Short answer: Yes. Joe Biden has consistently supported Israel across his decades-long political career and his 2021-2025 presidency, including a wartime solidarity visit to Tel Aviv, tens of billions of dollars in military aid after October 7, 2023, repeated public self-identification as a Zionist, and continued praise for hostage releases even after leaving office. As of August 2026, Biden is alive, though he is being treated for stage 4 prostate cancer.
What Joe Biden has actually said and done
July 14, 2022: As sitting president, Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed the Jerusalem U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration in Jerusalem, reaffirming U.S. commitment to Israel's security, including preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and to countering antisemitism, according to the Times of Israel.
October 18, 2023: Days after Hamas's October 7 attack, Biden traveled to Tel Aviv, embraced Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog on the tarmac, and told Israelis "You are not alone," while also urging restraint and securing a commitment to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, per ABC News.
October 18, 2023: During that same Tel Aviv trip, meeting with families of terror victims, Biden said, "You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist," reaffirming a self-identification he first made decades earlier, as covered by France 24.
October 2023 through January 2025: The Biden administration authorized continuous arms transfers and additional aid to Israel after October 7, with U.S. military aid to Israel exceeding $14 billion in additional aid since the attack, while the administration also vetoed three UN Security Council ceasefire resolutions during this period, according to Al Jazeera.
July 15, 2024 (aired July 16): In an interview, Biden again said, "You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist, and a Zionist is about whether or not Israel is a safe haven for Jews because of their history of how they've been persecuted," while also saying he had done "more for the Palestinian community than anybody," reported by CNN.
January 19, 2025: As his presidency ended, Biden delivered remarks praising the ceasefire and hostage deal his administration had negotiated with Israel and Hamas, according to the official White House archive.
October 2025: As a former president, Biden posted on X that he was "deeply grateful and relieved" that the last 20 living hostages had been reunited with their families, crediting his own administration's work while also commending the Trump administration's team for closing the final deal, per his verified X account.
2026 (ongoing): Biden remains alive and active in a reduced public capacity while undergoing radiation treatment every three months for stage 4 prostate cancer that has metastasized to bone, continuing public projects including promoting a memoir, according to the Washington Post.
The fuller picture
Joe Biden's support for Israel spans decades, not just his presidency. He first called himself a Zionist in a 2007 interview as a senator, and repeated that self-identification publicly and often, including in the Tel Aviv remarks above.
As president from 2021 to 2025, the highest-profile marker of that support was the Jerusalem Strategic Partnership Declaration in July 2022, which formalized U.S.-Israel defense cooperation, opposition to a nuclear Iran, and antisemitism countermeasures. After Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, Biden made a wartime solidarity visit to Israel, and his administration supplied continuous military aid, reported at more than $14 billion in additional aid post-October 7, and vetoed multiple UN Security Council ceasefire resolutions. That record drew praise from pro-Israel advocates and sharp criticism from Palestinian rights groups and some allies, who called his approach an "unmitigated failure" for not restraining Israel's Gaza campaign more forcefully. Both readings of that record are part of the documented history: Biden was simultaneously Israel's most materially supportive U.S. president during the war and a target of criticism from the pro-Palestinian side for enabling the campaign.
Biden left office in January 2025. He was diagnosed with aggressive, Gleason 9, stage 4 prostate cancer, disclosed publicly in 2025, that has metastasized to bone, and he continues treatment as of mid-2026 with a reduced public schedule. He remains alive and has continued making public statements, including his October 2025 comments on the hostage release. No evidence points to Biden ever participating in any boycott of Israel; the record shows active, sustained material and rhetorical support throughout his career.
The bottom line
Joe Biden supports Israel. His record, from a decades-old Zionist self-identification through a wartime presidential visit, tens of billions of dollars in military aid, and continued public statements as a former president, is one of sustained, high-profile support for Israel's security, even as his handling of the Gaza war drew criticism from parts of the pro-Palestinian movement for not doing more to restrain the campaign.
Wear where you stand
Whatever your read on any single administration's Gaza policy, plenty of people want a simple, visible way to say they stand with Israel today. Our I Stand With Israel collection is built for exactly that: everyday pieces that say the words plainly, no politics required.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
