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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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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
TRUMP THREAT
Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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