Joe Biden
Joe BidenReuters

Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) assured members of the Orthodox Jewish community on Monday that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would be a “true trusted ally” who would use his long-standing relationships and credibility amongst world players to “always stand by Israel”, Jewish Insider reports.

Cardin was speaking as a campaign surrogate at a virtual candidate forum hosted by the Orthodox Union, one of two events hosted by the group this week featuring representatives from the presidential campaigns.

A poll conducted for the American Jewish Committee between September 9 and October 4 with a margin of error of ±4.2%, showed that Jewish voters — by a margin of 75-22 — favor Biden over President Donald Trump in the presidential race.

The survey, however, showed that Trump earns the support of 75% of Orthodox Jews, with Biden receiving only 18%.

Asked during the forum how a Biden administration would differ from the Obama administration, Cardin told the group that the former vice president “will never be a mystery” to the pro-Israel community.

In a Biden-Harris administration, the Maryland senator suggested, “there will never be a question about US support for Israel. But there will be candid discussions as to what are the best strategies in order to keep [the US-Israel] relationship strong and to protect Israel’s security.”

The AJC poll found that American Jews believe Biden would be better suited to strengthen the US-Israel relationship by a margin of 12%. Still 42% approve of Trump’s handling of relations with the Jewish state.

“I’m sure he will disagree with some decisions made by the State of Israel, but Joe Biden would never compromise the security of Israel, or the basic commitments that we’ve made towards Israel’s security — I am convinced about that,” Cardin stressed, according to Jewish Insider.

“Joe Biden has said so, and Joe Biden is a person of his word. When Joe Biden tells you something, you know, that he’ll live by those words. His credibility, his honesty is beyond any question. And you’ll have a true friend in the White House,” he added.

Cardin, who voted against the nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, defended Biden’s current position on the Iranian threat, saying that he’s right in pointing out that Trump’s withdrawal from the international accord has made the US “less safer.”

Cardin said that by leaving the JCPOA, the US “lost a key vote in the United Nations on the [arms] embargo against Iran.”

The OU will hold a call with a Trump campaign surrogate Wednesday evening.

During the election campaign, Biden has prevented a move to mention Israeli “occupation” in the Democratic Party’s platform.

The draft 2020 platform, which was released in late July, includes language that opposes an Israeli move to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and supports the rights of Palestinian Arabs.

While the former Vice President has cast Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – whom he once said was his “buddy” – as a “counterproductive” and “extreme right” leader, he has also spoken out against the idea of withholding US military aid from Israel if it doesn’t moderate its treatment of Palestinian Arabs..