President Joe Biden received an artifact from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as a gift from Israeli President Isaac Herzog after the two leaders met at the White House this week.
During a Tuesday meeting, Herzog presented the U.S. president with an artifact inscribed with the name "Joseph," according to a White House transcript.
The Temple Mount, located within the Old City of Jerusalem, is significant to each of the Abrahamic faiths. For Jews, however, it is the holiest site in Judaism, and it is where the First and Second Temples once stood.
A spokesperson for the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., told The Christian Post that the artifact is a pottery shard dating back to as far as the first century, a piece owned by the Israel Antiquities Authority and on loan to the Museum of the Bible.
The IAA worked with the museum's team to create a "photogrammetry" of the object, described as "a 3D image that covers every angle of the object that is often used in archaeology to capture and study objects, while prioritizing the preservation the original object."
The Israeli president thanked Biden for standing with the Jewish state and its people during their "darkest hour" in the aftermath of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people.
"And as you know, in the Bible, it ... says that Joseph will strengthen Israel," Herzog said. "And clearly, Mr. President, you've done it."
Calling the gift "magnificent," Biden thanked the Israeli leader, adding that he wished his late father, a "righteous Christian," had witnessed the meeting because his father always wondered why the United States did not intervene sooner during World War II.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration's 30-day deadline for Israel to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza expired. During a U.S. Department of State press briefing that same day, Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel stated that the Israelis are not in violation of U.S. law and have taken multiple steps to increase the amount of aid entering Gaza.
Biden and Herzog also discussed Israel's ongoing war against Hamas and its efforts to defend itself from Iran. Following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah began launching attacks from the north. Iran has also fired ballistic missiles into Israel, which made the Biden administration concerned about an even larger conflict breaking out.
Herzog lamented to the 81-year-old president about the deaths of two Israelis killed in Nahariya by rockets fired from Lebanon. The attack against the seashore town occurred hours after a Hezbollah drone struck a kindergarten in Nesher, a suburb of Haifa, according to a Tuesday report by The Times of Israel.
"This is what we're going through from Lebanon, Mr. President, and you know it all too well. We are fighting hard. We're defending our people, our brave soldiers and pilots," the Israeli president said. "And I know that you're working very hard to make sure that this war will end and that will — there will be, first and foremost, security for the people of Israel as well as for the people of Lebanon."
Over 100 people taken hostage by Hamas are also still prisoners of the terrorist group one year after Oct. 7, according to Herzog. The Israeli president stated that the hostages "are going through Hell in the dungeons of Gaza."
While the political leader acknowledged that Biden wants Israel and its neighbors to have "security and peace," Herzog stressed that bringing the hostages home must be a priority for Biden's administration.
Regardless of who is in charge, Herzog emphasized that Tehran is an "empire of evil" and "a major engine of antisemitism" that is working to derail stability and annihilate the Jewish state. Israel's president also warned that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
"And, Mr. President, this has to be a major objective all throughout your term and the next term of the next president because we have to make sure that they cannot fulfill their evil intentions," Herzog told Biden.
Biden's presidential term ends in January, and Israeli leaders like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have already started to reach out to former President Donald Trump.
Once his term begins, Trump will likely resume his previous administration's "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, officials familiar with the former president's plan told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month. During his first presidential term, Trump pulled the United States out of a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and replaced it with a campaign of sanctions.
"I think you are going to see the sanctions go back on, you are going to see much more, both diplomatically and financially, they are trying to isolate Iran," a former White House official told the outlet. "I think the perception is that Iran is definitely in a position of weakness right now, and now is an opportunity to exploit that weakness."
