When Sen. Joseph Lieberman retired in 2012, it was the end of an era in American politics: Lieberman was the last Scoop Jackson Democrat, a staunch Cold War hawk and defender of liberalism at home and abroad.
When Joe Biden retires, he will not be the last pro-Israel Democrat. But he may be the last of his kind of pro-Israel Democrat—the Catholic who proclaims himself a Zionist from the Oval Office and lectures his critics on the moral imperative of letting the Jewish people control their fate.
Biden has spent decades, of course, getting into rows with Israeli leaders, and he’s been on the wrong side of many of them—including recently, as we’ve written here. He is neither more Catholic than the pope nor more Israeli than the Israelis. It’s just that there seems to be one line that Biden cannot be pressured to cross, and that is forcing Israel to stop fighting when it cannot afford to.
He will almost certainly be the last Democratic president, at least for some time, who is able to withstand the immense pressure from within his party and cross that line. In truth, I can’t think of a president of either party who has been hounded by his own party over Israel the way Biden has been. His vice president and presumed successor, Kamala Harris, clearly cannot wait to fold.
And the Israelis seem to have noticed. Yediot Ahronot reports that Israel went on a shopping spree to stock up on U.S.-made rifles while also setting into motion plans to build similar versions domestically to ease its reliance on American weapons. Israel will also produce a domestic line of bombs for its air force.
As the Times of Israel’s Lazar Berman points out, “A production line is expensive. It wouldn’t be opened if the IDF wasn’t committed to buying from it for years to come.” Berman also suggests this could be related to the recent decision by the U.S. Court of International Trade to challenge the subsidies received by Finkelstein Metals. That company is, as the Jerusalem Post explains, “the sole Israeli producer of brass, bronze, and copper alloy products,” with which it supplies major Israeli defense firms.
Among the systems dependent on Finkelstein Metals: Iron Dome, Israel’s missile defense.
Israeli officials stressed to Yediot that part of this changeover is designed to increase weapons uniformity across IDF brigades that use similar, and now would use identical, guns. “The move will allow for great maintenance flexibility, will prevent [adjustment challenges] for soldiers who will move from regular to reserve, will provide a uniform spare parts market and will save logistical costs over the years,” said one senior IDF officer.
The Israelis hope to have the domestically produced rifles ready in 2025.
Democrats have been locked in a fight over conditioning aid to Israel, which itself is something of a compromise position intended to take the air out of the tires of the progressive wing’s drive to reduce or eliminate military aid to the Jewish state.
Last week, hours after the debunking of the claim that Israel had sprayed bullets into Gazans trying to get food off of aid trucks, Elizabeth Warren stood on the Senate floor and repeated it to support her argument in favor of limiting wartime aid to Israel. Bernie Sanders used the occasion to insist Israel “open its borders” to let more aid into Gaza. “Failure to do so should result in the immediate halt of all military aid,” he said.
The “moderates,” folks like Tim Kaine and Dick Durbin, the latter being among the party’s Senate floor leadership, have been the ones to argue for “merely” conditioning aid to our ally.
The writing is on the wall. And whether it’s written right to left or left to right, Israelis have no trouble reading it. Next time—and unfortunately for Israel, there is always a next time—they might need a Plan B.