While the world breathes a collective sigh of relief at Donald Trump’s defeat and laughs at his attempts to stay in power, we now have to ready ourselves for the “return to normalcy” that we’ve been promised. Joe Biden, a  hawk with a long history as Israel’s “close friend” throughout his political career, will occupy the White House come January.

Right-wing Zionist, Zev Chafets recently reflected on meeting a starry-eyed Senator Biden in Israel some decades ago, who had teared up while talking about his love for Israel. Now, Chafets reports:

[Biden] has retained an affection for Israel, but he’s no longer a neophyte. Compared to George W. Bush, Barack Obama or Donald Trump, he’s an old Middle East hand, a Democrat but not an idealist. While much is made of the closeness between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump, Biden is likely to differ more in tone than substance.