US President Joe Biden addressed the American people concerning the US’s response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks against Israel and the Ukraine-Russia war early Friday morning.
“I know these conflicts can seem far away and it’s natural to ask ‘why does this matter to America?’ So let me share with you why making sure Israel and Ukraine succeed is vital to America’s national security,” said Biden. “History has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going and the cost and the threats to America keep rising. So if we don’t stop Putin’s appetite for power and control in Ukraine, he won’t limit himself just to Ukraine. Putin’s already threatened to ‘remind’ Poland that their western land was a ‘gift’ from Russia.”
“If we walk away and let Putin erase Ukraine’s independence, the risk of conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world. Iran is supporting Russia in Ukraine and it’s supporting Hamas and other terrorists in the region. We’ll continue to hold them accountable. The US and our partners across the region are working to build a better future for the Middle East. One where the Middle East is more stable, better connected to its neighbors.”
“American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliances are what keep us safe. American values are what make us a partner that other nations want to work with. To put all that at risk if we walk away from Ukraine, if we turn our backs on Israel, is just not worth it,” stressed the president.
Biden stated that he would send an urgent budget request to Congress on Friday to fund security needs and support Israel and Ukraine.
“In Israel, we must make sure that they have what they need to protect their people today and always,” said Biden, calling the budget request he intends to send to Congress an “unprecedented commitment to Israel’s security that will sharpen Israel’s qualitative military edge.”
Biden referred to an agreement he reached with Israeli and Egyptian officials to allow a first shipment of UN aid into Gaza, stressing that “if Hamas does not divert or steal these shipments, we’re going to provide an opening for sustained delivery of lifesaving, humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians.”
“As hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace, we cannot give up on a two-state solution.”
Biden referred to a spike in antisemitism and Islamophobia in the US since the conflict broke out, “we must without equivocation denounce antisemitism and Islamophobia. To all you hurting, I want you know: I see you, you belong. In moments like these when fear and suspicion, anger and rage run hard, we have to work harder than ever to hold on to the values that make us who we are. We’re a nation of religious freedom, freedom of expression. See each other not as enemies, but as fellow Americans.”
Biden’s second Oval Office address since becoming president
His televised remarks followed a Middle East trip upended by a hospital blast in the Gaza Strip. It is only the second prime-time Oval Office address in the Democratic president’s nearly three years in office; in June he cheered the end of a debt ceiling standoff.
The US president spoke against a backdrop of political chaos in Washington, as Republicans who control the House of Representatives have struggled to settle on who will lead them as speaker after ousting Kevin McCarthy from that job.
Directing his remarks squarely at squabbling Republicans, Biden said: “You can’t let petty, partisan, angry politics get in the way of our responsibilities as a great nation.”
Biden requested emergency spending that US officials say will total roughly $100 billion over the next year for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan and security along the porous US border with Mexico.
It may include $60 billion for Ukraine and $10 billion for Israel, sources said beforehand, as well as billions for Asia and US border security.
By lumping the priorities together in one package, Biden is testing whether Republican lawmakers can be persuaded to set aside their opposition and go along with spending on Ukraine, whose 20-month-old war with Russia has absorbed billions of dollars already in US weapons with no end in sight.
Any funding measure must pass both the Democratic-led US Senate, where additional aid has bipartisan support, and the Republican-led House, which has not had a speaker for 17 days.
Conservative Jim Jordan, an ally of former President Donald Trump, vowed to continue his bid for House speaker after failing to win majority support among Republicans.
House Republican lawmakers in recent weeks nearly brought government to a halt over chronic budget deficits and $31.4 trillion in debt, threatening to slash government spending across the board.
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