Watch: Biden Insults Jews During Menorah Lighting, Lies About Going to Israel During Six-Day War
President Joe Biden held a menorah-lighting ceremony at the White House on Wednesday night to celebrate Hanukkah. But instead of honoring Jewish Americans, Biden used the moment to repeat a lie about his past.
According to the National Review, Biden told a story about his supposed trip to Israel during the Six-Day War.
“I was saying to a couple of younger members of my staff, before I came over, about the many times I’ve been to Israel,” Biden said. “I said — and then, all of a sudden, I realized, “God, you’re getting old, Biden.
“I have known every — every prime minister well since Golda Meir, including Golda Meir. During the Six-Day War, I had an opportunity to — she invited me to come over because I was going to be the liaison between she and the Egyptians about the Suez, and so on and so forth.”
However, The Times of Israel reported that meeting was much different than Biden let on. The outlet debunked many aspects of the story in an October 2020 article after Biden had already told it multiple times.
For one thing, Biden’s claim about the meeting happening during the Six-Day War is completely false. The Times reported Biden met with Meir in 1973, which was six years after the Six-Day War ended.
Several political outlets pointed out this disparity on Twitter.
Biden says he went to Israel during the Six Day War to act as a liaison. He’s lying. That never happened. Totally normal. pic.twitter.com/rqLysviI4U
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) December 2, 2021
Biden, speaking during a menorah lighting ceremony, falsely claims he went to Israel during the Six Day War to act as a “liaison.” pic.twitter.com/BUPjxaTRLp
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 2, 2021
The Six Day War was in June 1967.
In 1967, Joe Biden was attending Syracuse Law school where he was busted for plagiarism. https://t.co/RLcrqF4a0F
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 2, 2021
The meeting did happen 40 days before a different conflict known as the Yom Kippur War. But lest you think he innocently misremembered the name of the war, the Times details further dishonesty from Biden.
In 2015, Biden recalled his conversation with Meir during a speech at an Israeli Embassy Independence Day celebration. He smiled and laughed as he recounted his conversation and photo-op with the prime minister.
Biden did get the name of the war right in this instance, but he was dishonest about the content of the conversation. In reality, a classified memo revealed he was critical of Israel during the meeting, the Times reported.
Biden said actions like capturing the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the Six-Day War were pushing toward “creeping annexation.”
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“Since he believed Israel was militarily dominant in the region, he suggested the Jewish state might initiate a first step for peace through unilateral withdrawals from areas with no strategic importance,” the Times said.
“…Meir rejected Biden’s call for unilateral steps, launching into a speech about the region and its problems (possibly the spiel Biden alluded to in his own comments years later).”
This version of the story paints a much different picture than Biden’s telling. Instead of a good-natured conversation, Meir was potentially refuting Biden’s criticisms of Israel.
The Times also said Biden lamented that it was “impossible to have a real debate in the Senate about the Middle East as senators were fearful of saying things unpopular with Jewish voters.”
By suggesting Israel was the sole aggressor in the Six-Day War and reducing their struggles to a political tool, Biden was bordering on anti-Semitism.
To be fair, this was nearly 40 years ago, and Biden did not say anything blatantly anti-Semitic by this account. The problem is that he has now attempted to use this meeting as some sort of badge of honor to win support within the Jewish community.
Wednesday was supposed to be a special celebration for Jewish Americans. While the menorah lighting ceremony is a White House tradition, CNN reported second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the husband of Kamala Harris, was the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president to participate in the event.
Instead, Biden stole the spotlight by telling a story with both blatant falsities and dishonest characterizations. That is not the way to celebrate Hanukkah.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
