Biden is among the last of the old-school U.S. congressional lawmakers who were reared in the post-Holocaust period where an emerging Israel struggled for its survival against greater Arab powers and won. It seemed a noble cause, and Biden frequently has expressed his undying love for the “Jewish state.”

The displacement of 70,000 Israeli residents from the regions along the country's border with Lebanon is one of the most politically pressing issues facing the country.

An Israeli strike leaves a huge crater on the road leading to the crossing into Syria, where thousands of people have been fleeing.