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Biden makes the case for wartime aid to Israel and Ukraine in primetime address

to Americans

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a prime-time address to the nation about his approaches to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, humanitarian assistance in Gaza and continued support for Ukraine in their war with Russia, from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S. October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Pool

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President Joe Biden tied the wars in Ukraine and Israel together during a primetime Oval Office address Thursday, making an impassioned appeal to the American people to support two fellow democracies that he says are facing existential threats.

The president has often cast this moment in history as an “inflection point” – a battle between the world’s democracies and autocracies. On Thursday, he argued that “this is one of those moments,” making a direct appeal to the American people as he sought to build support for US funding for wars abroad that could face a challenging path in Congress, where the House of Representatives remains unable to pass legislation in its second week without a speaker. “Hamas and Putin pose different threats, but they have one thing in common: they both want to completely destroy the democracies of their neighbors,” Biden said.

“We cannot allow petty partisanship and spiteful politics to interfere with our responsibilities as a great nation. We cannot and will not allow terrorists like Hamas or tyrants like Putin to win. “I refuse to let that happen,” he added.

He laid out the risks for the American people, calling the war a national security necessity and a critical moment for American leadership and the future of democracy around the world.

“American leadership is what unites the world. American alliances are what keep us in America safe. American values are what make us a partner nation you want to work with,” he said. “To put all that at risk – we walk away from Ukraine, we turn our backs on Israel – it’s just not worth it.”

The president said support for both wars is “vital for America’s national security.”

“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 death and more destruction. They keep going. And the cost and the threat to America in the world keep rising,” Biden said, warning, “If we don’t stop Putin’s appetite for power and control in Ukraine, he won’t limit himself just to Ukraine.”

And he warned more broadly that the United States’ adversaries and competitors “are watching.”

“If we walk away and let Putin erase Ukraine’s independence, would-be aggressors around the world would be emboldened to try the same. “The risk of conflict and chaos could spread to other regions of the world, including the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East in particular,” he said.

request additional funds

The White House delivered a high-profile speech asking Congress for more than $100 billion to provide aid and resources to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the U.S.-Mexico border, with Congress paralyzed by dysfunction in the House of Representatives.