A Proud Moment: Menachem Begin's Showdown with Joe Biden

Recent pressures by the U.S. administration on Israel to avoid military action in Rafah, along with heated exchanges between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden through American media channels, bring to mind a historical confrontation between Biden and another Israeli Prime Minister, the late Menachem Begin.

The incident occurred during Begin's visit to Washington in June 1982, just two weeks after the outbreak of the First Lebanon War. Begin attended a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting on Capitol Hill. During the session, several senators criticized Begin, including Joe Biden, then a young senator from Delaware, who harshly critiqued the Israeli government's settlement policy in Judea and Samaria.

Biden's remarks were reported back to Israel via a document from the Israeli Embassy in the U.S.: "I happen to support your actions in Lebanon," he said. "However, Israel's policy in the territories is causing damage."

Biden added, "The members here won't buy it. If settlement policy continues, Israel will not get 50 votes in the Senate for aid. Mr. Prime Minister, I believe American assistance is vital for Israel, important for its security. Many of my colleagues are polite and won't tell you much to your face, but in the cloakrooms, they will." Biden accompanied his words with two angry knocks on the table.

Begin did not stay quiet: "This table is meant for writing, not for fists," he told the Democratic senator. "Do not threaten us with cutting aid, it won't work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees, I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of cultural history. No one came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. No one helped us as we strove to establish our state. We paid for it. We fought for it. We sacrificed our lives for it. We will stand by our principles, defend them, and if necessary, die for them again – with or without your aid."