President Biden yesterday cautioned Israel not to make the same mistakes the United States made after the 9/11 terrorist attacks as Israeli forces are expected to prepare a ground offensive in response to attacks launched by Hamas. Biden delivered remarks in Tel Aviv at the end of a trip to Israel meant to underscore his unwavering support for the Jewish state.
“Since this attack took place, we’ve seen it described as Israel’s 9/11. But for a nation the size of Israel, it was like 15 9/11s,” Biden said. “The scale may be different, but I’m sure those horrors have tapped into some kind of primal feeling in Israel just like it did in the United States. Shock, pain, rage. An all-consuming rage.” “You can’t look at what has happened here … and not scream out for justice,” Biden continued.
“Justice must be done. But I caution this: While you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it. After 9/11 we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.” Arab leaders responded to the loss of life at the hospital, which they blamed on Israel, by cancelling a summit with Biden in Jordan. This had been intended as the second half of his carefully choreographed itinerary for emergency meetings with allies to avert a wider Middle East war.
Biden said the US would provide $100 million in new funding for humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He also said he would ask Congress for an ‘unprecedented’ aid package this week, before flying out of Israel after what ended up being a less than eight-hour visit. Biden faced intense pressure to secure a clear Israeli commitment to let aid into Gaza from Egypt, to ease the plight of civilians in the small, densely populated coastal enclave. At the end of his visit, Netanyahu’s office put out a statement saying Israel would let food, water and medicines reach southern Gaza via Egypt.
It reiterated that it would not let aid in from Israel until Hamas released Israeli hostages. Late last night, Washington said Biden and spoken to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi on the phone and the two agreed to work closely on encouraging an ‘urgent and robust’ response to a humanitarian appeal by the UN. They also agreed on the need to preserve stability in the Middle East and prevent escalation of the conflict, as well reaffirming their commitment to the two nations’ strategic partnership.
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