America Needs Achdus Too

For a headline, it was long and clunky, but having followed Biden’s career since the early 1980s, when he was the junior senator from Delaware and I was a young journalist in the state capital of Dover, I felt that line personified Biden’s hot-and-cold approach toward Israel. Biden could bring an AIPAC audience to its feet with a speech that made him sound like Menachem Begin, and then a month later, he could deliver an address at J Street, where he would sound like Oslo architect Yossi Beilin, venting his wrath over Binyamin Netanyahu or Israeli settlements.

In the past two weeks, one genuine version of Joe Biden has stood tall, in words and more importantly in deeds.

Following the worst terrorist crime in Israel’s history, which has now claimed more than 1,400 Jewish lives, Biden flew to Israel, embraced Netanyahu at the airport, and soothed Israelis of all stripes with verbal and moral support. As commander in chief, he dispatched American military might to the region, warning Iran and Hezbollah not to mix in. Biden’s visit exhibited all the hallmarks of a statesman rising to the occasion.

I wasn’t surprised. As Biden has risen to prominence over the years, first as Barack Obama’s vice president and now as president, I have occasionally used my column to convey my experiences with Biden when covering him was part of my beat.