Israeli president Isaac Herzog sent “heartfelt thanks” for Biden’s “friendship and steadfast support for the Israeli people over his decades long career.”

By JNS staff

Israeli leaders and U.S. Jewish groups heaped praise on President Joe Biden on Sunday evening, after the 81-year-old announced that he won’t seek re-election in November and endorsed Kamala Harris, the vice president, in his stead.

Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, thanked Biden “for his friendship and steadfast support for the Israeli people over his decades long career.”

“As the first U.S. president to visit Israel in wartime, as a recipient of the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor and as a true ally of the Jewish people, he is a symbol of the unbreakable bond between our two peoples,” Herzog stated.

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, thanked Biden for his “unwavering support of Israel over the years” and said that his “steadfast backing, especially during the war, has been invaluable.”

The American Jewish Committee called Biden a “lifelong friend of Israel and the Jewish people,” who “has been—and remains—a consequential president, standing with Israel as it fights back against terror, pursuing regional integration and peace, putting forward an ambitious all-of-government plan to combat antisemitism and defending threatened democracies and democratic values against the forces of tyranny.”

“For decades, President Biden has been a true friend of the Jewish community and a steadfast supporter of Israel, describing himself as a ‘Zionist in my heart’ and becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit Israel during wartime in the aftermath of the horrific Oct. 7 attacks,” stated the Jewish Federations of North America.

Mark Mellman, president and CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, stated that Biden’s decision was “difficult” and said the president was stepping aside to “serve as a bridge for a new generation of Democrats.”

“We owe him our deepest gratitude for his lifetime of service to our country, his myriad accomplishments in the Senate and White House, for his lifelong support for the U.S.-Israel alliance and for ensuring the Democratic nominee for president has a strong pro-Israel platform on which to run in November,” Mellman added.

After Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack, Biden “stood with Israel at every turn,” according to Mellman. “He delivered the strongest pro-Israel speech ever given by an American president, he became the first American president to visit Israel during wartime, he directed American forces to defend Israel from Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack in April and the Biden-Harris administration has provided Israel with billions in additional military aid so that it can defeat Hamas and defend itself from Iranian-back terrorist groups like Hezbollah.”

David Greenfield, CEO and executive director of Met Council, wrote that Biden “has been a tremendous supporter of Israel during its time of need,” adding “tremendous hakaras hatov (thanks) for Biden standing up to the fringe left of his party by proclaiming that he’s a Zionist.”

National Unity Party chairman Benny Gantz wrote that Biden “has been a true friend of the one and only Jewish state, and an ally of the Jewish people” and “his deep personal affinity for Israel and his moral embrace of Zionism will forever be cherished and remembered by the people of Israel.”

Naftali Bennett, a former Israeli prime minister, wrote that Biden “is a true friend of Israel who stood by us in our most difficult moments.”

“During my tenure as prime minister, I witnessed his unwavering support of the State of Israel,” Bennett added.

Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, wrote of Biden’s “deep commitment and love for Israel and the Jewish people” and said that “the citizens of Israel will always revere President Biden as a true friend, a leader who, even in the face of virulent opposition, defined himself as a Zionist.”

David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, wrote that “there is now the widest gap in American history between the two candidates’ support for Israel. Donald Trump is the best ever—Kamala Harris would be the worst.”