Joe Biden is right: backing resolutions supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is not the only way for a legislator to show support for Israel. But Biden went beyond that: 

Biden lashed out at those who would impugn his Israel credentials, saying, “I take a backseat to no one – including AIPAC – when it comes to supporting Israel.” 

“They don’t speak for the entire Jewish community. There are other organizations that are just as strong and consequential,” he said. “AIPAC does not speak for the State of Israel.”

In the second paragraph, Biden was mostly wrong: AIPAC doesn’t technically speak for Israel, but its positions usually reflect the Israeli position better than the positions held by other Jewish organizations. He was right in saying that AIPAC does not speak for “the entire Jewish community” (as if such a thing were even possible), but strangely followed the line of argument that has enjoyed recent popularity among the leaders of newly established, smaller, and less-significant Jewish organizations.

If Biden was convinced that there are other Jewish organizations “as strong and consequential” to which one should subscribe, his media audience should have pressed him with this question: And which would those be?