US President Joe Biden’s support of Israel rivaled President Richard Nixon’s famed 1973 airlifts that helped save Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Biden visited Israel at the start of the Gaza war last year, when thousands of rockets fired at Israel from the Strip, to show support that no US president had ever undertaken.
Biden’s Oct. 7 response
In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas October 7th attacks against Israel launched by Hamas on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, President Biden addressed the American people and said, “This attack has brought to the surface painful memories and the scars left by a millennia of antisemitism and genocide of the Jewish people. So, in this moment, we must be crystal clear: We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel. And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself, and respond to this attack.”
In 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told a joint session of US Congress, “I thank President Biden for his heartfelt support for Israel after the savage attack on October 7th. He rightly called Hamas “sheer evil.”
In the weeks and months following the attack, President Biden and his administration repeated these remarks and supported Israel militarily and diplomatically.
Biden dispatched two aircraft carriers to the Middle East to deter a wider war. Netanyahu had said, "President Biden and I have known each other for over forty years. I want to thank him for half a century of friendship to Israel and for being, as he says, a proud Zionist. Actually, he says, 'a proud Irish American Zionist'.”
Biden set three goals for the Middle East
A two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will require a willingness by both the Palestinians and Israelis to compromise;
A de-escalation of tensions in the region;
A consistent flow of goods into the Gaza Strip for Palestinian civilians stuck in the conflict.
Why hasn’t there been any negotiations for a two-state solution in years?
Humanitarian supplies have been a source of contention with Palestinians claiming they aren’t getting enough supplies and Israel claiming they are sending plenty of supplies for everyone in Gaza.
Fronts of the Gaza war have escalated to extend to six more areas, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen. None of the Biden administration goals have been met. These countries along with the Palestinians would continue to reject Israeli offers of peace during numerous negotiations.
In January, Netanyahu posted on “X” “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan - and this is contrary to a Palestinian state.”
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas didn’t call for a two-state solution but instead for Israel’s membership in the United Nations to be suspended. Without Israeli and Palestinian interest in a two-state solution, no amount of American enthusiasm will be able to push it through.
In late April, American Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there are improvements in the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, Israel must do more to improve the situation.
In May, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller discussed the humanitarian aid convoys entering Gaza, saying, “The convoys from the Jordanian military that brought the aid in unloaded the aid in Gaza. It was then picked up by a humanitarian implementer for distribution inside Gaza. That aid was intercepted and diverted by Hamas on the ground in Gaza.”
In September in his address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Biden addressed the escalation from Hezbollah, “Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest. The situation has escalated."
A solution is still possible
In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security and to allow the residents of both countries to return to their homes.
As an administration that has shown unprecedented support for Israel, it is understandable that it would want to improve the situation in the region by ending all conflict and ensuring innocent civilians aren’t harmed.
These priorities are also shared by Israel for its entire existence. Shared values are the backdrop for the strong US-Israel relationship.
Yet, Israel and the Palestinians aren’t viewing this time of war as a time to take steps to improve the situation through diplomatic negotiations.
Uri Pilichowski is an author, speaker, and senior educator at institutions around the world.