Israelis on Sunday expressed growing concern that President Biden’s shaky debate performance could spur the country’s enemies in the Middle East at what many see as a critical moment for American leadership in the region.
Israeli commentators across the political spectrum warned that Iran and its proxies could try to exploit Biden’s apparent weakness as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza and weighs the prospect of all-out conflict with the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
U.S. officials have been working to negotiate a diplomatic solution to tensions between Israel and Hezbollah in an attempt to avoid a broader regional war that they fear could draw in both Iran and the United States. The Biden administration is also engaged in intense efforts with other mediators to try to advance a truce deal for Gaza that would involve exchanging the remaining hostages there for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly pressured the Biden administration to accelerate ammunition supplies ahead of any conflagration with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Several of Israel’s Sunday newspapers carried the debate on their front pages in a kind of belated reaction: the debate took place before dawn on Friday local time, after the weekend papers had gone to press. And Hebrew dailies are not published on Saturdays, on Saturday.
Analysts at Israel Hayom, a free right-wing newspaper, and the left-wing Haaretz newspaper differed sharply in tone, but both raised the specter of enemies of Israel and the United States testing the administration’s resolve.
“Will Hezbollah and Iran assess that Biden is too busy now to back Israel in the event of an all-out war in Lebanon this summer?” wrote Amos Harel, a military affairs analyst for Haaretz, on Sunday.
While some on the Israeli right have mocked Biden’s debate performance, hoping for a Trump victory, Harel continued, that was a show of ingratitude after the American president supported Israel and supplied it with large quantities of weapons. “Besides,” he added, “Trump is a weak reed who can be trusted.”
During Thursday’s presidential debate, Trump accused Biden of not wanting Israel to “finish the job” in Gaza, called him weak and drew attention by using the word “Palestinian” as an insult. Biden didn’t offer much in the way of a response.
Biden has been a staunch supporter of Israel throughout the war, though he has also been critical and has frequently called on the country to limit civilian casualties and work to mitigate the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.
He has a long history with Netanyahu. Biden flew to Israel in a powerful show of solidarity last fall, shortly after the Hamas-led terrorist attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Since then, he has paid a political price for her support, angering American opponents of the war who want the U.S. government to stop providing ammunition to Israel.
But Biden and Netanyahu’s visions have diverged in recent months. The U.S. government withheld a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel for fear they would be used in densely populated areas. And Biden has dismissed Netanyahu’s oft-stated goal of “total victory” over Hamas as a vague objective that would mean an open-ended war.
Trump strongly supported Israel as president and largely agreed with the agenda of Netanyahu and his right-wing allies. During his term, Trump moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, fulfilling a long-standing Israeli demand.
But the former president appears to have distanced himself from Netanyahu. He said the Hamas-led attack was a result of Netanyahu’s lack of preparation and praised Hezbollah as “very smart.” In an interview with Israel Hayom in March, Trump advised Israel to end the war in Gaza because it was losing much of its global support.
“We have to do it,” he told the newspaper, “and we have to make peace; we cannot allow this to continue.”
Israel Hayom’s editor is Dr. Miriam Adelson, widow of Sheldon Adelson and staunchly pro-Israel mega-donor now supporting Donald Trump’s third bid for the White House.
Israel Hayom columnist Amnon Lord said Sunday that Biden’s debate performance demonstrated persistent claims that “an extreme progressive group” of attendees was driving American foreign policy.
“In a world rife with aggressive forces,” he wrote, “the unflattering image of an American president—the leader of the free world—who appears weak and incoherent encourages them to exploit opportunities.”
“Biden’s decline reflects the collapse of his Middle East policy toward Iran and its allies,” Lord added.
Lord carefully analyzed Trump’s performance in the debate and said only that he did not “win supporters” either.
The Hebrew newspaper Yediot Ahronot published a column on its front page that described Biden’s performance as a “catastrophe.” Columnist Nadav Eyal wrote that facing the prospect of another Trump presidency, Democrats and their allies carried the fate of the free world on their shoulders.
“Weakness is not a characteristic that an American president can convey, under any circumstances,” he wrote.
Gabby Sobelman and Myra Noveck Contributed reporting.
