Biden pro-Israel stance sees backlash after election humiliation

Outgoing US President Joe Biden is facing mounting criticism over his continued strong support for Israel, despite his touted successor Kamala Harris’s humiliating election loss to Donald Trump, which was partly attributed to the Democrats’ disastrous handling of the war on Gaza.

Biden’s staunchly pro-Israel stance contributed to a divisive presidential race and boycotts by Arab-Americans against Harris, who ran as president for the Democrats, and despite this the outgoing president has continued to affirm his government’s “ironclad” commitment to Israel during its last months in the White House.

This has led to a backlash from Muslim and Arab Americans who are pressing Biden to enact stricter actions against Israel after it plunged northern Gaza to the brink of famine with a devastating siege, despite Washington putting Tel Aviv on 30-day notice – now expired – over the issue of aid entry into the enclave or face arms export restrictions.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a leading Muslim-American civil rights organisation, condemned Biden as a “war criminal” for his decision to continue supplying weapons to Israel after it reportedly missed the 30-day deadline to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. 

“Let’s be very clear. Knowingly funding war crimes in violation of US and international law makes you a war criminal,” the group said in a statement. 

“We never thought this day would come, but we must speak the truth plainly and clearly: President Biden is a war criminal. So is Antony Blinken. So is Lloyd Austin. We condemn them in the strongest terms, and so will history.”

CAIR’s latest criticism follows an earlier call to Biden this week to “salvage what remains of his legacy” by upholding US law which mandates the suspension of weapons transfers to the Israeli government over Israel’s crippling aid restrictions in besieged Gaza.  

Eight international aid groups, including Oxfam and Save the Children, also confirmed this week that Israel had failed to meet US demands to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza while charities warned the enclave faces imminent famine.

“Without an immediate end to the siege and the provision of safe, unrestricted humanitarian access, alongside a steady flow of food supplies through all available crossings, our food parcels can only meet a fraction of the urgent needs,” said Natalia Anguera, Head of Operations for the Middle East at Action Against Hunger.

“We urge the international community to understand that declaring a famine goes far beyond indicating extreme hunger. It means that lives are already being lost.”

Despite this, Washington argued on Tuesday that Israel had made progress in meeting US aid demands, despite charities and NGOs warning of potential and imminent mass starvation in Gaza. 

On the same day of the warnings, President Biden met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog to reaffirm US-Israel ties, emphasising that Washington’s “commitment to Israel is ironclad” and stating that “first and foremost, we have to get the hostages back home” from Gaza.

In a widely circulated viral clip, the US president avoided answering a question about whether he hoped to achieve a ceasefire before the end of his term in office in January.  

When an Israeli journalist asked if a deal might be possible by January, Biden responded: “Do you think you can keep from getting hit in the head by a camera behind you?” 

It was seen as reflecting Biden’s perceived lack of seriousness in ending the war on Gaza, which had killed over 43,700 Palestinians, many of them civilians who had died as a result of US-made weapons.

In a post on social media platform X, British journalist Mehdi Hasan questioned the legacy of President Biden’s administration.  

“Joe Biden spent the first three years of his presidency passing a lot of progressive legislation and ending America’s longest war. He spent the last year of it enabling a genocide abroad and opening the door to a fascist at home,” Hasan wrote. 

“It’s the last year that will forever define him.”