middle of the road: Four years in office of the Republican president, Donald Trump, ended with a stain on American democracy. An angry mob refused to accept the election results, stormed the symbols of democratic government in the US on January 6, 2021, causing much destruction. Two weeks later, the world’s most powerful power awoke to a new morning, when Joe Biden, then 78, was sworn in as the US president. “B and took his place as the leader of the free world.
The first two years of Biden’s tenure in the White House have been a rollercoaster. Already in his first days as president, Biden tried to present himself as the complete opposite of his predecessor in office. Thus, Biden canceled the restrictions on the ban on immigration from Muslim countries, expressed public support for the LGBT community, and even signed a presidential order that will help ensure a large number of women leave their country as the need arises to perform abortions.
As for the economic side, under the Biden administration more than 10 million new jobs were added to the American economy, and unemployment reached an unprecedented low in the last 53 years. At the same time, the democratic president also invested about a trillion dollars in strengthening the infrastructure and worked to limit the possession of weapons.
However, the US economy peaked at 7.1% inflation, the highest figure since President Carter in the late 1970s. To this, we can add the national debt that has increased by more than 4 trillion dollars, the failure to lower the inter-racial tension in the country and to reduce the mass gun incidents that have become a scourge. The failures on issues so central to the American public were reflected in polls published ahead of the mid-term elections in the US and indicated a sharp drop in support for the Democratic president. In a poll conducted by Issues & Insights/TIPP, 64% even voted that they were concerned about the president’s mental health.
Alongside this, the main events that took place during Biden’s term are undoubtedly the war in Ukraine, which began last February, the official visit to Israel and dealing with the Corona epidemic.
The war in Ukraine
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the Biden administration has declared from every possible platform the unqualified American support for President Zelensky. The United States transferred economic, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine in excess of one hundred billion dollars. During Zelensky’s recent historic visit to Washington, he spoke in Congress and personally thanked Biden for his support for the country. This, after the Biden administration recently transferred $45 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine.
The funds transferred by the US to its ally in Eastern Europe were used for a variety of purposes, including economic support for Ukrainian refugees, security assistance and intelligence assistance. American aid has so far received overwhelming bipartisan support, but recently a group of far-right Republicans threatened to block the future of aid to Ukraine .
Zelensky speaks in the US Congress (Photo: Reuters)
Zelensky and Biden in the White House (Photo: Reuters)
HIMARS system of the Ukrainian army (Photo: Reuters)Last October, Biden spoke at the United Nations and declared that his country would stand by Ukraine against Russian aggression. The Russian president, during all the days of fighting, was not afraid of a public confrontation with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and declared that “it is a one-man war.” Also, The astronomical sums passed under the Biden administration to Ukraine also opened the door for assistance from other countries in the West, who provided Ukraine with a long list of armored vehicles, anti-aircraft missiles and advanced radar systems.
At the same time, Biden acted extensively against Russia on the economic level and imposed quite a few sanctions on it. Some of the sanctions were imposed on four of Russia’s largest banks, in addition to two financial institutions. Biden even emphasized that “every Russian asset in the US will be frozen.” In addition, Biden was not afraid to confront the Russian elites and capitalists, and imposed sanctions on a large number of oligarchs.
relations with Israel
After the end of Trump’s term as US president, there was some concern in Israel that a democratic president would occupy the presidency in the White House, especially after the time of President Obama. Trump, who was one of the more pro-Israeli presidents in the White House, worked to strengthen the pro-Israel foreign policy During his tenure, the US even withdrew from the nuclear agreement, declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel and worked to establish the Abraham Accords. The first swallow that hinted at the disappointment in Israel from the democratic victory, happened after the announcement of the election results, when Prime Minister Netanyahu delayed his blessing in honor of the President.
Despite the Israeli concern, Biden has stated many times that he is a passionate Zionist and loves Israel. During the first two years of his term, the president supported Israel’s policy against Iran, although he occasionally emphasized that he preferred the use of diplomacy over military force. Following this, Biden supported a return to the nuclear agreement from 2015, but was somewhat reserved, saying that “the United States is committed to the security of the State of Israel and will work to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”
Netanyahu and Biden (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom for the Attorney General)
The Biden-Herzog meeting (photo: Kobi Gideon, editor in chief)
The Biden-Herzog meeting (photo: Kobi Gideon, editor in chief)In the shadow of Israel’s fear that the US will return to the nuclear agreement, the Biden administration even considered removing the Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic Republic from the blacklist of terrorist organizations. This, in exchange for a public commitment by Iran to reduce escalation in the region. At the same time, senior officials in the US military came out against the idea, when The Chief of Staff of the Army, Mark Milley, expressed strong opposition and stated that “I do not support removing them from the list.”
In the meantime, Biden even visited Israel during the first two years of his tenure, and met with then Prime Minister Yair Lapid, his cabinet ministers and Benjamin Netanyahu. The American president signed the “Jerusalem Declaration” and emphasized the security commitment of the USA towards Israel. However, during the visit to Israel, he also emphasized his commitment and support for the two-state solution, when he met with the chairman of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, and emphasized that “also The Palestinians deserve their own state.”
The Corona epidemic
Compared to his predecessor in office, Biden saw the corona regulations as an important tool to fight the epidemic. Along with economic support for businesses, the democratic president expressed strong support for the broad vaccination campaign throughout the country and wearing masks in closed places. Already in his first days in office, he published a long document of 198 pages containing the government’s plan to deal with the corona virus. He also signed presidential orders, such as the obligation to wear masks in closed places and in every public building in the country.
At the height of the epidemic raging in the country, the president signed the “American Success Plan”, which included $1.9 trillion in aid. The goal was to increase the country’s recovery from the impact of the corona virus on the economy and health. As part of the program, 415 billion dollars were allocated to the fight against the epidemic and the vaccination campaign throughout the country, 1 trillion dollars were transferred to households and 440 billion dollars were transferred to small businesses and economically affected communities.
Corona in the USA (Photo: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly)
Corona vaccine complex in the USA (Photo: Reuters)
Corona in the USA (Photo: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly)At the same time, Biden continued to support the extensive vaccination campaign, and announced various plans to expand the rate of vaccinations in the country. He also resolutely attacked the opponents of vaccinations and even required employees in the federal government and employees in companies employing more than a hundred people to get vaccinated. At the same time, he signed orders that limited the entry of foreigners into the country, such as mandatory corona tests and isolations.
While the US continued to count the number of dead and sick, it did not prevent the incumbent president from causing a stir when he announced last September that “the corona epidemic is over”. If you notice, nobody wears masks. Everyone seems to be doing pretty well, so I think it’s changing.” So far, since the outbreak of the pandemic, over 100 million Americans have been infected with the virus and 1.1 million have died as a result of complications.