US President Joe Biden’s warm embrace of Israel during its darkest hours demonstrated strong leadership and true friendship. “I come to Israel with a single message: You are not alone,” Biden declared at a press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on October 18. “As long as the United States stands – and we will stand forever – we will not let you ever be alone.”
Biden, the first American president to visit Israel during a war, comforted a nation in extreme pain after the heinous Hamas assault on October 7 that claimed more than 1,400 lives, while more than 220 people – men and women, elderly and children – were taken hostage to Gaza. And he didn’t just talk the talk.
“We have moved US military assets to the region, including positioning the USS Ford carrier strike group in the Eastern Mediterranean, with the USS Eisenhower [aircraft carrier] on the way, to deter further aggression against Israel and to prevent this conflict from spreading,” he said.
World leaders followed Biden's lead
Other world leaders followed Biden’s lead in making solidarity visits to Israel, such as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “I want you to know that the UK and I stand with you,” Sunak said. ”You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism, and I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I stand with you.”
Scholz told a press conference that Germany stands firmly with Israel. “In difficult times, Germany has only one place, and that is by Israel’s side,” he said. “Germany supports the security of Israel and its citizens.”
Von der Leyen called the Hamas attack on October 7 the worst assault against Jews since the Holocaust. “I believe it was important to pass this message of solidarity in person, in Israel, just days after the Hamas attack,” she said. “Only if we acknowledge Israel’s pain and its right to defend itself will we have the credibility to say that Israel should react as a democracy, in line with international humanitarian law.”
Several foreign ministers and defense ministers also visited as well, such as German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who burst into tears during a meeting with families whose loved ones were abducted by Hamas. “In these horrible days, we the people of Germany are standing with you,” she said. “We’re feeling with you. We are all Israelis in these days.”
One notable exception in regard to solidarity with Israel was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who gathered his National Executive Committee in Gauteng a week after the Hamas slaughter to demonstrate support for the Palestinian people. “[We’re] all standing here, pledging our solidarity with the people of Palestine,” Ramaphosa said, wearing a keffiyeh (Arabic scarf) around his neck. He enraged the South African Jewish community so much that his invitation to attend the Jewish Achiever Awards on October 22 was rescinded. Ramaphosa should learn a lesson from his hero, Nelson Mandela, and Joe Biden by placing himself on the right side of history. He can support both Israel and the Palestinians while opposing Hamas, a cruel terrorist organization that does not represent the majority of the Palestinian people.
“May God protect all those who work for peace,” Biden said at the conclusion of his exceptional speech in Tel Aviv. “God save those who are still in harm’s way.” It is a blessing worth remembering as Israel seeks to destroy Hamas and return the hostages home.
Footnote: A reader wrote in to say that two articles in the last issue (October 23) – Eugene Bardach’s fictitious interview with a yeshiva bocher and Pamela Peled’s “Doing the Daf as Israel implodes” – were offensive. We apologize if we have offended any other readers at this difficult time for all of us.