In the days after the Hamas attack on Israel, Joe Biden flew to Tel Aviv where he hugged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a very public display of support while Arab leaders in the region canceled a summit with the American president.
That literal embrace, as Israel unleashed the might of its military forces on Palestinians in Gaza, has angered some of Biden’s natural allies at home.
But in the early weeks of the conflict, Biden reportedly touted his success in influencing Israel’s government as vindication of a strategy he said President Barack Obama rejected.
He said privately that when he was vice president during Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza he advised his then boss that the best way to handle the Israelis was to hug them close rather than publicly criticising them.
That advice, he said, was rejected.
President Joe Biden embraced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after stepping off Air Force One in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 18
Insiders say Biden feels his approach of staying close to Israel has been vindicated after his former boss Barack Obama preferred a policy of being more publicly critical
‘If this was the Obama years, we would’ve been a lot more publicly critical than we have been by now,’ a senior administration official told NBC News, who cited four other officials making similar points.
‘And that wouldn’t work. We wouldn’t have the influence.’
They said Biden was convinced he was right in 2014 and is right now.
They point to success in getting humanitarian aid into Gaza and the way Israel agreed to a pause in fighting, despite its concerns it would allow Hamas to rearm, as evidence the strategy is working.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday: ‘The approach that we’re taking with Israel and, quite frankly, with our partners in the region is working.
‘It’s getting aid in to people that need it. It’s getting a pause in the fighting. It’s getting hostages out. It’s getting Americans out.’
In contrast, in 2014, Obama officials were open in their criticism of Netanyahu’s policies, particularly the building of settlements in the West Bank.
Jen Psaki, then State Department spokeswoman, said soon after the Gaza offensive in 2014: ‘If Israel wants to live in a peaceful society, they need to take steps that will reduce tensions. Moving forward with this sort of action would be incompatible with the pursuit of peace.’
And in private, officials made clear their hostility to the Israeli PM. One called him ‘a chickens***’ in comments that appeared in The Atlantic.
Biden has made much of his close relationship with Netanyu. The then vice president is seen here in 2011 in Israel with Netanyahu and his son Yair (second left) and with Jill Biden (right)
Israeli soldiers stand on tanks deployed on the southern border with the Gaza Strip on November 29, 2023, as a truce between Israel and Hamas entered a sixth day
The destruction in Gaza has angered many Democrats who want Biden to take a tougher line on Israel in calling for a ceasefire
The problems were exacerbated by the Obama administration’s pursuit of a nuclear deal with Iran, which was opposed by Netanyahu.
At the time, Obama and his top aides were wary of being seen as too pro-Israel for fear it would merely enflame regional tensions. Biden saw things differently and made clear he thought the U.S. be more supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself.
‘He didn’t think we should be criticizing the Israelis, and Obama did,’ a former senior administration official who was part of the 2014 debate told NBC News.
Obama has continued on the same tack this time around. He said ‘nobody’s hands are clean’ in a recent podcast interview, adding that everyone was ‘complicit to some degree.’
His remarks reportedly rankled with current administration officials.
Biden has made much of his warm ties to Israeli politicians down the years.
‘The approach that we’re taking with Israel and, quite frankly, with our partners in the region is working,’ said White House spokesman John Kirby on Monday
Netanyahu and Biden at the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem in 2010
His relationship with Netanyahu dates back to the early 1980s when Biden was a young senator and the future Israeli prime minster worked at the country’s embassy in Washington.
Even with US-Israel ties in meltdown under Obama, Biden spoke warmly of Netanyahu
‘We’re still buddies,” Biden said at the time, using the prime minister’s nickname.
‘He’s been a friend for over 30 years, I said, “Bibi, I don’t agree with a damn thing you say but I love you.”‘
When Hamas terrorists killed 1200 Israelis on Oct. 7, Biden was quick to stand arm in arm with his old friend again.
And when Israeli missiles rained down on Gaza and the death toll grew, he publicly disputed the numbers coming from the Hamas-controlled ministry of health.
That has angered many Democrats, particularly young supporters and the party’s progressive wing, who have been vocal in calling for an end to the assault.