Joe Biden has drawn a direct, provocative link between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’s attack on Israel as he urged Americans not to walk away from their role as “a beacon to the world”.
In only the second Oval Office address of his presidency, Biden said he would ask Congress to provide aid for both Israel and Ukraine and denounced the scourge of antisemitism and Islamophobia at home.
The president’s 15-minute address sought to weave the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts together to convince war-weary voters and hard-line Republicans of America’s obligations. It is a conflation that will make some uneasy, especially as Israel, with vastly superior military power, prepares for a ground invasion of Gaza.
“Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: they both want to completely annihilate a neighbouring democracy,” said Biden, sitting at the Resolute desk with flags, family photos, gold curtains and a darkened window behind him.
The duelling crises are providing a daunting diplomatic test for the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who, at 80, is older than the state of Israel itself. That did not prevent him from making a whirlwind trip to the country on Wednesday.
In Tel Aviv, Biden backed Israel as it gears up for a ground invasion of Gaza after the 7 October attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people. But he also brokered a deal to get some aid through Egypt into the Gaza Strip and, he said, urged Israel to “operate by the laws of war”. More than 3,000 Palestinians have already died in the enclave from the past 12 days of aerial bombardment.
The president said Hamas had unleashed “pure unadulterated evil in the world” and he met Israelis in “deep, deep pain”. He also spoke with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and reiterated the US commitment to a two-state solution.
Biden’s planned summit in Jordan was cancelled after a Gaza hospital explosion that triggered angry protests across the Middle East. He described himself as “heartbroken” by the loss of life but reiterated the US position that it was “not done by the Israelis”.
The president then turned to Ukraine, a cause that has seen ebbing support from the US public and Republicans in Congress. Having spoken to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy hours earlier, Biden said: “I know these conflicts can seem far away. It’s natural to ask, why does this matter to America? Let me share with you why making sure Israel and Ukraine succeed is vital for America’s national security.
Although commentators are likely to question whether the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts are comparable, for Biden it was a way of entreating Congress not to walk away from either.
He said: “American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliances are what keep us, America, 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, we turn our backs on Israel, it’s just not worth it.”
The president added that on Friday he would send an urgent budget request to Congress to fund support for partners including Israel and Ukraine. “It’s a smart investment that is going to pay dividends for American security for generations.”
(With inputs from agencies)
