Last Thursday, an aide to US President Joe Biden told me: “Mr. Biden intends to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week despite the president’s current case of COVID.” I countered with the following question: “When the president meets with the prime minister, will Mr. Biden still be a candidate for reelection?”
The aide paused for a brief moment, and then weighed his words carefully: “My job is to work on foreign policy, not the political issues of an election campaign – but can I tell you with certainty that when Biden meets Netanyahu next week, the president will be doing so also as a candidate for reelection? No, I cannot tell you that for sure. This, however, does not affect our active involvement in working with Israel on the pressing issues of our times.”
Mr. Netanyahu is stepping foot on American soil at a time when the political ground in the US is shaky and unstable. However, as the aide assured me, the president and his people not only can, but must continue functioning normally, soundproofing the White House walls from all of the outside political noise.
This applies to so many domestic issues, but also, from the Israeli perspective, regarding the matters of war, the hostages, the future of Gaza, and the overall question of a growing regional conflict.
ON SUNDAY, immediately following Biden’s announcement on pulling out of the presidential race, the aide and I held another conversation. First, he clarified that his comment last week regarding his doubts that Mr. Biden would still be running for reelection at this point was based “only on a hunch.” In actuality, aides were told of the president’s official decision “only about 10 to 15 minutes before the world heard the news,” he said.
Second, he reaffirmed that the Biden team “remains focused on the Netanyahu meeting, getting the hostages back, and restoring regional stability, in the same way that it would be focused if nothing had just happened in the political realm.”
In addition, the aide recalled that his boss, before serving as president and vice president, had been a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including a period when he served as chairman, and asserted that Biden has “exploited that prowess to the fullest as president.”
Said the aide: “He continues to stand with Israel; the two sides have been talking on a daily basis. [US Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin and [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant spoke about the Israeli attack against the Houthis in Yemen, with our assertion that Israel has the right to defend itself.
“We have criticized the ICJ [International Court of Justice] for its advisory opinion last Friday. We pray for good results in the talks for the release of the hostages.” He added that “when we sit down and talk about these things, as far as we are concerned, there is no presidential election campaign going on.”
He maintained that the same approach applies when dealing with Ukraine and “countless other issues.”
Kamala Harris and Israel
Nonetheless, I took him back to the election campaign. “The president is supporting Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democrats’ nominee for the presidency. During the Gaza war, Biden and Harris have seemed to play good cop/bad cop. In addition to Mr. Biden’s far greater experience in foreign affairs, his comments about Israeli military actions and policy have been more sympathetic. Should Israelis be concerned about a potential president Harris?”
My question was long; his reply was somewhat curt: “Again, I say, don’t get me involved in politics, but, no, there is nothing to worry about.”
When I pressed him, he opened up a bit more, saying that he had been present for many discussions involving Biden and Harris regarding Israel, and that “she would maintain the same course in terms of overall policy in the US-Israel relationship. She knows how important it is.”
I was not going to end our conversation without asking: “Now that the president has decided to withdraw from the race, may I ask you whether you’ve noticed a decline over time in his health and ability to function fully?”
“Yes, you may ask that question, but no, honestly, I can tell you that I did not notice anything, certainly nothing significant. Listen, you know how Mr. Biden speaks. He is deliberate in his speech, in his thought process; he pauses, he thinks, he listens, he decides. It’s been a joy to learn so much from him, and in terms of October 7 and the aftermath – America, Israel, and the world could not have had a better president to understand the situation and act quickly in the correct manner,” said the presidential aide firmly.
“Hey, we still have nearly six months left in this term,” he added: “Mr. Biden has much to do and he will do it.”
RETURNING TO the events of this week, the US president and Israeli prime minister are due to meet and Netanyahu is to address a joint session of Congress. Protests are expected in Washington to mark the occasion. The Biden aide said that he still expects to see signs which read “Genocide Joe” or which contain similar slogans despite the new political reality.
“First of all, Mr. Biden is still president,” he said. “Secondly, even if some Israelis might think that Ms. Harris is problematic for them, many of these pro-Palestinians believe, I am sure, that Vice President Harris must also be put in her place, and want to warn her that she won’t get their vote unless she alters the platform regarding Gaza.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu has long felt comfortable on the US political stage. This week, he is walking right into American political history. However, at the White House, the message is that even amid the domestic turmoil, they know how to handle world crises.
The writer is the op-ed editor of The Jerusalem Post.