Biden Bits: “You Are Not Alone”…

BidenTweets — Biden Tweets Logo. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

It’s Wednesday…

President Biden’s public schedule for 10/18/2023…

He went to Israel. He will travel home at some point today.

All the Tweets

From Tuesday…

The idea of America guarantees that everyone is treated with dignity and equality.

It's an idea that ensures an inclusive, multi-racial democracy.

And that we give no safe harbor to hate of any kind.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 17, 2023

I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted. Immediately upon hearing this news, I spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and have directed my national…
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 17, 2023

Show more =’s security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened. The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy.

His full statement:

I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted. Immediately upon hearing this news, I spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and have directed my national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened. The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy.
White House.gov. 10/17/2023.

News — Asked what made him confident the Israelis weren’t behind the hospital strike in Gaza, President Biden says, “The data I was shown by my Defense Department.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 18, 2023

President Biden says, based on what he’s seen, the hospital was hit by an “errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 18, 2023

To make it more explicit, the NSC says, “While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 18, 2023

Folks, there are core values that should bring us together as Americans.

And one of them is standing together against hate, racism, bigotry, and violence that have long haunted and plagued our nation. pic.twitter.com/KpqZ6cvNdp
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 18, 2023

The video is 33 seconds long.

Remarks by President Biden at the United We Stand Summit; the YouTube is 4 hours and 44 minutes long (09/15/2022):

We need to say it clearly and forcefully: White supremacy, all forms of hate fueled by violence have no place in America.
Failure to call it out is complicity. My dad would say, “If you’re silent, it’s complicity.” We can’t remain silent.
There’s always the saying: If we bring this up, we just divide the country. Bring it up. We silence it, instead of remaining in silence. For in silence, wounds deepen. We have to face the good, the bad, and the truth. That’s what great nations do, and we’re a great nation.
[snip]
We must choose to be a nation of hope, unity, and optimism or a nation of fear and division and hate. And we choose — as we do, we know this: Hate-fueled violence is born into the fertile soil of a toxic division.
White House.gov. 09/15/2022.

From Wednesday…

I'm proud to be in Israel to honor the courage, commitment, and bravery of the Israeli people.

Americans are grieving with you following last week’s terror attacks.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 18, 2023

I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the situation on the ground, security assistance and humanitarian needs, and information on unaccounted Americans.

I asked tough questions as a friend of Israel. We will continue to deter any actor wanting to widen this conflict. pic.twitter.com/KJpX4eHD4A
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 18, 2023

Remarks by President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel Before Bilateral Meeting | Tel Aviv, Israel

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Mr. President, Joe, I want to thank you for coming here today and for the unequivocal support you have given Israel during these trying times, a support that reflects the overwhelming will of the American people.
I’ve seen your support every day in the depth and breadth of cooperation that we have had since the beginning of this war, a level of cooperation that is truly unprecedented in the history of the great alliance between our two nations.
We see that support in your steadfast commitment to provide Israel with the tools we need to defend ourselves. We see that support in the clear message you’ve sent our enemies not to test our resolve and in the two American carrier battle groups that you sent to the region to back up those words with action.
But above all, Mr. President, the world sees that support in the moral clarity that you have demonstrated from the moment Israel was attacked.
You’ve rightly drawn a clear line between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism. You described what Hamas did as “sheer evil.” It is exactly that.
Hamas murdered children in front of their parents and parents in front of their children. They burned people alive. They raped and murdered women. They beheaded soldiers. They — they searched for the secret hiding places where parents hid their children.
And just imagine, Mr. President, the — the fear and the panic of those little children in their last moments as the monsters discovered — found out their hiding places.
Hamas kidnapped women, children, elderly, Holocaust ~~survivals~~ [survivors]. I know you share our outrage on this, and I know you share our determination to bring these people back.
On October 7th, Hamas murdered 1,400 Israelis, maybe more. This is in a country of fewer than 10 million people. This would be equivalent to over 50,000 Americans murdered in a single day. That’s 20 9/11s. That is why October 7th is another day that will live in infamy.
Mr. President, you rightly said that Hamas is worse than ISIS. The German Chancellor, who visited here yesterday, said that Hamas were the new Nazis. You’re both right. And just as the civilized world united to defeat the Nazis and united to defeat ISIS, the civilized world must unite to defeat Hamas.
I can assure you, Mr. President, Israel is united to defeat Hamas. And we will defeat Hamas and remove this terrible threat from our lives.
The forces of civilization will prevail, for our sake, for your sake, for peace and security in our region and in the world.
Mr. President, for the people of Israel, there’s only one thing better than having a true friend like you standing with Israel, and that is having you standing in Israel.
Your visit here is the first visit of an American president in Israel at a time of war. It is deeply, deeply moving.
It speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to Israel. It speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to the future of the Jewish people and the one and only Jewish state.
So, I know I speak for all the people of Israel when I say: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow, and always.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much.
Look, folks, I wanted to be here today for a simple reason. I wanted the people of Israel, the people of the world to know where the United States stands.
I’ve had my great Secretary of State here. He’s been here for — a lot. But I wanted to personally come and make that clear.
The terrorist group Hamas has slaughtered, as has been pointed out, over 1,300 people — and it is not hyperbole to suggest “slaughtered” — “slaughtered” — and — including 31 Americans as part of that.
And they’ve taken scores of people hostage, including children. You said: Imagine what those children hiding from Hamas were thinking. It’s beyond my comprehension to be able to imagine what they were thinking. Beyond my comprehension.
They’re — committed evils that — and atrocities that make ISIS look somewhat more rational.
You know, Americans are grieving with you. They really are. And Americans are worried. Americans are worried because we know there’s — this is not an easy field to navigate what you have to do.
But the fact is that Israel, as they respond to these attacks, it seems to me that — have to continue to ensure that you have what you need to defend yourselves. And we’re going to make sure that occurs, as you know.
And we have to also bear in mind that Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people and has brought them only suffering.
You know, years ago, I asked the Secretary of State, when he and I were working in the Senate, to write something for me. And he said — he wrote a line that I think is appropriate. He said, “It’s not — we lead not just…” Well, I won’t go into it. I’ll wait until later. I’m taking too much time.
But the point is this — that I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. And based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not — not you. But there’s a lot of people out there who are not sure.
So, we got a lot of — we got to overcome a lot of things.
And it also means encouraging lifesaving capacity to help the Palestinians who are innocent, caught in the middle of this.
And — well, any rate, that’s — that’s who we are — not just me, but I mean that’s who the United States is. And it’s just not the example of our power, it’s the power of our example that’s almost as important.
The world is looking. We — Israel has a value set like the United States does and other democracies, and — and they’re looking to see what we’re going to do.
So, Mr. Prime Minister, I’m very happy to be back in Israel with you. Thank you for having me. And I’m looking forward to having a thorough discussion about where everybody goes from here.
But thank you.
And I want to say to the people of Israel: Their courage, their commitment, their bravery is — is stunning. It’s really stunning. I’m proud to be here.
PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
White House.gov. 10/18/2023.

Remarks by President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel Before Expanded Bilateral Meeting | Tel Aviv, Israel

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Mr. President, you are meeting with our united war cabinet — united and resolved to lead Israel to victory. This will be a different kind of war because Hamas is a different kind of enemy.

While Israel seeks to minimize civilian casualties, Hamas seeks to maximize civilian casualties. Hamas wants to kill as many Israelis as possible and has no regard whatsoever to Palestinian lives.

Every day, they perpetrate a double war crime: targeting our civilians while hiding behind their civilians, embedding themselves in the civilian population, and using them as human shields.

We’ve seen the cost of this — this terrible double war crime against humanity that Hamas is perpetrating in the last 11 days. As Israel legitimately targets terrorists, civilians are unfortunately harmed. Hamas is responsible and should be held accountable for all civilian casualties.

We saw the cost of this terrible war crime yesterday, when a rocket fired by a Palestinian terrorist misfired and landed on a Palestinian hospital. The entire world was rightfully outraged. But this outrage should be directed not at Israel but at the terrorists.

As we proceed in this war, Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm’s way. We’ve asked them and we’ll continue to ask them to move to safer areas. We’ll continue to work with you, Mr. President, to assure that the minimal requirements are met, and we’ll continue to work together to get our hostages out.

Mr. President, the road to victory will be long and hard, but united in purpose and with a deep sense of justice and the unbreakable spirit of our soldiers and our people, Israel will prevail.

Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.
In the wake of Hamas’s appalling terrorist assault — it was brutal, inhumane, almost beyond belief what they did — this cabinet came together and — standing strong, standing united.
And — and I want you to know you’re not alone. You are not alone.
As I emphasized earlier, we will continue to have Israel’s back as you work to defend your people. We’ll continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians.
Seventy-five years ago, your founders declared that this nation would be one based — quote, “based on freedom, justice, and peace.” “Based on freedom, justice, and peace.”
The United States stands with you in defense of that freedom, in pursuit of that justice, and in support of that peace today, tomorrow, and always. We promise you.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Thank you.
White House.gov. 10/18/2023.

My team and I have touched down in Israel to stand in solidarity with the Israeli people following Hamas's terrorist attack.

Join me as I address the people of Israel in Tel Aviv: https://t.co/LHTLwArx93
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 18, 2023

The Live version of the YouTube is 2 hours and 21 minutes long. President Biden’s remarks start at the 2 hour and 5 minute mark. The YouTube should be cued up to when his remarks start. His full remarks have not been posted by the White House yet.

I have come to Israel with a simple message:

You are not alone.

As long as the United States stands – and we will stand forever – you will not be alone.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 18, 2023

Let me make myself clear:

The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas.

And Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 18, 2023

I just announced $100 million for humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank.

This money will support over 1 million displaced and conflict-affected Palestinians.

And we will have mechanisms in place so this aid reaches those in need – not Hamas or terrorist groups.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 18, 2023

U.S. Announcement of Humanitarian Assistance to the Palestinian People

President Biden announced today that the United States is providing $100 million in humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. This funding will help support over a million displaced and conflict-affected people with clean water, food, hygiene support, medical care, and other essential needs. The United States provides humanitarian assistance through trusted partners including UN agencies and international NGOs.
Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism. Civilian lives must be protected and assistance must urgently reach those in need. We will continue to work closely with partners in the region to stress the importance of upholding the law of war, supporting those who are trying to get to safety or provide assistance, and facilitating access to food, water, medical care, and shelter.
White House.gov. 10/18/2023.

President Biden is greeted and embraced upon his arrival in Israel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. pic.twitter.com/sXTiV3Bhzr
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 18, 2023

Biden hugs Rachel Edri, an Israeli woman who was held hostage at gunpoint in her home for 20 hours and used food and conversation to keep her capturers calm until she could be rescued. pic.twitter.com/ub5TUogQez
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) October 18, 2023