Biden’s Gaza Response Frustrates Arab-Americans, Progressives

But back in the U.S., he’s faced criticism from progressives, Muslims and Arab-Americans, who say his sympathy for lost Palestinian lives and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is too little too late.

“I’ll vote for him. But I’ve spent 45 years of my life building credibility with my community, and I can’t go to them and ask them, at this point, to support him," said James Zogby, the founder of the Arab American Institute and a longtime member of the Democratic National Committee.

While in Israel, Biden said the U.S. would back its longtime ally in its war with Hamas amid attacks that have killed more than 1,400 Israelis. Biden also mourned the loss of Palestinian lives and announced $100 million in U.S. humanitarian aid to Gaza—after making references to Palestinians in prior speeches that mostly drew a distinction between civilians and Hamas amid the conflict.

By the time of Biden’s visit, more than 3,000 people, including at least 700 children, had already been killed in Gaza. A total siege by Israel, which cut off supplies of water, fuel and food to the enclave, had triggered a humanitarian crisis that the United Nations and other aid groups said had pushed Gaza to the brink of collapse. About 600,000 people had fled northern Gaza for the south, but still lacked critical supplies.

A deadly blast at a Gaza hospital has heightened tensions, sparking protests in cities across the Middle East. Israel, the U.S. government and independent security experts have cast doubt on Palestinian claims that an Israeli airstrike was responsible for it, saying early evidence pointed to a local militant group.

Biden has urged Israel to “uphold the rules of war" and aides say the president and other U.S. officials have encouraged their counterparts in private to show restraint. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to several countries in the region to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which Biden identified as a priority last week. In a televised interview Sunday, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, called for safe places for civilians “that will not be subject to military bombardment" and where there would be access to food, water, medicine and shelter.

In Tel Aviv, Biden went a step further and publicly cautioned Israel against making the same mistakes the U.S. did after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by allowing itself to be “consumed" by rage.

But Biden, a longtime supporter of Israel, has broadly placed the blame for Palestinian casualties on Hamas for embedding its fighters and facilities among civilians and declined to criticize any of Israel’s tactics. Some international aid groups have rejected the Israeli government’s claim that it is taking steps to minimize civilian casualties, citing airstrikes that have leveled apartment complexes and shelling that struck a U.N. school serving as a shelter.

Progressive Democrats have criticized Biden’s response and implored his administration to do more, while a group of progressive lawmakers on Monday drafted a resolution calling for a cease-fire and participated in a rally at the national mall Wednesday.

“It would be a serious mistake for the president and this administration to think that the Arab-American and Muslim community’s support will be unlimited if he decides to make the cornerstone of his Middle East policy a giant green light for Israel to do what it may to the people of Gaza who are suffering under immense inhumanity," Abbas Alawieh, a progressive Democratic strategist who is originally from Dearborn, Mich., home to a large Muslim population.

Although several recent polls show strong support for Israel overall, Democratic sympathies in the Middle East have been shifting to Palestinians over the years. In a Gallup poll released earlier this year, before the Hamas attacks, 49% of Democrats said they were more sympathetic to Palestinians—the highest point in more than two decades. The same survey found a generational divide, with millennials much more supportive of Palestine than older generations.

Young voters played a key role in Biden’s winning the presidency in 2020 and in Democrats’ better-than-expected performance in the midterms. Zogby’s group estimates that Arab-Americans can make up 5% of the votes in Michigan and roughly 2% in Pennsylvania—two swing states where presidential elections are often decided by a narrow margin.

Polls conducted in recent days show Democrats and younger Americans continue to be more sympathetic toward Palestinians. A CNN poll released Sunday found a gap between the 49% of Democrats who have a lot of sympathy for the Palestinian people and the 26% of Republicans who say the same. Republicans and older Americans were also much likelier than younger ones to say Israel’s military response was fully justified.

Vice President Kamala Harris faced some frustration from college students on the administration’s handling of the Middle East conflict during a visit to Northern Arizona University on Tuesday. A student characterized the policy as “inhumane" toward Palestinians in Gaza to loud cheers and another shouted, “Stop making bombs."

Harris said she was “deeply affected" by the loss of life and violence in the region and urged people not to conflate Palestinian civilians with Hamas.

Following more yelling from the students, Harris added: “I’m not here to tell these young voters what they want. I’m here to listen. And that is why I appreciate a candid dialogue."

The fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy in Illinois, which authorities say was a hate crime motivated by the child’s Muslim faith and fueled by the Israel-Hamas war, further angered groups in the U.S. who fear a spike in anti-Muslim violence.

White House spokeswoman Robyn Patterson said the president “has made clear that standing up against Islamophobia is essential to who we are as a country."

“President Biden and Vice President Harris have been unequivocal: There is no place for hate in America—not against Muslims, not against Arab-Americans, not against Jews—not against anyone," Patterson said.

Biden condemned the killing in a written statement that denounced Islamophobia and “all forms of bigotry and hatred," but some felt those words were insufficient and overdue.

Dilawar Syed, the highest-ranking Muslim official in the Biden administration, was booed when he conveyed Biden’s message at a vigil for the boy in Plainfield, Ill.

“I’m hearing from a lot of folks in the community who did not feel like the president began any kind of substantive rhetoric that turns the temperature down, rhetoric that addresses the very real violence that comes from Islamophobia," Alawieh said.

Write to Sabrina Siddiqui at sabrina.siddiqui@wsj.com and Tarini Parti at tarini.parti@wsj.com