By THE NEW YORK TIMES
But since the attacks by Hamas and Israel’s response in Gaza, polls show the president losing support among Arab Americans. One poll late last year showed Mr. Biden’s support in that population plummeting from 59 percent to 17 percent, a more than 40 percentage point decrease since the last election.
Mr. Biden has been dogged by people protesting his support for Israel at almost every campaign event in recent weeks. At a third stop on Thursday, at the Simple Palate restaurant, he was met by a number of protesters waving Palestinian flags and using a megaphone to chant, “Genocide Joe” and “How many kids have you killed today?”
Osama A. Siblani, publisher of the Dearborn-based Arab American News, said on Thursday that Mr. Biden’s standing among Arab voters was as low as it had ever been, and that the sanctions would do nothing to change that.
“We have given up on him doing anything,” Mr. Siblani said, adding that he had been struck by the lack of specificity from the White House about the president’s schedule in Michigan, which he said seemed like an attempt to avoid possible protests.
Before Mr. Biden’s travel on Thursday, the White House and the president’s re-election campaign had provided only scant information about where he was going.
“If the community is not going to be able to protest his visit,” Mr. Siblani said, “we’re going to give him the answer on Feb. 27,” a reference to the date of the Michigan Democratic presidential primary.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Biden’s campaign disputed the idea that the campaign was being secretive, noting that Mr. Biden often appears at small events that are not announced in advance.
The protesters believe that Mr. Biden has not done enough to prevent the killing of thousands of Palestinians by Israel. Authorities in Gaza say at least 26,000 people have been killed during Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.
Officials said the sanctions would not be levied against American citizens living in Israel. State Department officials identified the four Israelis who were named in the sanctions on Thursday as David Chai Chasdai, Einan Tanjil, Shalom Zicherman and Yinon Levi.
In a news release on Thursday, officials said Mr. Chasdai had “initiated and led a riot” resulting in the death of a Palestinian civilian and assaulted other Palestinians. They said Mr. Tanjil had been “involved in assaulting Palestinian farmers and Israeli activists by attacking them with stones and clubs.”
Mr. Zicherman “assaulted Israeli activists and their vehicles in the West Bank,” officials said, citing video evidence. They said Mr. Levi had threatened “violence if they did not leave their homes, burned their fields, and destroyed their property” in the West Bank.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in a statement that the sanctions are designed in part to pressure Israel’s government to prevent the kind of violence by its citizens against Palestinians living in the West Bank.
“The United States has consistently opposed actions that undermine stability in the West Bank and the prospects of peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Mr. Blinken said. “Israel must do more to stop violence against civilians in the West Bank and hold accountable those responsible for it.”
Mitch Smith contributed reporting from Harrison Township, Mich., and Zach Montague from Washington.
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