Biden Admin Drafts $100 Billion Ukraine-Israel Foreign Aid Package
At a moment the whole region threatens to erupt, and as mass protests have continued across Arab capitals and in many other parts of the world, President Joe Biden arrived in Israel Wednesday pledging unwavering US support for Israel.
Breaking from other allies like France's Macron (and some Europeans), who appeared to condemn Israel for the deadly al-Ahli Baptist Hospital bombing, Biden instead during his first meeting with Netanyahu since the crisis began sided with Israel's narrative of events. "Based on what I have seen, it was done by the other team, not you," Biden said.
"But there’s a lot of people out there who are not sure. So we’ve got to overcome a lot of things," he added. The Israelis had the day prior emphasized they had shared their case, including intelligence they say they possess, with the Americans as Biden was en route in Air Force One to Tel Aviv.
Likely Biden's comments were enough for now to satisfy the Israelis, who are under growing international pressure given the massive death toll of at least 200-300 Gazans at the hospital, many of them women and children; however, the "other team" reference is somewhat awkward a response - as it doesn't directly name Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) or Hamas.
Later in the day, in a meeting with Netanyahu which also included members of his war cabinet in Tel Aviv, Biden as expected pledged that "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," said, and described the Oct.7 Hamas cross-border raid as "brutal, inhuman, almost beyond belief."
BIDEN: "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, it's not just…' Well, I won't go into it, I'll wait 'til later, taking too much time."
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/biden-israel-agrees-netanyahu-looks-other-team-did-hospital-strike