President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he will not run for reelection in 2024, on the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United States.
While the announcement may dispel widespread concern surrounding the Democratic nominee’s capacity to lead — especially relative to Republican nominee Donald Trump — the issue that has prompted mass protest against the Democratic incumbent still looms large over the campaign: Biden’s virtually unconditional support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
Biden has maintained a chiefly deferential and supportive stance throughout Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Now, some see his departure as opening the possibility for a reset on U.S. policy toward Israel.
Former Biden Department of Education political appointee Tariq Habash — who resigned in January in protest of Biden’s policies on the Gaza war — notes that a significant part of the base is already disillusioned with Biden because of his unwillingness to enforce U.S. law and hold Israel accountable for violations of international humanitarian law. Biden’s decision also comes just two days after the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestine constitutes illegal apartheid.
“Whoever replaces the President on the ticket needs to show voters that there will be a substantive shift in policy that ends the dehumanization of Palestinians and supports Palestinian human rights, international law, and peace,” Habash said.
“Obviously both Democrats and Republicans have a long way to go,” he added. “This week’s visit from Netanyahu is emblematic of that, as is President Biden’s refusal to hold his red lines, enforce Leahy or Foreign Assistance Act, or achieve a permanent ceasefire or return Palestinian and Israeli hostages.”
Many critics had noted that Biden’s stance on Israel’s war revealed concerning signs of his leadership and adaptability far before the fateful June debate.
“It was not Biden’s failed debate that showed he is unfit to lead. It was the tens of thousands of bombs he sent to kill Palestinian families,” the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights said in a statement. “Biden’s refusal to adhere to international law or enforce U.S. law has deepened Israel’s illegal military occupation. The International Court of Justice’s latest advisory opinion on Friday asserted that every state has a legal obligation ‘not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation’ created by Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights.”
No matter who replaces Biden, Riley Livermore — an Air Force major who said the Biden administration was “complicit in genocide” when he resigned in June — said the moment presents a possible inflection point for U.S. policy on Israel’s war.
“That being said, Biden isn’t stepping down because of pressure on how brutal his Gaza policy was. From my perspective, the ongoing genocide in Gaza had minimal to no impact on the pressure for him to step down. I’m still disheartened that the Democratic Party doesn’t care about Palestinians and continues to offer unconditional support to Israel,” Livermore told The Intercept, repeating that he resigned due to Biden’s policies on Gaza, not his age.
One senior Democratic aide told The Intercept that they were wary of the rushed process to replace the candidate that had little to do with how Biden’s support for a war that’s killed 15,000 children in Gaza may have already irreparably hurt his chances among crucial voting blocs. “The country needs to hear from an anti-war candidate who sees Palestinians as human beings,” they said. “It’s important that our next candidate is chosen through a democratic process at an open convention.”
Biden and scores of elected officials and party caucuses have already thrown their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket in November. And there have been signs that she may divert from Biden’s hard-line support for Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
Late last year, Harris reportedly pushed the White House to be more sympathetic toward Palestinian suffering, and more forceful against Netanyahu to seek a long-term peace. In March, Harris delivered a speech in Selma, Alabama, forcefully calling for an “immediate ceasefire” and urging Israel to do more to increase the flow of aid to Gaza. “No excuses,” she insisted. While the speech seemed to mark a change in the administration’s stance on the war, reports surfaced that National Security Council officials had watered down parts of her speech.
“We have to have a goal that we start working on right now, for peace and for an equal measure of security for Israelis and Palestinians,” Harris said later that month. “Palestinians have a right to self-determination; they have a right to dignity, and we’re going to have to work on that.”
These reports have not gone unnoticed by people hoping for change in U.S. policy.
Livermore said he was hopeful if Harris becomes the next president, she will take the opportunity to drastically change the U.S. posture toward Israel. “Harris has a choice between listening to her own humanity and the overwhelming will of the American people, or listening to donors and special interest groups by continuing to make genocide part of her platform and in doing so, delegitimizing America internationally.”
“Leaders like myself, and the other Black faith leaders who signed open letters pressuring Biden to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza believe Harris would be much more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause if nominated,” Rev. Michael McBride, a pastor and founder of Black Church PAC said in a statement. “This could help reinvigorate a part of the base that has largely felt conflicted about casting a vote for Biden.”
Waleed Shahid, co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement — which has garnered over 700,000 people nationwide casting protest votes against Biden’s hard-line support for Israel — also noted dissenters’ openness to Harris.
“While by no means a champion of the cause, I’ve heard numerous people note that Vice President Harris exhibited a deeply different emotional reaction to the stories of Palestinian suffering than President Biden,” he said in a statement.
Despite the limitations of the Vice Presidency, there is a belief that she would offer an improvement compared to Biden’s perceived lack of empathy towards Palestinians and his connections to the AIPAC old guard within the party. Nevertheless, taking on AIPAC’s influence within the Democratic Party establishment will continue to be a challenging feat, regardless of the nominee selected.
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