President Joe Biden retold a story Wednesday about meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir just prior to the Six-Day War in 1967 that previous fact-checks have proven false.
During a news conference in Tel Aviv just after arriving in Israel, Biden stated, “You know, I’ve often said … I remember the first time that I was in Israel with Golda Meir … just before the Six-Day War.”
While posing for a picture during that visit, he recalled the late prime minister saying to him, “You look worried, senator.”
Biden recalled answering that he was worried, given what they had just discussed about the likelihood of war breaking out.
She responded, “Don’t worry, we Jews have a secret weapon in our fight. We have no place else to go.”
Both CNN and Fox News pointed out in December 2021 when the president told essentially the same story, that the Six-Day War was in 1967, long before Biden was a senator and Meir was the prime minister of Israel.
Biden was elected a senator from Delaware in 1972, taking office in January 1973, and Meir became prime minister in 1969.
In 1967, Biden was a law student at Syracuse University.
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GOP Rep. Byron Donalds posted a response on social media: “Joe Biden just said he was in Israel as a U.S. Senator right before the Six Day War. Another PROVABLE lie by our president. Joe, you became a Senator in 1973, and the Six Day War was in 1967. Why lie?”
Joe Biden just said he was in Israel as a U.S. Senator right before the Six Day War.
Another PROVABLE lie by our president.
Joe, you became a Senator in 1973, and the Six Day War was in 1967. Why lie?
— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) October 18, 2023
CNN reported that Biden visited Israel about five weeks before the Yom Kippur War broke out in October 1973.
In telling the story in December 2021, Biden “inflated” the importance of his trip, saying he acted as a “liaison” between Israel and Egypt, according to the news outlet.
“There is no evidence that Meir had any intention of using him as any sort of ‘liaison,’” CNN said.
In fact, notes taken at the meeting by an Israeli official, Gideon Yarden, described the 30-year-old Biden as full of appreciation for Meir, but spoke in a manner that reflected “his age and diplomatic ‘experience.’”
Yarden put the word “experience” in quotation marks, conveying sarcasm, according to CNN.
On Wednesday, Biden offered strong support for Israel as it responds to the Hamas terrorist attacks that left over 1,300 dead earlier this month.
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“You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist,” he said. “And I think the security and safety of Jews worldwide is anchored in the continued vibrance of the state of Israel.
“That’s what I think it’s about at its core. I’ve admired you in this country for so long.”
