It is vital for the national security of the United States that both Ukraine and Israel succeed in their current conflicts, president Joe Biden has told Americans in an address to the nation.
Speaking from the White House on Thursday night as he prepared to seek the US Congress to authorise billions of dollars in military aid for both countries, he said the world was facing an “inflection point in history”.
The president in his speech did not specify the exact amount of money involved. However, he is expected to look for about $100 billion (€94 billion) in emergency funding over the next year for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan as well as for security along the border with Mexico. He described his request for aid as “a smart investment that’s going to pay dividends for American security for generations”.
Mr Biden sought to tie together the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel and to persuade the US public that it was in their interests to support both.
“Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: they both want to annihilate a neighbouring democracy,” he said.
He said if international aggression was allowed to continue “conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world”.
The president said the funding he was seeking for Israel would sharpen its military edge. He said it would include material to replenish Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defence system.
Mr Biden also said that Hamas did not represent the Palestinian people. He said Hamas used Palestinian civilians as human shields.
“Innocent Palestinian families are suffering greatly because of them.”
Mr Biden said he was heartbroken at the tragic loss of Palestinian life including those who died in the explosion at the al-Ahli Baptist hospital in Gaza earlier this week. However, he said Israel was not responsible for the blast.
The president said he knew the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel seemed very far away and it was natural for people to ask why they mattered to the US.
“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 threats to America and world keep rising.”
Mr Biden said “if we do not stop Putin’s appetite for power and control in Ukraine, he will not limit himself to Ukraine”.
“Putin has already threatened to remind Poland that its western land was a gift from Russia.”
“One of his top advisers, a former president of Russia, has called Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, Russia’s Baltic provinces.”
He said these were all Nato allies. He warned that if Russia attacked a Nato ally, the US would defend every inch of Nato territory. But he said he did not want to see American troops fighting against Russia.
Mr Biden said adversaries and competitors of the US were 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 in other parts of the world; the Indo Pacific and the Middle East.”
“American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliances are what keep us, America, safe.”
“American values are what make us a partner nation you want to work with.”
“To put all that at risk – we walk away from Ukraine, we turn our backs on Israel – it’s just not worth it.”
Mr Biden made his appeal to Americans to continue their support for Ukraine at a time when backing for Kyiv appears to be waning, particularly on the right. He also faces scepticism among some progressives in his own Democratic Party about his defence of Israel.
