As the war in Gaza nears the end of its second week, analysts say United States President Joe Biden is increasingly acting like a wartime leader, offering a “performative” show of strength and support for Israel. Biden visited Israel on Wednesday to back its military campaign in Gaza despite growing calls for a ceasefire.
I’m here to tell you that terrorists will not win. Freedom will win,” Biden said in remarks reminiscent of the speeches of former United States President George W Bush after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Experts say Biden is attempting to appeal to his domestic audience ahead of the 2024 elections and dodge Republican criticisms that would frame him as “weak”
Experts say Biden is attempting to appeal to his domestic audience ahead of the 2024 elections and dodge Republican criticisms that would frame him as “weak”.George Bisharat, a professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, said Biden’s approach to the Gaza war — including the visit to Israel — has an “element of political performance
This is ‘Sleepy Joe’ proving that he’s awake, that he’s an expert on foreign policy,” Bisharat told Al Jazeera, invoking former President Donald Trump’s nickname for Biden.
Of course, most of the time, American voters don’t really care very much about foreign policy; they don’t vote on foreign policy grounds. But wartime is an exception. This, in a way, is an opportunity to kind of flex muscles without the actual concrete costs to American soldiers in particular.
