WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden on Saturday spoke from the White House about the terrorist attacks in Israel.
“Today the people of Israel are under attack orchestrated by a terrorist organization, Hamas. In this moment of tragedy, I want to say to them and to the world and to terrorists everywhere that the United States stands with Israel,” President Biden said.
President Biden also promised that the United States would provide all the assistance that Israelis need so that they could continue to defend themselves.
Israel declared a state of war on Saturday after Hamas, the Iran-backed terror group, began an unprecedented, unprovoked surprise attack on Israel, launching thousands of rockets into Israeli cities starting at 6:30 a.m. In addition, terrorists breached Israeli borders and began targeting homes, killing and kidnapping civilians. More than 200 Israelis have been killed, and over 1,000 are critically injured, according to reports.
President Biden said that he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and conveyed that the United States “stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults.”
He also warned that this is not the time for any anti-Israeli country to take advantage of the attacks. “The world is watching.”
He didn’t respond when asked if there was an intelligence failure in the lead-up to the attack.
Earlier, former President Donald Trump in a statement blamed President Biden for the attacks.
“These Hamas attacks are a disgrace and Israel has every right to defend itself with overwhelming force. Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks,” he wrote in a statement. “We brought so much peace to the Middle East through the Abraham Accords, only to see Biden whittle it away at a far more rapid pace than anyone thought possible.”
White House: Blaming Biden is ‘Irresponsible’
The White House responded on Saturday to mounting criticisms in the aftermath of Hamas attacks in Israel.“I cannot think of a more irresponsible claim to make in such a situation,” a senior White House official told reporters during a call. “None of the funds that were a part of that deal have even been spent—not a single cent—or accessed by Iran.”
The official explained that the funds can only be used “to pay vetted third-party, non-Iranian vendors for a limited category of humanitarian trade, for food, agricultural products, medicine, medical supplies, that’s it.”
The White House National Security Council spokesperson also responded to these criticisms through the X platform, formerly Twitter.
“These funds have absolutely nothing to do with the horrific attacks today and this is not the time to spread disinformation,” said Adrienne Watson, the spokesperson.
She also stated that national security adviser Jake Sullivan has spoken to his Israeli counterpart Tzachi Hanegbi, and the NSC team stays in close contact with their Israeli counterparts.
President Biden said he has been in contact with the king of Jordan and spoke with members of Congress.
“I’ve also directed my team to remain in constant contact with leaders throughout the region, including Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, the UAE, as well as our European partners and the Palestinian Authority.”
The last time President Biden and Mr. Netanyahu met was on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 20. It was the first time both leaders met after the Israeli leader returned to office late last year.
They discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including the normalization of relations with Riyadh, during that meeting.
The meeting came amid frosty relations with the Israeli leader. In March, President Biden said he wouldn’t invite Mr. Netanyahu to the White House because of Mr. Netanyahu’s attempt to change Israel’s judiciary system.
However, during the bilateral meeting in New York, President Biden expressed his hope for the success of efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, noting that such an idea would have been impossible a decade ago.
Three years ago, Israel normalized ties with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan in what is known as the Abraham Accords, inked during President Trump’s tenure.
The surprise Hamas attack poses a threat to U.S. efforts to improve Saudi-Israeli relations and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.
The senior administration official said it’s “premature” to speculate on the impact. However, he noted that terrorist groups like Hamas are unlikely to derail normalization efforts.
