The New York Times published a report by its chief White House correspondent on President Joe Biden's long-standing ties to Israel and his "apparent passion for the Jewish state" over the course of his long career.

Reporter Peter Baker said Biden's strong support for Israel in times of crisis is not a new phenomenon, as the close solidarity he has shown in the past three weeks, since the Hamas attack on Israel, has its roots in more than half a century of highly personal attraction toward the "Jewish state."

Biden appears to be an unexpected hero of Israel, especially since he is a devout Catholic.

In his report, Baker claims that Biden's views were formed during dinner conversations with his father, who condemned the Holocaust against Jews in Europe.

12 trips

Over the course of his career, Biden has traveled to Israel 12 times, seven when he was a senator, three when he was Barack Obama's vice president, and twice as president. During these visits, he met with all Israeli heads of government since the time of Golda Meir.

His passion for the "Jewish state" has always been so evident that a senator colleague described him years ago as "the only Jewish Catholic."

According to the New York Times, a veteran Israeli official called him the "first Jewish president" of the United States, noting that Biden believes in Jewish nationalism. "You don't have to be Jewish to become a Zionist," he said.

Even former US envoy for Middle East peace Dennis Ross — who has worked or taught U.S. presidents from both parties since the eighties of the last century — considered Biden's ties to Israel the strongest of all those presidents.

Shalom Liebnner, who was an adviser to seven successive Israeli prime ministers, said Biden is now more popular in Israel than Israel's leaders themselves.


Moments of disagreement

However, this does not mean – in the opinion of the correspondent – that Biden has not gone through periods of friction with Israeli leaders, most notably the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and so far Biden is trying in his own way to prevent the Israeli government from acting too quickly.

Despite the US president's "unwavering and unwavering" support for Israel, there are those described in the report as left-wing progressives within his Democratic Party who have been accustomed to criticizing Israel's oppression of Palestinians, settlement expansion in the West Bank, and the long-standing blockade of the Gaza Strip that has turned it into an open-air prison.

Some members of Biden's staff have privately expressed a lack of understanding as to why he is willing to support Netanyahu as Israeli forces besiege Gaza, cut food and fuel and bomb the territory that have killed thousands of people.

Some of Biden's aides argue that his public embrace of Netanyahu gives him the ability to influence him in their private meetings. The New York Times reported that the president has spoken to Netanyahu 10 times since the Palestinian resistance attacked Israel, holding more than 200 prisoners.


No sympathy for Palestinians

Biden did not show the same empathy for the Palestinians at the start of his career, citing Yonah Blank, who was Biden's regional adviser when he was a senator, as saying there was not much "appetite" in the United States for pro-Palestinian sentiment, or even a relatively balanced approach.

But Blank says that this has now changed: "Recognizing the humanity of Palestinians is no longer political suicide."

Biden, however, has long supported the creation of a separate state for the Palestinians, sometimes even pressuring Israelis to do more to bring about peace.

Biden has strong ties with Israeli leaders. Rabbi Michael Beals of Beth Shalom's congregation in Wilmington, Delaware, whom Biden calls a "rabbi," recalled, "I've never heard a president call himself a Zionist before" like the president does.