endorsement to run in the upcoming election, in which he praised the Iranian-backed armed organization Hizbullah organization for being “very smart” and criticized Netanyahu for not being prepared for the Hamas attack, were widely denounced in the US. For now, this is politically beneficial to President Biden.

However, there is always a risk when it comes to war. The US president’s decision to mobilize forces to the region shows his understanding that this war could spiral into a much wider conflict, bringing in Iran and perhaps even Russia and China. Meanwhile, as Israel continues to pound the Gaza Strip, public sentiment in the US is being swayed.

“There is concern that international opinion will turn on Israel,” said Gilboa. “Without [enough] humanitarian aid—and there will be Palestinian suffering—support will turn over to Hamas. This is definitely possible.”

This is probably why President Biden tied his stance between humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the release of prisoners.

“This is an American doctrine—differentiating between the population and … armed [guerrillas], this allows for more military action,” Gilboa added.

Throughout his term, the US president has had relatively low approval ratings. Positioning himself yet again as the leader of the free world, projecting American power far from home, could play in his favor, assuming the war does not spiral out of control. Putting the American reputation at stake, at a time when the US has been viewed in the Middle East and elsewhere as weak, could prove to be a risk worth taking—or a major flop.

As Israel prepares to launch a ground invasion of Gaza, which will likely change the course of the war, the fate of the American president’s risk will become clearer.