President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday paid homage to Joe Biden in what was likely the final visit by a senior Israeli official to the Oval Office during the outgoing US president’s term.
Herzog told reporters in the room that while he came to the White House to speak with Biden about efforts to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon in addition to combating the Iranian nuclear threat, “Most importantly, I’m here on behalf of the people of Israel and the State of Israel to say to you, Mr. President, thank you very much. As we say in Hebrew, ‘Todah Rabah.’”
“You’ve been an incredible friend of Israel and the Jewish people for decades, and we will never forget, ever in history, how you stood up with us in our darkest hour, which became our finest hour — how you came to Israel a few days after the barbaric attack of October 7, how you helped us and supported us with words and deeds,” Herzog said in his prepared Oval Office remarks, adding that it solidified the US president’s “great legacy.”
He presented Biden with a gift, an archaeological finding from the foot of the Temple Mount inscribed with the name “Joseph,” an apparent reference to the Biblical figure.
“In the Bible, it says that Joseph will strengthen Israel. And clearly, Mr. President, you’ve done that,” Herzog said.
Biden thanked Herzog for the praise, adding that he wished his father –who he called a “righteous Christian” who thought the Allies should have moved quicker against the Nazis during World War II — had been there to hear the Israeli president.
Bucking some progressive critics who have expressed anger over his support for the Jewish state, Biden reiterated his belief that “you don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist.”
“You are clearly a Zionist, Mr. President,” Herzog responded.
“God love you,” said a smiling Biden in return as he extended his arm for a handshake with Herzog. “Thanks for being here.”
US President Joe Biden (L) meets with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023, in the first weeks after Hamas’s October 7 attack. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP)
Unsurprisingly, it was Herzog delivering the warm farewell message from Israel and not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has sparred with Biden throughout their decades-long relationship but particularly over the last two years, when the US president expressed his alarm over the premier’s effort to radically overhaul the Israeli judiciary and then more recently over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The two initially seemed to put aside their difference after Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. Biden traveled to Israel within days and ordered US troops to the region to help defend the Jewish state against Iran and its proxies, which they did during direct attacks by the Islamic Republic this year. Biden’s favorables shot up among Israelis who appeared to appreciate his repeated messages of support. But that goodwill dissipated as the war dragged on and humanitarian conditions in Gaza worsened.
Last month, the US sent Israel a letter warning that it had 30 days to take steps to improve the humanitarian crisis or risk being deemed out of compliance with legislation that bars the transfer of offensive weaponry to countries that block aid from reaching civilians.
For all of the criticism of Israel’s prosecution of the war and despite growing calls from progressives for Biden to take a harder line, the administration has continued US support for the Jewish state.
The 30-day deadline expired on Tuesday, with the State Department declaring that Israel had not been found to be in violation of US law after Jerusalem took a series of steps to boost the amount of aid entering Gaza.
The steps fell short of what the US had demanded in the letter, but Biden saw his leverage depleted after Donald Trump’s election victory last week, given that the president-elect is surely to reverse any embargo upon his return to the White House.
A senior State Department official told The Times of Israel on Monday that the only weapon shipment that remains help up is one of 2,000-pound bombs that was frozen in May due to US concerns they could be used by Israel in densely populated areas of Gaza. All other shipments have continued.
Israeli security forces at the site where a drone from Lebanon hit and caused damage to a kindergarten complex, in Nesher, northern Israel, November 11, 2024. (Flash90)
During early remarks in front of reporters, Herzog noted Tuesday’s tragic events in northern Israel, where two people in the town of Nahariya were killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack, and a Haifa kindergarten was hit by a drone.
“This is what we’re going through from Lebanon, Mr. President,” Herzog said. He added that the Israel Defense Forces would continue defending the Israeli people and acknowledged Biden’s efforts to end the conflict on the northern border in a way that ensures “there will be first and foremost security for the people of Israel, as well as for the people of Lebanon.”
Israel has been trading fire with Hezbollah since October 8, 2023, when the Lebanese terror group began launching attacks on the north a day after its ally Hamas’s deadly cross-border attack. Israel kicked off an intensified offensive against Hezbollah in September and later sent ground troops into southern Lebanon to push the Iran-backed organization away from the frontier.
US special envoy for Lebanon Amos Hochstein said Tuesday that “there is a shot” to reach a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, and Israeli television reported that Netanyahu wants one, as — Israel is said to assess — does the Lebanese terror group. A draft proposal is said to have been handed to Lebanon already, awaiting Hezbollah’s response.
Turning to Gaza, Herzog lamented that 97 of the hostages abducted by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, atrocities remain in captivity after more than 400 days, and thanked Biden for his efforts to try to secure their release.
Hostage talks have been at an extended impasse, leading the US to ask Qatar to oust Hamas officials from Doha late last month. Qatar however has called reports that it was giving Hamas the boot “inaccurate.”
Seven American-Israeli hostages remain captive in Gaza. Their families are expected to meet with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House later Tuesday, a National Security Council spokesperson told The Times of Israel.
Acknowledging the US president’s desire to plan for the postwar management of Gaza, Herzog expressed his desire to see those efforts provide a “trajectory of hope to the people of the region… to live in security and peace.”
“But first and foremost, we have to get the hostages back,” he said.
Israelis demanding the government do more to enable the return of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since its October 7, 2023 invasion and massacre in southern Israel, attend a rally in Tel Aviv on November 9, 2024, marking 400 days since the Hamas attack and the abduction of the hostages. The placard on the right reads “400 days too many.” (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Herzog then moved to Iran, which he called the primary problem for the region. He told Biden that Tehran seeks to destabilize the Middle East directly and through its proxies by calling for the annihilation of Israel and by seeking nuclear weapons.
Combating Tehran “has to be a major objective all throughout your term and the next term of the next president because we have to make sure that they cannot fulfill their evil intentions,” Herzog said.
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on November 2, 2024, shows him addressing Iranian students during a meeting with them in Tehran. (KHAMENEI.IR/AFP)
Biden will leave office on January 20, 2025. Israeli officials have also been speaking to incoming president Donald Trump, who during his first term pulled the US out of a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and replaced it with a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions that he is widely expected to renew upon returning to the White House.
Herzog branded Tehran “a major engine of antisemitism,” and used the opportunity to thank Biden for his efforts to combat Jew hatred as president. Attacks against Jews have surged in the US, as they have around the world, since Hamas’s attack last year.
Iran, which funds Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terror groups in the region, and is committed to Israel’s destruction, has also launched two direct attacks on Israel since the outbreak of war last year. Following an October 1 barrage of 181 ballistic missiles, Israel conducted dozens of airstrikes in Iran.
The strikes did not target Iran’s nuclear sites, but did leave them vulnerable to a future attack. Israel, as well as the US, have insisted that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon — a goal the Islamic Republic officially denies, despite its enrichment of uranium to near-weapons grade levels
Biden’s prepared remarks at the outset of the meeting were far shorter than Herzog’s. He welcomed Israel’s president back to the White House, calling him a close friend and reiterating his “ironclad” commitment to the State of Israel.
Neither of them took questions from shouting reporters.
