(JNS) U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on Tuesday afternoon, October 10 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. About an hour later, the president addressed the nation for close to 10 minutes, addressing the “unadulterated evil” of Hamas’s attack on Israel.
“The people of Israel lived through one such moment this weekend,” Biden said. “The brutality of Hamas, the blood-thirstiness brings to mind the worst rampages of ISIS. This is terrorism, but sadly for the Jewish people, it’s not new.”
Biden made clear that the United States stands with Israel. “They use Palestinian civilians as human shields,” he said of the Hamas terrorist organization, which has said that it will execute captives, “in violation of every code of human morality.”
“Hamas doesn’t stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination. Its stated purpose is the annihilation of the state of Israel and the murder of Jewish people,” he said.
“It leaves a black hole in your chest when you lose family. You feel like you’re being sucked into the anger, the pain, the sense of hopelessness. This is what they mean by human tragedy. An atrocity on an appalling scale,” Biden said. “Our hearts may be broken, but our resolve is clear.”
“This is a moment for the United States to come together, to grieve with those who are mourning,” he added. “Let there be no doubt, the U.S. has Israel’s back and will make sure the Jewish and democratic State of Israel can defend itself today, tomorrow as it always has. As simple as that.”
In the trio’s call, Biden, Harris and Netanyahu discussed “coordination to support Israel, deter hostile actors and protect innocent people,” according to Biden’s X handle.
Some four hours prior, Biden had posted: “This is not some distant tragedy—the ties between Israel and the United States run deep. It is personal for so many American families who are feeling the pain of this attack as well as the scars inflicted through millennia of antisemitism and persecution of Jewish people.”
“In cities across the country, local and federal law-enforcement partners are closely monitoring for any domestic threats in connection with the horrific terrorist attacks in Israel,” he added.
