Joe Biden hasn't exactly distinguished himself in recent weeks.
But did Biden fall asleep while Naftali Bennett spoke to him in Washington on Friday?
People are making that claim based on this video:
Another angle of the entire meeting, with a much higher resolution video, shows that Biden only has his head bowed, a position he went to as Bennett started to praise him. As this video shows, Biden goes into that position at about 12:09 and remains in that same position as he responds to Bennett at 12:43:
His eyes are more evidently open in this second video, the first one is too fuzzy to really see - and people's brains fill in what they want to see more than what their eyes are showing them.
Which is one reason anti-Israel lies are so effective: the fauxtography, deceptive camera angles and false captions only serve to strengthen the opinions of those who are already haters of Israel and they see this "evidence" as proof of their position. No one is immune to this, which is why critical thinking is such an important skill.
The main reason people believe the meme is because of Trump's highly effective "Sleepy Joe" monicker for Biden, showing how easily people can fall for persuasion techniques.
I think that Bennett's and Biden's words and mannerisms are far more newsworthy than Biden's nonexistent nap, and there is still plenty to be concerned about as far as Biden's ability to lead.
Bennett quoted this past Shabbat's haftarah as an accurate prophecy by Isaiah on modern Israel.
Bennett quotes, in Hebrew, Isaiah 60:4:
שְׂאִֽי־סָבִ֤יב עֵינַ֙יִךְ֙ וּרְאִ֔י כֻּלָּ֖ם נִקְבְּצ֣וּ בָֽאוּ־לָ֑ךְ בָּנַ֙יִךְ֙ מֵרָח֣וֹק יָבֹ֔אוּ וּבְנוֹתַ֖יִךְ עַל־צַ֥ד תֵּאָמַֽנָה׃
The translation is, "Raise your eyes and look about: They have all gathered and come to you. Your sons shall be brought from afar, Your daughters like babes on shoulders."
Bennett - who recites the Hebrew verse without notes - paraphrases it as "The sons and daughters of the Jewish people are going to come back to the land and are going to nurse our ancient land and rebuild it. This ancient Jewish prophecy is today's Israel reality."
Biden responds by referring to Bennett's earlier praise of the US giving Israel the tools to defend itself, and adds that the real credit should go to Barack Obama. His response is a bit fuzzy:
Thank you; you give me credit much of which should go to Barack Obama for making sure that we committed to the qualitative edge you would have relative to your friends in the region so he's the one that deserves the credit. Thank him as well. Thank you very much folks.
"The qualitative edge you would have relative to your friends in the region"? If they were really friends, Israel wouldn't need the weapons! Egypt is hardly a friend, although it is an ally; the US also provides some weapons to the Lebanese army which is hardly a friend, as well as Gulf states who do not have peace treaties with Israel.
Israel doesn't need better weapons than its friends, but better weapons than its enemies. Iran and its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Gaza is the enemy that must be defeated, and the president didn't emphasize that when he had the chance.
Obama's weapons to Israel were also a set of golden handcuffs - a way to ensure that Israel doesn't have the ability to take unilateral action against Iran if it comes to that point.
Biden might feel a gentleman-like need to give credit to his Democratic predecessor that he served under, but this was a little tone deaf.
Biden's earlier statement to Bennett was not off the cuff - he read nearly every word he said. At one point he even got lost in his reading, saying "We've got a big agenda today starting with Covid, [looks up], which we've been talking about, [looks back at his text,]" and, uh, 19, in both our successful vaccination programs..." Clearly the text said "COVID-19" and Biden didn't even have enough awareness to skip the "19" part when he recovered from his tiny ad-lib.
The contrast between a US President who couldn't even properly read a statement and the Israeli Prime Minister who spoke extemporaneously was clear.
If one is going to criticize Biden, do it based on his actual words and actions. There is plenty of real material to discuss that can cast doubt on his ability to analyze, think and lead, even in an orchestrated press event.
