Biden drops out of presidential race: Everything you need to know

More than a dozen Republicans called on US President Joe Biden to step down on Sunday after he ended his re-election bid, saying that his unwillingness to continue to campaign raises questions about his ability to continue to govern.

In the serene surroundings of Winterthur, Delaware, amidst an artisan fair, Rabbi Michael S. Beals sat down on Sunday to share his sentimental thoughts on the recent developments surrounding President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the presidential race.

"He’s still young," Beals said, reflecting on Biden's vitality despite his age. This sentiment encapsulated the rabbi's deep respect and admiration for the president.

Many Democrats on Sunday quickly backed Vice President Kamala Harris to run as the party's presidential nominee against Donald Trump after incumbent President Joe Biden's abrupt departure from the race, but some powerful party members, including former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, stayed quiet.

The meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden will still go forward as planned despite the US leader announcing he will not seek reelection, a US official told the Associated Press on Sunday.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Sunday he thinks Vice President Kamala Harris will be easier to defeat in November's election than Democratic President Joe Biden, who earlier in the day stepped aside as his party's candidate.

US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 race for the White House could not come at a worse moment for Israel with respect to a hostage deal and Iran's military threat against the Jewish state.

There are those who always lauded Biden's strong support for Israel, particularly in the aftermath of October 7, and others who felt he had not gone far enough to protect the Jewish state and those who charged that his actions were harmful.

The Israeli Right might even feel that it dodged a bullet, given its fear that Biden would have pressured Netanyahu into a Saudi deal that would have included a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank.

US President Joe Biden’s bombshell announcement on Sunday that he will not seek re-election -- the first sitting president since Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1968 to voluntarily not seek a second term -- highlights the differences between the political situations in Israel and the US at this particular moment. 

The last few weeks have shown that Biden and Netanyahu will cling to power to the end, both men feeling indispensable. The difference is that the Democratic party, in self-preservation mode, will not allow the president to do that, whereas, inside the Likud, Netanyahu’s grip on the party remains so strong that no one dares to tell him what the Democrats told Biden: that with him at the helm, the party will lose power. 

On the virtual streets of social media in the Middle East, no cries of sorrow were to be heard following US President Biden’s decision to withdraw.

In Palestinian groups from Gaza, users could not hide their excitement. A user named Fares wrote: “Wars were waged against us only during the time of the Democrats: Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Proxy wars in Syria, Yemen, Lybia, and others. Trump's the best solution.” Another one named IAS added: “Biden withdraws from the election campaign. May Allah curse him;” while a last one named Najeh wrote: “Goodbye and on to history’s dumpster.”

US President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris will have ramifications in the Middle East, a region already in crisis.

While many countries in the region have likely watched the last several weeks of political chaos in America and prepared for this, there will be bad actors who will seek to take advantage of US domestic political chaos.

US President Joe Biden announced that he will be withdrawing his candidacy from the 2024 presidential election in a post on X. He thanked the country, highlighted some of his administration achievements, and endorsed his VP Kamala Harris as the new Democratic candidate.