Speaking from the Oval Office starting at 8 p.m. ET, Biden made the case to Americans that it’s vital to both global and U.S. national security to assist Israel as it responds to terror attacks by Hamas as well as to continue help for Ukraine as it fends off Russian invaders.

“Hamas and Putin represent different threads but they share this in common: They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy,” Biden said, referring to the extremists and Russia’s president.

Biden said he knows the conflicts can seem distant and Americans might be asking why it’s vital to U.S. security interests that Israel and Ukraine succeed.

“History has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and debt and more destruction,” Biden said. “They keep going – and the cost and the threats to America and the world keep rising.”

  • Veraxus@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    We should not be helping Israel kill more people. You never support terrorism, and when the response to terrorism is more terrorism, you don’t support that. Other than sending humanitarian aid to regular people caught in the middle, this is something we should stay the hell out of.

  • mommykink@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Biden siding with Israel is going to cost him the presidency. There’s no way that this situation will be resolved by next November and Israel support is massively unpopular in the left.

    • magnetosphere@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      As awful as this is, I believe that Trump would be even worse, for both the country and the entire world. If it comes down to Biden and Trump, I’ll still vote for Biden… but not with much enthusiasm.

    • OpenPassageways@lemmy.zip
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      Israel is even more popular on the right, he’s more likely to lose by NOT supporting Israel. The Republicans would have a field day if there was any hint that he wasn’t supporting Israel 100%. You know they’d have Bibi in front of Congress the next day calling for more Republicans to be elected.

    • morphballganon@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You think anyone at all who was planning to vote Biden will change their mind (and choose Trump over him) due to this?

      Really?

      Who?

      • Vash63@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        They don’t need to. They just need to not vote. Low turnout is what swings elections to the right.

        • morphballganon@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You think this will compel people who were planning to vote Biden to not vote?

          I personally find that idea laughable. Anyone who is so easy to swing doesn’t give a shit about Israel.

          • bitwaba@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            A significant percentage of people don’t even make up their mind on who to vote for until the election day. It’s absurd. With a margin that can determine the winner by 2% of the population changing their mind, our nation’s future is decided by people the day of that felt more strongly about what they wanted for breakfast than who they wanted for president.

            The margins are close enough in battleground states that they can easily be swung by people thinking “ah, fuck it. They both suck” and not going to the polls.

            The idea is laughable. It’s true though.

      • protist@mander.xyz
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        1 year ago

        How has he apologized for their war crimes? That’s not what I’ve heard him say at all

        • mommykink@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Are you implying that Trump (or any conservative) wouldn’t also bend over backwards to Netanyahu? The US is an Israeli puppet state

          • protist@mander.xyz
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            1 year ago

            I’d wager they’re implying a “never Biden” stance is basically a vote for Trump in a contest between the two. In reality, Biden has clearly told Israel to restrain themselves and gotten them to agree to allow in humanitarian aid, whereas Trump would have them carpet-bombing Gaza

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              Exactly, he was the one who moved US embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing it as capital of Israel, even though he was advised to not do it.

              He also claims he killed Soleimani (nearly starting war with Iran) because Nethanyahu asked him. Of course Nethanyahu won’t admit it so we don’t know, but I tend to think it probably is true as he would never give anyone credit, and claiming that doesn’t save him.

              Every policy he did in his 4 years was pro Israel. Things he didn’t need to do and only were stirring the pot.

              Now he magically supposedly supports Palestinians, calling Hezbollah smart. Interestingly when there seems to be similar position in Kremlin.

          • MxM111@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            No, I am implying that your other choice is Trump, which is infinitely worse. So, not voting for Biden is giving one vote for Trump.

          • protist@mander.xyz
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            Unless you have ranked choice voting where you are, they are the only two options. Voting for a 3rd party in most of the US is the same thing as just not voting for whichever of the two main candidates you prefer against the other.

    • makyo@lemmy.world
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      I don’t know. I get the feeling that it’s massively unpopular in the circles people like you and I run in, but the average left-leaning voter is still pretty well conditioned to think Israel=good Palestine=bad. It’s definitely not great and the Biden camp is surely not thrilled to have to deal with it but I don’t think it’ll hurt them too much.

      I hope so anyway, because if Biden does lose the presidency we’ll end up with someone who would be fine with just nuking Gaza.

    • dust_accelerator@discuss.tchncs.de
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      Actually doubtful. A voter that doesn’t agree with the current level of support, would then vote for an (arguably worse in other aspects) alternative, which… will establish a higher level of support?

      Sounds like your hypothetical voter might just choose to take more than one geopolitical issue into account when deciding the future for themselves, their family and fellow citizens.

    • Drusas@kbin.social
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      I’ve honestly been baffled by how the left has suddenly latched on to Palestinian support and Israeli hatred. I’m pretty far left and my stance is that both sides are wrong. Supporting one or the other is unhelpful and you are supporting a war criminal government/organization whichever you choose.

      Support the people. Give aid where it is needed. Help to eliminate the violent elements.

      • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        No one supports Hamas. The left support is for the Palestinians. While the asks for Israeli support are for the governments current plans and actions.

        Hamas’s attack is a horror committed by a terrorist organization that we have no real influence over or responsibility for, and which is basically over, while the other is an ongoing war crime, with little signs of slowing, being perpetrated by a US ally. To some extent our tax dollars paid for the military that’s killing civilians and our support allows them to keep going despite international condemnation. If Israel chose to or if sufficient international pressure were brought to bear, they could not murder any more people. More innocent people die the more strongly the US supports Israel while condemnations of Hamas do nothing other than confirm evil people are bad.

    • donuts@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      siding with Israel

      Siding with Israel over… Hamas?

      Personally I don’t find that to be very controversial at all, as Hamas aren’t exactly angels. You’d have to have the memory of a goldfish to forget that Hamas just led a mass terrorist attack (if you consider Hamas a legitimate military force, which I do not, then please substitute “terrorist attack” with “war crimes campaign”) against Israeli civilians including old women and young children.

      To state what should be obvious to everyone, you don’t have to be pro-Hamas to feel empathy for innocent Palestinians. I feel that Biden’s actions and rhetoric have been reasonable and measured on this extremely complex and highly volatile conflict.

      • DrPop@lemmy.one
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        We also don’t know the full extent of the talks between Biden and Netenyahu. All we can do is try and teach our to our representatives.

    • deconstruct@lemm.eeOP
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      Nope.

      In Quinnipiac’s latest poll, 48% of Democratic voters say their sympathies are more with Israelis compared to 22% who said Palestinians. That’s a massive change from the 46% for Palestinians and 23% for Israelis in May 2021. Fox’s poll, likewise, has shown support for Israel up by 17 points among Democrats compared to 2021.

    • Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world
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      Actual leftists in the US don’t vote so their support doesn’t really matter.

      Support for Israel is extremely popular with liberals, moderates, and conservatives. It’ll solidify support among the liberals that do vote, take away a swing issue for moderates, and probably help swing some anti Trump conservatives to him.

  • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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    So Biden would rather expend political capital supporting Israeli war crimes than actually engaging in issues that matter in this country. Disappointing.

  • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmus.org
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    Only looking at the effect not the causes, pushing for more endless wars.

    Pushing for peace should have been the first thing for all these wars we keep funding endlessly.

    Reminds me of: “They got money for wars, but can’t feed the poor” - Keep Ya Head Up by 2Pac


    The report said Biden told Netanyahu that he remained “fully in support” of Israel’s plans to launch a ground incursion to “eliminate Hamas” despite outrage over the bombing of the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City that Israel is blaming on an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket. The US is backing Israel’s side of the story, while Palestinian officials insist an Israeli airstrike hit the hospital.

    Antiwar stance:

    Report: Biden Gives Netanyahu ‘Private Backing’ for Gaza Ground Invasion

    https://news.antiwar.com/2023/10/18/report-biden-gave-netanyahu-private-backing-for-gaza-ground-invasion/

    • protist@mander.xyz
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      Your collective positions on US foreign policy are goddamn incoherent, and your sources are unreliable

      • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmus.org
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        I thought I was being clear, my policy is antiwar, peace and negotiations.

        As mentioned, that is the Antiwar.com stance, which is bias and pro anti war.

        This site is devoted to the cause of non-interventionism and is read by libertarians, pacifists, leftists, “greens,” and independents alike, as well as many on the Right who agree with our opposition to imperialism.

        • protist@mander.xyz
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          I think what Hamas did in Israel is abhorrent, and I think what Israel is doing in Gaza is abhorrent, and I think what Russia is doing in Ukraine is abhorrent. What Russia is doing to Ukraine is so similar to what Israel is doing to Gaza, which is why you have no coherence at all on any of this.

          Your “antiwar.com” story is an entire article written about one sentence attributed to an anonymous source in a Times of London article. The Times is a well-known conservative rag owned by Rupert Murdoch, and any “leftist” site holding that up as an authoritative source is just dumb as fuck

          • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmus.org
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            I would say forcing or pushing to end the wars, then coming to peace talks, would help stop the endless blood shed.

            The poor/working class are always the ones being killed, while the wealthy class/gov’t elites stay out of the front lines.

            Thanks for letting me know, it is hard to find antiwar stances that are legit.

            Do you have any you can share?

            YT channels, journalists to follow, or on Independent media?

      • NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social
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        Iron dome missiles cost 100x a hamas missile.

        The biggest flaw that we all saw was that a massive attack could overwhelm it easily.

        I can’t believe it took this long.

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    He knows he’s got us by the balls. The world absolutely cannot afford another MAGA Republican presidency and we all know it. To clinch an easier win he needs to sway more moderates and a few Republicans both of whom support Israel over Palestinians. He knows the Left won’t vote Republican under any circumstances so he gets their vote plus the moderates and a few Republicans for extra cushion by supporting Israel. It’s a bold strategy Cotton, let’s see how this one plays out.

  • ikidd@lemmy.world
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    Talk about a false equivalency: supporting Ukraine fighting a genocidal invader is precisely the opposite of supporting a country about to commit genocide.