‘We Stand with Israel’ Biden declared
“We stand with Israel,” President Biden declared as part of an approximately ten-minute address Tuesday afternoon from the White House. “At this moment, we must be crystal clear. We stand with Israel.”
“This is pure unadulterated evil,” he continued, characterizing the surprise Hamas attacks. “The loss of innocent life is heartbreaking…while our hearts are broken our resolve is clear.”
Flanked by Vice President Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and after a phone call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden put the atrocity in historical context and more recent terrorism, “The brutality of Hamas…brings to mind the worst rampages of ISIS. Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination. It offers nothing but terror and bloodshed, with no regard to who pays the price.”
Even as the president spoke there were indications that rockets were being exchanged by Hamas and Israel. Biden said that 1,000 Israelis and 14 Americans were among the casualties. While he didn’t indicate how many, he said “it is likely” that there are Americans among the hostages held by Hamas.
Clearly deeply disturbed by the tragedy, Biden said “There is no place for hate in America–not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against anybody. We reject that and we reject this terrorism.”
He said that he has called on Congress for “urgent action” to fund Israel in the wake of the attacks and also that “this is about the security of the world.”
In an earlier response to the attacks, Biden expressed the sheer scope of the devastation. “My heart goes out to every family impacted by the horrible events of the past few days. The pain these families have endured, the enormity of their loss, and the agony of those still awaiting information is unfathomable.” He said that many families “made Israel a second home.”
The surprise attacks occurred in more than twenty Israel locations, including hundreds killed at a concert.
“The safety of American citizens — at home or abroad — is my top priority as President,” he continued in the statement. “While we are still working to confirm, we believe it is likely that American citizens may be among those being held by Hamas.”
No mention was made of Iran and Hezbollah, though many experts on the region believe that Iran is behind the attacks, and there are reports that Hezbollah has fired rockets into Israel from Lebanon.
Security measures are already in place at various Jewish centers in the U.S. and domestic threats are being closely monitored, law enforcement agencies report.
“We are at war,” said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and there are reports that electricity has been cut off in Gaza along with food, fuel, and other supplies creating a humanitarian crisis on the fourth day of the conflict.
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