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Israeli leaders believe that Donald Trump has set the new normal for US-Israel relations: total acceptance of Israeli expansion. And if Joe Biden is elected president today, Israelis will expect compliance from him; and Biden will likely do little to take Netanyahu on. That’s the view of Israel lobbyists as the pageant of democracy unfolds in the U.S.

Battle for Jewish voters. Trump brags of his “Yiddishkeit.” And on a Biden campaign call, Sarah Hurwitz, former Michelle Obama speechwriter, tells about the day she crunched into a wall at the White House so as not to get in Joe Biden’s way and the vice president said “Kid, you don’t have to do that,” as a demonstration of Jewish values of giving dignity to everyone you meet.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Senator Kamala Harris in Israel, November 20, 2017. (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

One of Joe Biden’s political achievements this year is that he has taken what seemed to be a big issue for Trump– Israel — out of the campaign. The Israel lobby trusts Biden because he promises to use American force overseas and try to end the politicization of the Israel issue here. Biden and Harris have actually run against their own Democratic base on Palestinian rights.