The United States will guarantee that Israel is “capable of defending itself today and tomorrow, as we always have,” Joe Biden said in a speech at the White House. Accompanied by his Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the President of the United States appeared visibly upset and moved when he confirmed that there are several American citizens among the Hamas hostages and that there are already 14 victims of this nationality in the attack that started over the weekend Surprise attack by the Palestinian extremist group against Israel. An attack that Biden has described as “pure evil.”
The American president spoke after speaking this Tuesday for the third time in four days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the war between Israel and Hamas: “We will ensure that Israel has everything it needs to protect its citizens “to protect and defend yourself” to respond to this attack. There is no justification for terrorism. There is no excuse. Hamas does not defend the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination. Their stated goal towards the State of Israel is to kill Jews. They are using Palestinian civilians as human shields,” Biden said in a 10-minute speech that began nearly an hour and a half later than planned in his agenda.
In a subsequent press conference, national security adviser Jake Sullivan suggested that the number of Americans in the hands of the radical Palestinian group could be around twenty people.
This Tuesday, Israel launched its largest airstrike on the Gaza Strip in 75 years, with bombings that reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble. Hamas had threatened to execute a hostage for every house attack. Attacks by the Palestinian extremist group killed more than a thousand people in Israel, including 14 Americans; the Israeli wave to 830 Gazans.
The US government has fully supported Israel in the conflict since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israeli territory began this weekend. A position that was symbolized in a very visual way last night when the White House was illuminated with the colors of the Israeli flag. Forgotten were the differences of opinion between Biden and Netanyahu over the controversial Israeli judicial reform and plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, which the American president sees as a blow to democracy and international legality.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Netanyahu this Tuesday to explain their efforts to help Israel defend itself. “We take care of coordination to support Israel, deter enemy agents and protect innocent people,” the head of state said in a message on X, the old Twitter, before his speech. Immediately prior, the White House tenant and Harris met with their respective national security teams to get the latest details on the situation and offer guidance on next steps. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on the phone with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen. The head of American diplomacy will travel to Israel as a gesture of his government’s support for the country.
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The reaction is as much a question of skin – Biden has been a big supporter of Israel since he traveled to that country as a US lawmaker in the 1970s and was genuinely appalled by the events – and security. The US government fears that the conflict could go beyond a war between Israel and Hamas. He fears that Iran, the Palestinian extremist group’s major ally, wants to exploit the situation in the Middle East. That other neighboring countries like Egypt could be destabilized. It remains to be seen how the situation will affect negotiations to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, one of the major goals of Washington’s foreign policy.
Domestically, the government fears that tensions in the Middle East could trigger new attacks by Islamist extremist groups. In his speech, Biden noted that security forces are taking measures to deter any possible internal threat and that police departments in the United States have “strengthened security around centers of Jewish life.” The FBI has stated that there is a “lack of credible and specific information indicating a threat to the United States from Hamas attacks against Israel.”
The US has sent the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford, the largest ship in its fleet, and its escort ships to the eastern Mediterranean. A move that is intended to be a full-fledged warning: It is “a clear and unequivocal message to any country or group that thinks that this is an opportunity to exploit the situation in which Israel finds itself,” said the spokesman Israeli government National Security Councilor John Kirby speaking to reporters on Monday. The Biden administration has also indicated that it will respond as quickly as possible to new Israeli requests for security assistance and that a first aid package, mostly ammunition and air defense equipment, is “already on the way.”
Much of this assistance was already in the pipeline as part of annual U.S. contributions to Israeli security, although delivery has now been accelerated. Since 2016, the United States and Israel have maintained a memorandum of understanding under which Washington provides $38 billion in military aid to Israel through 2028. Other additional aid requires congressional approval, similar to what the United States is sending to Ukraine; The White House has signaled its willingness to go to Capitol Hill to raise funds for both countries. “We are a large enough country with a viable and dynamic economy to be able to participate in both events,” Kirby said.
“Our priority at this time is to resolve the crisis in Israel and do everything in our power to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against these brutal terrorist attacks,” the State Department said.
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