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Biden Needs to Stand By His Promises, Not Try to Appease Anti-Israel Voters
US President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address at the US Capitol, March 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
President Biden finds himself in a political predicament: by providing military aid and diplomatic support for Israel, he has alienated many Arab voters in Michigan, a swing state that may be crucial for his re-election bid. On the other hand, his failure to veto last week’s UN Security Council Resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, and his increasingly harsh rhetoric about Israel’s defensive war in Gaza, has had the same effect on many Jewish voters.
Aside from his own personal views, Biden’s action at the UN and his attacks on Israel seem partly intended to mollify Arab voters and bring the progressive wing of his party back into the fold before a tough election. But it’s likely that Biden can’t win back these voters without instituting an arms embargo against our longstanding ally while it is at war, something he is loath to do.
In attempting to placate these voters, all Biden has succeeded in doing is to alienate another set of voters: American Jews who support Israel. While Jews certainly don’t vote solely based on what is best for Israel, many Jewish people were initially heartened by Biden’s strong response to the Hamas massacre on October 7, and the defensive war Israel launched in response. But now many Jewish voters are questioning Biden’s promise that he would stand by Israel until it was able to fully defeat Hamas.
Furthermore, the US abstention at the United Nations has had horrible consequences for Israel, the Palestinians, and all people who want to see peace in the region. Hostage negotiations were making progress with Hamas until that resolution, at which point Hamas abruptly reverted to its original position. The timing was no coincidence. Hamas felt emboldened by the UN resolution — and the US abstention — and decided time and the international community were on its side. Biden’s move was a grave misstep, and one that will have major real world consequences.
Although Arab Americans have a strong presence in swing states, so do Jews — like the many Jewish people that live in the suburbs surrounding Philadelphia.
Arab Americans who don’t vote for Biden don’t have a viable alternative, and it would hurt their interests to abandon him. They aren’t going to like Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban 2.0, or Trump’s racist language and even harsher criticism of the Palestinians. Biden’s political fortunes are much more secure if he doesn’t drive voters who care about Israel into the arms of Trump. Viewed through this lens, his decision to abstain from the UN vote was particularly shortsighted. Not only did it undermine the hostage negotiations, but it may have hurt his re-election campaign.
It also signaled to our allies and enemies that the US is an unreliable, fair-weather friend. It demonstrated weakness of will, and a lack of steadfastness that will reduce confidence in the commitments we make and the positions we take. That is bad for our standing in the world, and bad for Biden. One of the advantages that Biden touts against his opponent is the image of the steadfast elder statesman in contrast to Trump’s erratic buffoonery. But Biden’s flip-flopping on Israel has harmed that image he so carefully cultivated. It was as reckless politically as it was geopolitically.
In these precarious times, the US needs a steadfast leader. Someone who can be counted on to make difficult decisions and stick to them, even if a vocal minority in his party is alienated by them. We need a leader whose commitment to our allies is not subject to the vicissitudes of domestic politics. Unfortunately, we do not have that leadership at this crucial time.
Kenneth Blake is a former state prosecutor. He teaches Critical Thinking and Government in Petaluma, CA.
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Trump’s Travel Ban on 12 Countries Goes Into Effect Early Monday
US President Donald Trump attends the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump’s order banning citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States goes into effect at 12:01 am ET (0401 GMT) on Monday, a move the president promulgated to protect the country from “foreign terrorists.”
The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted.
Trump, a Republican, said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security, have an inability to verify travelers’ identities, as well as inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States.
He cited last Sunday’s incident in Boulder, Colorado, in which an Egyptian national tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new curbs are needed. But Egypt is not part of the travel ban.
The travel ban forms part of Trump’s policy to restrict immigration into the United States and is reminiscent of a similar move in his first term when he barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Officials and residents in countries whose citizens will soon be banned expressed dismay and disbelief.
Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said he had instructed his government to stop granting visas to US citizens in response to Trump’s action.
“Chad has neither planes to offer nor billions of dollars to give, but Chad has its dignity and its pride,” he said in a Facebook post, referring to countries such as Qatar, which gifted the U.S. a luxury airplane for Trump’s use and promised to invest billions of dollars in the U.S.
Afghans who worked for the US or US-funded projects and were hoping to resettle in the US expressed fear that the travel ban would force them to return to their country, where they could face reprisal from the Taliban.
Democratic US lawmakers also voiced concern about the policies.
“Trump’s travel ban on citizens from over 12 countries is draconian and unconstitutional,” said US Representative Ro Khanna on social media late on Thursday. “People have a right to seek asylum.”
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Israeli Military Says It Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a member of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in southern Syria’s Mazraat Beit Jin, days after Israel carried out its first airstrikes in the country in nearly a month.
Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike.
Israel said on Tuesday it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel for the first time under the country’s new leadership. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz held Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa accountable.
Damascus in response said reports of the shelling were unverified, reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party.
A little known group named “Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades,” an apparent reference to Hamas’ military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024, reportedly claimed responsibility for the shelling. Reuters, however, could not independently verify the claim.
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Israel Orders Military to Stop Gaza-Bound Yacht Carrying Greta Thunberg
FILE PHOTO: Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this picture released on June 2, 2025 on social media. Photo: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told the military on Sunday to stop a charity boat carrying activists including Sweden’s Greta Thunberg who are planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.
Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is currently off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.
“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen .. does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
“To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.”
Climate activist Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for humanitarian aid. She has rejected previous Israeli accusations of antisemitism.
Israel went to war with Hamas in October 2023 after the Islamist terrorists launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to the enclave.
Katz said the blockade was essential to Israel’s national security as it seeks to eliminate Hamas.
“The State of Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade on Gaza, whose primary purpose is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,” he said.
The Madleen is carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, the FFC has said.
FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said on Sunday the boat was currently some 160 nautical miles (296 km) from Gaza. “We are preparing for the possibility of interception,” she said.
Besides Thunberg, there are 11 other crew members aboard, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.
Israeli media have reported that the military plans to intercept the yacht before it reaches Gaza and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The crew would then be deported.
In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 people when they boarded a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, that was leading a small flotilla towards Gaza.
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