When Joe Biden met with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his War Cabinet during his visit to Israel, the American President told them: “I don’t believe you have to be a Jew to be a Zionist, and I I’m a Zionist“.

Politicians and generals gathered in a Tel Aviv hotel ballroom nodded their heads in approval, according to a U.S. official familiar with the closed-door comments. while Israel bombed the Gaza Strip in response to a devastating attack by Palestinian Hamas militants and in anticipation of an imminent ground invasion.

Biden, an Irish Catholic by birth, has already used similar words to show his closeness to Israel, but this previously unreported moment illustrates how Biden’s decades one of the main “friends of Israel” in politics. Americans appear to be leading him through a crisis that could define his presidency.

It also underscores the challenges he faces in balancing his unwavering support for Israel and the belief of Netanyahu, with whom he has a long-standing relationship, that prevent increased civilian casualties and humanitarian collapse in the Gaza Stripand make it more difficult to release American hostages again.

“Biden’s connection to Israel is deeply ingrained in his political DNA,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator who served six secretaries of state in both Democratic and Republican governments. “Whether you like it or not, you are in a crisis scenario that you will have to deal with.”

Reuters interviewed a dozen current and former advisers, lawmakers and analysts, some of whom said Biden’s current wartime embrace of Netanyahu could allow the U.S. have influence to try to moderate Israel’s response in the Gaza Strip.

At its closed meeting on Wednesday Both leaders showed no tension That sometimes characterized their meetings, according to a second U.S. official familiar with the talks.

However, Biden asked Netanyahu difficult questions about the upcoming offensive, such as: “Have you thought about what will happen the day after tomorrow and the day after that?” US and regional sources expressed doubt that Israel, which has vowed to destroy Hamas, has developed a plan of action.

Biden’s alliance with the right-wing leader risks alienating some progressives in his Democratic Party ahead of his 2024 re-election bid. growing international protest against Israeli tactics and which also blame the United States.

It also prompted many Palestinians and others in the Arab world to think about Biden. too biased in favor of Israel act as an impartial peace mediator.

Support for decades

Biden attributed his pro-Israel worldview in part to his father, who insisted there was no doubt after World War II and the Nazi Holocaust. the justice of the creation of Israel as the Jewish homeland in 1948.

Biden’s Awareness of Centuries of Jewish Persecution record number of anti-Semitic incidents in the US last year, It could also help explain why the atrocities committed by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel so alarmed the 80-year-old president, a former U.S. official said.

Biden, who entered national politics in 1973, spent the next five decades developing his policy positions.strong support for Israeli security combined with support for steps to create a Palestinian state – during the tenure of US Senator, Vice President Barack Obama and, finally, President.

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His career was marked by a deep commitment to the Arab-Israeli conflict., which included a meeting with Prime Minister Golda Meir, who told the young MP in 1973, on the eve of the Yom Kippur War, about Israel’s secret weapons. was that “we have nowhere else to go.”

During his 36 years in the Senate, Biden was largest recipient in history of donations from pro-Israel groupswith $4.2 million, according to the Open Secrets database.

As vice president, Biden often acted as a mediator in the tense relationship between Obama and Netanyahu.

Dennis Ross, a Middle East adviser during Obama’s first term, recalled Biden’s intervention in avoid retaliation against Netanyahu at diplomatic request during a visit in 2010. Obama, Ross said, wanted to respond forcefully to Israel’s announcement of a major expansion of housing for Jews in East Jerusalem, the predominantly Arab half of the city captured in the 1967 war.

“When the situation with Israel got out of hand, Biden was the bridge,” said Ross, now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “His commitment to Israel was so strong (…) And it is precisely this instinct that we are seeing now.”

Although Biden and Netanyahu claim to be longtime friends, Their relationship has deteriorated in recent months.when the White House supported Israeli opponents of Netanyahu’s plan to limit the powers of Israel’s Supreme Court.

Progressive dissent

Now the two find themselves in an uneasy alliance that could be tested by an Israeli ground offensive.

Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham in an interview Reutersexpressed confidence that the “arc of time” in the Biden-Netanyahu relationship allows them to work together.

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But in a veiled criticism, Graham, who has been Biden’s Senate colleague for years, said it was “crucial” for him to set “red lines” for keep Hamas benefactor Iran out of the conflict.

Biden warned Iran against interfering but did not specify the consequences.

Hamas militants killed 1,400 people and took about 200 hostages, including Americans, during riots in Israeli cities. Since then, Israel has laid siege to the Gaza Strip. At least 4,385 Palestinians diedAccording to Gaza authorities.

Republicans showed near unanimity in support of any measures taken by Israel, but Biden faces dissent from progressive faction who advocate Israeli restraint and a ceasefire.

“President Biden, not all of America is with you on this issue, and you need to wake up and understand,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress, told supporters. “We are literally watching people commit genocide.”

But experts say Biden could gain ground among independent voters who share his affinity for Israel.

Review Reuters/Ipsos published on Monday demonstrated stronger sympathy for Israel among the American public than in the pastAt the same time, support for Israel is highest among Republicans – 54% compared to 37% for Democrats. Younger Americans showed less support for Israel than older Americans.

Biden, who has low approval ratings, and some of his fellow Democrats are expected to do not want to conflict with the main pro-Israel pressure group United States, AIPAC, a powerful force in American elections.

But the crisis has also prompted criticism of Biden for not paying enough attention to the plight of the Palestinians, whose hopes for a state disappeared under Israeli occupation.

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US officials said that This was not the right time to resume Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.has long been suspended, largely due to intransigence on both sides.

“The government’s abandonment of this issue is a key factor in the current situation,” said Khaled Elgindi, a former Palestinian negotiating adviser.

Biden’s “Blank” as the Israeli attack on Gaza “has destroyed, perhaps irreversibly, what little trust the United States has left,” said Elgindy, now at the Middle East Institute in Washington. (Reuters)