I don’t think there’s any doubt that Joe Biden is a sort of Democratic mainstream avatar. He always has been. Going back to his early days in the Senate, he was a a very predictable Senator from Delaware, straddling the various strands of liberalism and conservatism that co-existed in the party in those days. Today he is straddling the left and the center in the new Democratic Party.
The WaPo’s Dan Balz analyses how this has affected the administration’s approach to Israel:
At home and abroad, President Biden is confronting what it means to lead a changing Democratic Party.
The center of gravity in the party still seems closer to Biden’s center-left than to Sen. Bernie Sanders’s democratic-socialist left, as Biden’s victory in the 2020 nomination battle confirmed. In primary campaigns in competitive districts, voters have often supported a more moderate candidate over a more liberal one.
Yet everyone agrees that Democrats have moved left since Biden served as Barack Obama’s vice president. The liberal wing’s influence has grown, and what power it has is amplified through social media and cable TV. As president, Biden feels the changes constantly.
They were evident throughout the 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Biden and his advisers had to weigh traditional U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas-launched rocket attacks with rising concerns — particularly but not exclusively among those on the Democratic left — over the number of casualties as well as the widespread destruction in Gaza by the Israeli military.
Biden’s support for Israel over many years has been unwavering. He reiterated that position Friday. “There is no shift in my commitment to the security of Israel. Period. No shift, not at all,” he said. “But I’ll tell you what there is a shift in: We need a two-state solution. It is the only answer.”
Through mostly quiet diplomacy, along with one unusually public demand to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate, the Biden administration helped to bring about an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, fragile as it may be. That public shove to de-escalate was indicative of the new political environment, and it appeared to help bring about results.
In remarks Thursday evening, after the cease-fire was announced, Biden had reiterated U.S. support for Israel, promising to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. He also pledged to work through the United Nations to provide humanitarian assistance and reconstruction funding for the people of Gaza. He said the United States would work with the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, in these efforts “in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military authority.”
Two days earlier, Biden had praised Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a Palestinian American who has been scorching in her criticism of Israel. Biden and Tlaib had a vigorous conversation on an airport tarmac when he arrived in Michigan. Shortly after, he said publicly how much he admired Tlaib’s intellect, passion and concern for others, adding, “And God, thank you for being a fighter.”
That was acknowledgment that, if Biden has not shifted, the backdrop against which this conflict took place was different than in the past, especially among Democrats. “There’s still strong support for Israel in the Democratic Party,” said a former Obama administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid analysis. “But the dynamics have become more complicated.”
Why has this happened? Well, maybe because we have just had a glimpse of our own Netanyahu and a fresh look at our own apartheid past? Also, this:
Netanyahu’s choices to align himself with former president Donald Trump and the Republican Party, and Trump’s policies, which did not offer even the pretense of evenhandedness, contributed to turning what had been strong bipartisan support in the United States for Israel into a more combustible partisan environment. Which in turn has led more Democrats to become sympathetic to the Palestinian people and less supportive of Israel.
Netanyahu threw all his support to Trump, dissed the Democrats and sucked up to the Republicans without any regard to how that was going to change the calculation in the US. That was short-sighted. He didn’t need to go as far as he did but then his actions at home have been just as reckless.
That’s just one area in which Biden is being influenced by the left in ways that we might not have predicted. The progressive faction is now not just considered “the professional left” as it was in Obama’s term. It clearly has a seat at the table and can no longer be dismissed or used as a foil (hippie punching.)
This complicates the Democrats’ agenda because there is more friction within the party. But that’s the inevitable result of having a big tent. It creates a lot of conflict, compromise and trade-offs. But it also creates a more progressive party overall.