Biden calls for ‘unprecedented’ military aid for Israel, Ukraine during Oval Office address

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U.S. President Joe Biden is calling on his country’s gridlocked Congress to send “unprecedented” additional military aid to Israel and Ukraine as part of an emergency package of national-security funding.

In only his second televised address from the Oval Office Thursday evening, Mr. Biden made the case that supporting Israel’s war against Hamas and Ukraine’s resistance of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion are both vital to protect the U.S.’s own safety.

“Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to annihilate a neighbouring democracy. Completely annihilate it,” he said. “When dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going and the costs and the threats to America and the world keep rising.”

Mr. Biden did not say exactly how much the funding package, which could also include money for measures at the U.S. border with Mexico and assistance to Taiwan, would cost. Based on his previous pledges of Ukraine funding, it would have to run into the tens of billions of dollars.

The request was made as Israel girds for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, which could start within days and may turn into a protracted campaign.

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The President is likely to face an uphill battle in Congress. Isolationist Republicans are increasingly opposed to continuing to fund Ukraine’s war effort, which has so far cost Americans about US$75-billion. The House of Representatives is currently paralyzed because the Republican majority is fighting over who should be Speaker.

Tying Ukraine to Israel, a more popular cause among Republicans, may help Mr. Biden advance his request. “I know we have our divisions at home. We have to get past them. We cannot let petty, partisan, angry politics get in the way of our responsibility as a great nation,” he said.

Mr. Biden has travelled to both Kyiv, earlier this year, and Tel Aviv, earlier this week, putting him in unprecedentedly close proximity to the front lines of active war zones for a sitting president.

He argued that allowing Mr. Putin to conquer Ukraine would signal “would-be aggressors around the world” that they could do the same. This includes in the Indo-Pacific – where China considers Taiwan a renegade province – and in the Middle East where Iran, the chief backer of Hamas, is seeking more power in the region.

The President also tried to strike a balance between his unequivocal support for Israel’s fight with Hamas and concern over the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip, where an Israeli blockade is leading to water and food quickly running out.

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He described Hamas’s massacre of Israelis on Oct. 7 as “pure, unadulterated evil” and reaffirmed his belief in “Palestinians’ right to dignity and to self-determination.” And he said that when he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, they discussed “the critical need for Israel to operate by the laws of war” including “protecting civilians in combat as best they can.”

“We can’t ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians who only want to live in peace and have an opportunity,” Mr. Biden said.

He also stated unequivocally that an explosion at a Gaza hospital this week was “not done by the Israelis.” Hamas had blamed Israel for the blast, while Israel has said that it was actually caused by a failed missile launch by another group in Gaza, Islamic Jihad.

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Mr. Biden called for an end to bigotry within the U.S., referencing the case of Wadea Alfayoumi. The six-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed to death in Illinois, and his mother was severely injured, in a hate crime allegedly perpetrated by their landlord over the Israel-Hamas war.

“We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We must also without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia,” the President said. “To all of you hurting, those of you hurting, I want you to know: I see you. You belong. And I want to say this to you: You’re all America. You’re all America.”

After the speech, the White House said, Mr. Biden met with Wadea’s father and uncle.

Despite Mr. Biden’s call for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, his government said Thursday it was still unclear when this would happen. The President brokered a deal between Mr. Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi that would allow the aid to enter through the Egyptian border crossing at Rafah.

But State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said a U.S. envoy was still working with Israeli and Egyptian officials to finalize the details. For one, the roads leading to the crossing must have potholes filled in. For another, arrangements have to be made for distributing the aid in Gaza and ensuring that it is not taken by Hamas.

The initial agreement is for only 20 trucks to enter, but Mr. Miller said the U.S. hoped aid would flow regularly. Israel has said it will scupper the agreement if anything fell into the hands of Hamas.

“We want to see sustained humanitarian assistance going into Gaza for the benefit of innocent civilians,” Mr. Miller said.

He said that once Rafah opens, the U.S. hopes to get the estimated 500 American citizens in Gaza out, as well.

Mr. Biden’s speech did not address the Thursday launching of three cruise missiles and several drones by Houthis in Yemen toward Israel, or attacks by Hamas from Lebanon into northern Israel. Both moves threaten to expand the war, which the U.S. is aiming to prevent.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier-General Pat Ryder said the USS Carney, an American warship, shot down the Houthi missiles and drones over the Red Sea. The Houthis, like Hamas, are seen as Iranian proxies. But Brig.-Gen. Ryder cautioned that the U.S. was “not going to overreact.”

“We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen, heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel,” he said. “It’s important to separate these attacks from the current situation. We’re going to continue to assess attribution on these.”