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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>President Joe Biden listens to a question from a reporter during a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Andrew Harnik)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Full White House text of remarks by President Joe Biden at a Campaign Reception, December 12, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n President Biden: Thank you all so very much. Many of you have been my personal friends and political friends for a long time. I know I don\u2019t look it, but I\u2019ve been around a long while. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I want to thank you all \u2014 all of you \u2014 for \u2014 for your steadfast support. And, Rosy, particularly, thank you for that introduction and all the work you did to make this successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And most of all \u2014 in light of the introduction, it seems a little out of place \u2014 but Happy Hanukkah. (Laughter and applause.) Happy Hanukkah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We know that this year\u2019s Hanukkah is different after October the 7th attack. As I said after the attack, the safety of the Jewish people, the literal security of Israel as an independent Jewish state is literally at stake. But it is unshakeable, our commitment to Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Editionby email and never miss our top storiesNewsletter email addressGET IT<\/p>\n\n\n\n By signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n We continue to provide military assistance to Israel as it goes after Hamas. And I\u2019ve personally spent hours \u2014 hours, without exaggeration \u2014 talking to the Qataris, the Egyptians, the Israelis to secure the freedom of more than 100 hostages. And we\u2019re go- \u2014 not going to stop until we \u2014 every hostage is returned home \u2014 (applause) \u2014 every one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll continue leading the world in delivering humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilians as well to emphasize to our friends in Israel the need to protect civilian life. And they understand it, the vast majority of the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But most of all, we condemn Hamas\u2019s using rape, sexual violence, terrorism, and torture of Israeli women and girls without equivocation, without exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n You know, they \u2014 I saw some of the photographs when I was there \u2014 tying a mother and her daughter together on a rope and then pouring kerosene on them and then burning them, beheading infants, doing things that are just inhuman \u2014 totally, completely inhuman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also recognize your hurt from the silence and the fear of the safety \u2014 your safety because of the surge of antisemitism here in America and around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I\u2019ve said before, and I won\u2019t belabor it, but it\u2019s \u2014 people say, why have I had this feeling for so long, since I ran for the United States Senate 170 years ago? (Laughter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n My dad really was a righteous Christian. He taught me about the horrors of the Shoah. He\u2019d ta- \u2014 we \u2014 and he\u2019s \u2014 as a consequence, I\u2019ve taken my grandchildren \u2014 my \u2014 my three children and my grandchildren, when they turned age 14, put them on a plane and flew them to Dachau because I wanted them to see, wanted them to spend the day there and understand that silence is complicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yesterday, at the Hanukkah reception at the White House, I met Holocaust survivors, including a widow of our dear friend, the late Elie Wiesel, who taught us about the perils of indifference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been clear that our administration stands with you. We\u2019re aggressively implementing America\u2019s first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism: prosecuting hate crimes, addressing antisemitism in schools, increasing security around Jewish centers of Jewish life, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this moment, we have to hold on to the core values of who we are as Americans. The core values are equity, equality, justice, freedom, dignity, respect \u2014 values that, from the inception of our nation, have shaped literally the culture, contributions, and values of the Jewish Americans \u2014 including all of you that are here \u2014 Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s what I want to talk about today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You know, in 2020, you\u2019re the reason why we got 81 million votes, more than any presidential candidate has gotten in American history. You\u2019re the reason \u2014 (applause) \u2014 you\u2019re the reason why Donald Trump is not a former president but a defeated former president. (Applause.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re the reason why we\u2019re going to win in 2024 again, with your help, and we are. (Applause.) When we \u2014 when we started, the pandemic was raging, the economy was reeling. Because of you \u2014 of you, look at what we\u2019ve achieved: record job creation, historic economic growth, among the lowest inflation rates of any major economy on Earth. We\u2019ve rebuilt our alliances around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And because of the great help of Dick Durbin of Illinois, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, we\u2019ve reconfirmed 61 judges \u2014 and more, the first Black appointed judge to the Supreme Court of the United States, a woman. And combined, we\u2019ve appointed more \u2014 (applause) \u2014 we\u2019ve appointed more Black women to the appellate courts of the United States and \u2014 than every other president in history combined. (Applause.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump and the MAGA Republicans want to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. For the 51st time, they\u2019re trying \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 literally. We made it more affordable. We made it stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We made the biggest investment in our history in the world \u2014 history of the world to combat climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We signed the first new gun safety law in 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite actions of the Supreme Court and MAGA Republicans, we\u2019ve relieved student debt for 3.6 million Americans, who now have a chance to buy their first home and pay their debts and get out of debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re making a historic commitment to rebuild American roads, bridges, ports, airports, clean water systems, high-speed Internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for all we\u2019ve done, the real heroes of the story are the American people. In thousands of towns all across America, we see the stories of revival and renewal; hope and optimism; pride \u2014 and pride in your work, pride in your family, pride in your town, pride in this nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We know there\u2019s more to do, from childcare to eldercare, making sure the corporations pay their fair share. And we know that all the progress is at stake in this next election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, by the way, we did all that and we still reduced the deficit by $7 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what\u2019s most at stake in this next election is the future of American democracy, in my view. And that makes this all \u2014 it all possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me be clear, Donald Trump poses, in my view, many threats to this country, from the right to choose \u2014 you just saw what the Supreme Court of Texas just did \u2014 to civil rights and voting rights to the American standing in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n The greatest threat he poses, though, is to our democracy. Because if we lose that, we lose everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I first ran for president, I said democracy was a- \u2014 was at stake in America. A lot of people thought when I made that speech at Independence Hall in 2020 \u2014 2021, that I \u2014 that they \u2014 that they thought I was exaggerating. But they don\u2019t think that anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember January 6th, Trump siting in the private dining room off of my Oval \u2014 the Oval Office for hours, watching it all unfold as a mob attacked to Capitol and desecrated the Capitol. Capitol Police died. It threatened the life of his own vice president because the Vice President refused to violate his constitutional oath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same mob went looking for Nancy Pelosi. Some up \u2014 spun up the same lies, inspired an assault on her \u2014 who attacked her husband, Paul, with a hammer months later, smacking him in the head with a hammer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s despicable. And silence coming from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump became the first losing presidential candidate in history who refused to accept the will of the American people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He didn\u2019t even show up at the Inauguration. I can\u2019t say I was disappointed, but he didn\u2019t show up. (Laughter.) My guess is he won\u2019t show up for the next Inauguration either. (Applause.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n But listen to his words today. He says he\u2019s running not to serve the American \u2014 the people of America, but to get \u201crevenge\u201d and \u201cretribution.\u201d His words, not mine. \u201cRevenge\u201d and \u201cretribution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just the other day, he said \u2014 he said he liked to be a \u201cdictator.\u201d Going to be a dictator \u2014 only \u201cfor one day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we Catholics say \u2014 (the President makes the sign of the cross). (Laughter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n He called those who oppose him \u201cvermin,\u201d language that echoes that what was heard out in Germany in the \u201830s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He talked about, quote, \u201cThe blood of our country is being poisoned.\u201d Sound familiar? Same era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he threatened the use of American military in the streets of America to go after political opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He embraces political violence instead of rejecting it, and he can\u2019t let that happen \u2014 we can\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look, all of you here understand what freedom means. It means truth. It means to have the courage to hold a mirror up to our nation and say, \u201cIs this who we are? Is this who we want to be? Can we be better?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike Trump, we don\u2019t believe America is dark and negative \u2014 a dark and negative nation driven by anger, fear, and revenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Trump was \u2014 spoke at his Inauguration, he talked about \u201cAmerican carnage.\u201d When I spoke at my Inauguration, I spoke about possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We believe we are a hopeful and optimistic nation driven by a simple proposition: that everybody deserves a fair shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re the only nation in the world built on \u2014 not on ethnicity, religion, geography. We\u2019re the only country built on an idea \u2014 an idea all Amer- \u2014 all of history \u2014 the idea that we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal, endowed by their Creator. We\u2019ve never fully lived up to it, but we\u2019ve never walked away from it either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump wants to \u2014 that\u2019s what Trump wants to do, but we\u2019re not going to walk away from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look, let me say that \u2014 as all this relates to Israel \u2014 I spend a lot of time, probably 75 percent of my time, dealing with foreign leaders and traveling the world. There is a real concern around the world that America is losing its moral center. There\u2019s a real concern that with America \u2014 American principles continue to be the vanguard of who we are. I\u2019ve spent more time with NATO pulling together and holding it together than I think anyone has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Dr. Kissinger \u2014 three weeks before he died, we \u2014 he and I had our real differences when he was active Secretary of State and I was a senator \u2014 but he called to tell me \u2014 he said \u2014 he asked me to call him, and I did. He said that \u2014 he wanted me to know two things.One, not since Napoleon has Europe not looked at Russia with a \u2014 with fear in its eyes about what Russia would do, until now. Well, guess what? They are fearful of what we may do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it takes me to my concluding point about Israel and about all freedoms around the world. Israel \u2014 it\u2019s an existential threat to Israel \u2014 its very existence. Israel has a tough decision to make. Bibi has got a tough decision to make. There\u2019s no question about the need to take on Hamas. There\u2019s no question about that. None. Zero. They have every right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bibi and I talk a lot. I\u2019ve known him for 50 years. Some of you know he has a picture on his desk \u2014 at least when I\u2019m there, he has it on it. (Laughter.) Eight and a half by eleven, with a picture of \u2014 where I wrote, \u201cBibi\u2026\u201d \u2014 when we were both young men, he was at the embassy here and I was a senator. I said, \u201cBibi, I love you, but I don\u2019t agree with a damn thing you have to say.\u201d (Laughter.) That remains to be the case. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019s a good friend, but I think he has to change and \u2014 with this government. This government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n US President Joe Biden (left) with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023. (Haim Zach\/GPO)<\/p>\n\n\n\n You know, Ben-Gvir is not what you would call someone who \u2014 this is the most conservative government in Israel\u2019s history \u2014 the most conservative. I\u2019ve known every, every, every single head of state in Israel since Golda Meir. And I\u2019ve known them because I\u2019ve spent time with them many times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this is a different group. Ben-Gvir and company and the new folks, they \u2014 they don\u2019t want anything remotely approaching a two-state solution. They not only want to have re- \u2014 retribution, which they should for what the Palestinian \u2014 Hamas did, but against all Palestinians. They don\u2019t want a two-state solution. They don\u2019t want any- \u2014 anything having to with the \u2014 the Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Folks, the Palestinians have been not governed well at all. A lot has happened that\u2019s very negative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I spent an awful \u2014 an awful lot of time with the Arab countries. Everyone from Saudi \u2014 without going into too much detail because it would be inappropriate \u2014 from Saudi Arabia to a number of other states, they want to normalize relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the G20 meeting with all the 20 major nations in the world, I got a resolution passed that no one thought could happen, saying we\u2019re going to build a railroad from the middle of India all the way up to England and a pipeline across the Mediterranean to unite the countries. And the train is going to go \u2014 literally, not figuratively \u2014 from \u2014 from India into Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia into \u2014 to Jordan, Jordan to Israel, Israel, et cetera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because there \u2014 we have an opportunity to begin to unite the region \u2014 unite the region. And they still want to do it. But we have to make sure that \u2014 that Bibi understands that he\u2019s got to make some moves to strengthen PLA [PA] \u2014 strengthen it, change it, move it. You cannot say there\u2019s no Palestinian state at all in the future. And that\u2019s going to be the hard part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in the meantime, we\u2019re not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel in the process. Not a single thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, folks, there\u2019s a lot to do \u2014 a lot to do. We\u2019re going to have to be \u2014 as strong supporters of Israel, we\u2019re going to have to be honest about what we\u2019re doing and what the goal is. The goal is Israel\u2019s security. And if Israel \u2014 Israel\u2019s sec- \u2014 if there were no \u2014 many of you heard me say over the years: Were there not an Israel, we\u2019d have to invent one \u2014 we\u2019d have to invent one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe, without Israel as a freestanding state, not a Jew in the world is safe \u2014 not a Jew in the world is safe. It\u2019s up to what happens at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, we got a lot of work to do, but we\u2019re not going to \u2014 in the meantime, none of it is going to walk away from providing Israel what they need to defend themselves and to finish the job against \u2014 against Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, folks, look, if you think about it, one of the things that Bibi understands, I think, now \u2014 but I\u2019m not sure Ben-Gvir and his War Cabinet do, who I\u2019ve spoken to several times \u2014 is that Israel\u2019s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting it. But they\u2019re starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was pointed out to me \u2014 I\u2019m being very blunt with you all \u2014 it was pointed out to me that \u2014 by Bibi \u2014 that \u201cWell, you carpet-bombed Germany. You dropped the atom bomb. A lot of civilians died.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I said, \u201cYeah, that\u2019s why all these institutions were set up after World War Two to see to it that it didn\u2019t happen again \u2014 it didn\u2019t happen again. Don\u2019t make the same mistakes we made at 9\/11. There was no reason why we had to be in a war in Afghanistan at 9\/11. There was no reason why we had to do some of the things we did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, those of you who have family back in Israel, you saw what happened when Bibi tried to change the Supreme Court. Thousands of IDF soldiers said, \u201cWe\u2019re out. We\u2019re not going to participate. We\u2019re not going to support the military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That wasn\u2019t any outside influence. That came from within Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, folks, there\u2019s a lot to do \u2014 a whole lot to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First and foremost, do everything in our power to hold Hamas accountable \u2014 every single thing in our power. They\u2019re animals. They\u2019re animals. They exceeded anything that any other terrorist group has done of late that I \u2014 in memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, secondly, we have to work toward bringing Israel together in a way that provides for the beginning of option \u2014 an option of a two-state solution, because absent that \u2014 (applause) \u2014 (inaudible). It\u2019s probably more than you wanted to hear, but \u2014 (laughter).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look, I do not believe and I will not believe, after all this nation has been through \u2014 our nation \u2014 from independence to the Civil War to world wars; after being blessed by leaders like Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Dr. King; after having stood as a beacon of freedom and equality for the entire world \u2014 I don\u2019t believe this nation is going to turn to my predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Folks, if we do our job in 2024, we\u2019ll be saving what few generations can be able to say: We\u2019ll be saving American democracy in a way that is needed. And the rest of the world is looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of you \u2014 you\u2019re all so- \u2014 very sophisticated people, and I\u2019m not being solicitous. You travel the world. Have you met any foreign leader who suggests to you that they\u2019d like to go back to where we were in the \u201cAmerica Only\u201d position again? Have you found one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Madeleine Albright was right. We are the essential nation. Like it or not, we are \u2014 not Joe Biden, America is the essential nation. And they\u2019re looking for us to lead. And with your help, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll continue to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But nobody, nobody, nobody on God\u2019s green Earth can justify what Hamas did. They\u2019re a brutal, ugly, inhumane people, and they have to be eliminated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you all very much. (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" US president promises to give Israel what it needs to \u2018finish the job\u2019 against Hamas, but decries ministers in Netanyahu coalition who want \u2018retribution against all Palestinians\u2019 13 December 2023 (timesofisrael.com) President Joe Biden listens to a question from a reporter during a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy… Continue reading
![<\/a>President Joe Biden listens to a question from a reporter during a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Andrew Harnik)<\/p>\n\n\n\nFull White House text of remarks by President Joe Biden at a Campaign Reception, December 12, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nPresident Biden: Thank you all so very much. Many of you have been my personal friends and political friends for a long time. I know I don\u2019t look it, but I\u2019ve been around a long while. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd I want to thank you all \u2014 all of you \u2014 for \u2014 for your steadfast support. And, Rosy, particularly, thank you for that introduction and all the work you did to make this successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd most of all \u2014 in light of the introduction, it seems a little out of place \u2014 but Happy Hanukkah. (Laughter and applause.) Happy Hanukkah.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe know that this year\u2019s Hanukkah is different after October the 7th attack. As I said after the attack, the safety of the Jewish people, the literal security of Israel as an independent Jewish state is literally at stake. But it is unshakeable, our commitment to Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Editionby email and never miss our top storiesNewsletter email addressGET IT<\/p>\n\n\n\nBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nWe continue to provide military assistance to Israel as it goes after Hamas. And I\u2019ve personally spent hours \u2014 hours, without exaggeration \u2014 talking to the Qataris, the Egyptians, the Israelis to secure the freedom of more than 100 hostages. And we\u2019re go- \u2014 not going to stop until we \u2014 every hostage is returned home \u2014 (applause) \u2014 every one.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe\u2019ll continue leading the world in delivering humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilians as well to emphasize to our friends in Israel the need to protect civilian life. And they understand it, the vast majority of the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut most of all, we condemn Hamas\u2019s using rape, sexual violence, terrorism, and torture of Israeli women and girls without equivocation, without exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\nADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou know, they \u2014 I saw some of the photographs when I was there \u2014 tying a mother and her daughter together on a rope and then pouring kerosene on them and then burning them, beheading infants, doing things that are just inhuman \u2014 totally, completely inhuman.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI also recognize your hurt from the silence and the fear of the safety \u2014 your safety because of the surge of antisemitism here in America and around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs I\u2019ve said before, and I won\u2019t belabor it, but it\u2019s \u2014 people say, why have I had this feeling for so long, since I ran for the United States Senate 170 years ago? (Laughter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\nMy dad really was a righteous Christian. He taught me about the horrors of the Shoah. He\u2019d ta- \u2014 we \u2014 and he\u2019s \u2014 as a consequence, I\u2019ve taken my grandchildren \u2014 my \u2014 my three children and my grandchildren, when they turned age 14, put them on a plane and flew them to Dachau because I wanted them to see, wanted them to spend the day there and understand that silence is complicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYesterday, at the Hanukkah reception at the White House, I met Holocaust survivors, including a widow of our dear friend, the late Elie Wiesel, who taught us about the perils of indifference.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve been clear that our administration stands with you. We\u2019re aggressively implementing America\u2019s first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism: prosecuting hate crimes, addressing antisemitism in schools, increasing security around Jewish centers of Jewish life, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\nADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn this moment, we have to hold on to the core values of who we are as Americans. The core values are equity, equality, justice, freedom, dignity, respect \u2014 values that, from the inception of our nation, have shaped literally the culture, contributions, and values of the Jewish Americans \u2014 including all of you that are here \u2014 Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd that\u2019s what I want to talk about today.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou know, in 2020, you\u2019re the reason why we got 81 million votes, more than any presidential candidate has gotten in American history. You\u2019re the reason \u2014 (applause) \u2014 you\u2019re the reason why Donald Trump is not a former president but a defeated former president. (Applause.)<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re the reason why we\u2019re going to win in 2024 again, with your help, and we are. (Applause.) When we \u2014 when we started, the pandemic was raging, the economy was reeling. Because of you \u2014 of you, look at what we\u2019ve achieved: record job creation, historic economic growth, among the lowest inflation rates of any major economy on Earth. We\u2019ve rebuilt our alliances around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd because of the great help of Dick Durbin of Illinois, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, we\u2019ve reconfirmed 61 judges \u2014 and more, the first Black appointed judge to the Supreme Court of the United States, a woman. And combined, we\u2019ve appointed more \u2014 (applause) \u2014 we\u2019ve appointed more Black women to the appellate courts of the United States and \u2014 than every other president in history combined. (Applause.)<\/p>\n\n\n\nTrump and the MAGA Republicans want to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. For the 51st time, they\u2019re trying \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 literally. We made it more affordable. We made it stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe made the biggest investment in our history in the world \u2014 history of the world to combat climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe signed the first new gun safety law in 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\nADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\nDespite actions of the Supreme Court and MAGA Republicans, we\u2019ve relieved student debt for 3.6 million Americans, who now have a chance to buy their first home and pay their debts and get out of debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe\u2019re making a historic commitment to rebuild American roads, bridges, ports, airports, clean water systems, high-speed Internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut for all we\u2019ve done, the real heroes of the story are the American people. In thousands of towns all across America, we see the stories of revival and renewal; hope and optimism; pride \u2014 and pride in your work, pride in your family, pride in your town, pride in this nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe know there\u2019s more to do, from childcare to eldercare, making sure the corporations pay their fair share. And we know that all the progress is at stake in this next election.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd, by the way, we did all that and we still reduced the deficit by $7 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut what\u2019s most at stake in this next election is the future of American democracy, in my view. And that makes this all \u2014 it all possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLet me be clear, Donald Trump poses, in my view, many threats to this country, from the right to choose \u2014 you just saw what the Supreme Court of Texas just did \u2014 to civil rights and voting rights to the American standing in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\nADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe greatest threat he poses, though, is to our democracy. Because if we lose that, we lose everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen I first ran for president, I said democracy was a- \u2014 was at stake in America. A lot of people thought when I made that speech at Independence Hall in 2020 \u2014 2021, that I \u2014 that they \u2014 that they thought I was exaggerating. But they don\u2019t think that anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRemember January 6th, Trump siting in the private dining room off of my Oval \u2014 the Oval Office for hours, watching it all unfold as a mob attacked to Capitol and desecrated the Capitol. Capitol Police died. It threatened the life of his own vice president because the Vice President refused to violate his constitutional oath.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe same mob went looking for Nancy Pelosi. Some up \u2014 spun up the same lies, inspired an assault on her \u2014 who attacked her husband, Paul, with a hammer months later, smacking him in the head with a hammer.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s despicable. And silence coming from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTrump became the first losing presidential candidate in history who refused to accept the will of the American people.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe didn\u2019t even show up at the Inauguration. I can\u2019t say I was disappointed, but he didn\u2019t show up. (Laughter.) My guess is he won\u2019t show up for the next Inauguration either. (Applause.)<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut listen to his words today. He says he\u2019s running not to serve the American \u2014 the people of America, but to get \u201crevenge\u201d and \u201cretribution.\u201d His words, not mine. \u201cRevenge\u201d and \u201cretribution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nJust the other day, he said \u2014 he said he liked to be a \u201cdictator.\u201d Going to be a dictator \u2014 only \u201cfor one day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs we Catholics say \u2014 (the President makes the sign of the cross). (Laughter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe called those who oppose him \u201cvermin,\u201d language that echoes that what was heard out in Germany in the \u201830s.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe talked about, quote, \u201cThe blood of our country is being poisoned.\u201d Sound familiar? Same era.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd he threatened the use of American military in the streets of America to go after political opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe embraces political violence instead of rejecting it, and he can\u2019t let that happen \u2014 we can\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLook, all of you here understand what freedom means. It means truth. It means to have the courage to hold a mirror up to our nation and say, \u201cIs this who we are? Is this who we want to be? Can we be better?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nUnlike Trump, we don\u2019t believe America is dark and negative \u2014 a dark and negative nation driven by anger, fear, and revenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen Trump was \u2014 spoke at his Inauguration, he talked about \u201cAmerican carnage.\u201d When I spoke at my Inauguration, I spoke about possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe believe we are a hopeful and optimistic nation driven by a simple proposition: that everybody deserves a fair shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe\u2019re the only nation in the world built on \u2014 not on ethnicity, religion, geography. We\u2019re the only country built on an idea \u2014 an idea all Amer- \u2014 all of history \u2014 the idea that we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal, endowed by their Creator. We\u2019ve never fully lived up to it, but we\u2019ve never walked away from it either.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTrump wants to \u2014 that\u2019s what Trump wants to do, but we\u2019re not going to walk away from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLook, let me say that \u2014 as all this relates to Israel \u2014 I spend a lot of time, probably 75 percent of my time, dealing with foreign leaders and traveling the world. There is a real concern around the world that America is losing its moral center. There\u2019s a real concern that with America \u2014 American principles continue to be the vanguard of who we are. I\u2019ve spent more time with NATO pulling together and holding it together than I think anyone has.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen Dr. Kissinger \u2014 three weeks before he died, we \u2014 he and I had our real differences when he was active Secretary of State and I was a senator \u2014 but he called to tell me \u2014 he said \u2014 he asked me to call him, and I did. He said that \u2014 he wanted me to know two things.One, not since Napoleon has Europe not looked at Russia with a \u2014 with fear in its eyes about what Russia would do, until now. Well, guess what? They are fearful of what we may do.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut it takes me to my concluding point about Israel and about all freedoms around the world. Israel \u2014 it\u2019s an existential threat to Israel \u2014 its very existence. Israel has a tough decision to make. Bibi has got a tough decision to make. There\u2019s no question about the need to take on Hamas. There\u2019s no question about that. None. Zero. They have every right.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBibi and I talk a lot. I\u2019ve known him for 50 years. Some of you know he has a picture on his desk \u2014 at least when I\u2019m there, he has it on it. (Laughter.) Eight and a half by eleven, with a picture of \u2014 where I wrote, \u201cBibi\u2026\u201d \u2014 when we were both young men, he was at the embassy here and I was a senator. I said, \u201cBibi, I love you, but I don\u2019t agree with a damn thing you have to say.\u201d (Laughter.) That remains to be the case. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe\u2019s a good friend, but I think he has to change and \u2014 with this government. This government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nUS President Joe Biden (left) with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023. (Haim Zach\/GPO)<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou know, Ben-Gvir is not what you would call someone who \u2014 this is the most conservative government in Israel\u2019s history \u2014 the most conservative. I\u2019ve known every, every, every single head of state in Israel since Golda Meir. And I\u2019ve known them because I\u2019ve spent time with them many times.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd this is a different group. Ben-Gvir and company and the new folks, they \u2014 they don\u2019t want anything remotely approaching a two-state solution. They not only want to have re- \u2014 retribution, which they should for what the Palestinian \u2014 Hamas did, but against all Palestinians. They don\u2019t want a two-state solution. They don\u2019t want any- \u2014 anything having to with the \u2014 the Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFolks, the Palestinians have been not governed well at all. A lot has happened that\u2019s very negative.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut I spent an awful \u2014 an awful lot of time with the Arab countries. Everyone from Saudi \u2014 without going into too much detail because it would be inappropriate \u2014 from Saudi Arabia to a number of other states, they want to normalize relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAt the G20 meeting with all the 20 major nations in the world, I got a resolution passed that no one thought could happen, saying we\u2019re going to build a railroad from the middle of India all the way up to England and a pipeline across the Mediterranean to unite the countries. And the train is going to go \u2014 literally, not figuratively \u2014 from \u2014 from India into Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia into \u2014 to Jordan, Jordan to Israel, Israel, et cetera.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBecause there \u2014 we have an opportunity to begin to unite the region \u2014 unite the region. And they still want to do it. But we have to make sure that \u2014 that Bibi understands that he\u2019s got to make some moves to strengthen PLA [PA] \u2014 strengthen it, change it, move it. You cannot say there\u2019s no Palestinian state at all in the future. And that\u2019s going to be the hard part.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut in the meantime, we\u2019re not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel in the process. Not a single thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut, folks, there\u2019s a lot to do \u2014 a lot to do. We\u2019re going to have to be \u2014 as strong supporters of Israel, we\u2019re going to have to be honest about what we\u2019re doing and what the goal is. The goal is Israel\u2019s security. And if Israel \u2014 Israel\u2019s sec- \u2014 if there were no \u2014 many of you heard me say over the years: Were there not an Israel, we\u2019d have to invent one \u2014 we\u2019d have to invent one.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI believe, without Israel as a freestanding state, not a Jew in the world is safe \u2014 not a Jew in the world is safe. It\u2019s up to what happens at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd so, we got a lot of work to do, but we\u2019re not going to \u2014 in the meantime, none of it is going to walk away from providing Israel what they need to defend themselves and to finish the job against \u2014 against Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd, folks, look, if you think about it, one of the things that Bibi understands, I think, now \u2014 but I\u2019m not sure Ben-Gvir and his War Cabinet do, who I\u2019ve spoken to several times \u2014 is that Israel\u2019s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting it. But they\u2019re starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIt was pointed out to me \u2014 I\u2019m being very blunt with you all \u2014 it was pointed out to me that \u2014 by Bibi \u2014 that \u201cWell, you carpet-bombed Germany. You dropped the atom bomb. A lot of civilians died.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nI said, \u201cYeah, that\u2019s why all these institutions were set up after World War Two to see to it that it didn\u2019t happen again \u2014 it didn\u2019t happen again. Don\u2019t make the same mistakes we made at 9\/11. There was no reason why we had to be in a war in Afghanistan at 9\/11. There was no reason why we had to do some of the things we did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nSo, those of you who have family back in Israel, you saw what happened when Bibi tried to change the Supreme Court. Thousands of IDF soldiers said, \u201cWe\u2019re out. We\u2019re not going to participate. We\u2019re not going to support the military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThat wasn\u2019t any outside influence. That came from within Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSo, folks, there\u2019s a lot to do \u2014 a whole lot to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFirst and foremost, do everything in our power to hold Hamas accountable \u2014 every single thing in our power. They\u2019re animals. They\u2019re animals. They exceeded anything that any other terrorist group has done of late that I \u2014 in memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut, secondly, we have to work toward bringing Israel together in a way that provides for the beginning of option \u2014 an option of a two-state solution, because absent that \u2014 (applause) \u2014 (inaudible). It\u2019s probably more than you wanted to hear, but \u2014 (laughter).<\/p>\n\n\n\nLook, I do not believe and I will not believe, after all this nation has been through \u2014 our nation \u2014 from independence to the Civil War to world wars; after being blessed by leaders like Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Dr. King; after having stood as a beacon of freedom and equality for the entire world \u2014 I don\u2019t believe this nation is going to turn to my predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFolks, if we do our job in 2024, we\u2019ll be saving what few generations can be able to say: We\u2019ll be saving American democracy in a way that is needed. And the rest of the world is looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMany of you \u2014 you\u2019re all so- \u2014 very sophisticated people, and I\u2019m not being solicitous. You travel the world. Have you met any foreign leader who suggests to you that they\u2019d like to go back to where we were in the \u201cAmerica Only\u201d position again? Have you found one?<\/p>\n\n\n\nMadeleine Albright was right. We are the essential nation. Like it or not, we are \u2014 not Joe Biden, America is the essential nation. And they\u2019re looking for us to lead. And with your help, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll continue to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut nobody, nobody, nobody on God\u2019s green Earth can justify what Hamas did. They\u2019re a brutal, ugly, inhumane people, and they have to be eliminated.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThank you all very much. (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US president promises to give Israel what it needs to \u2018finish the job\u2019 against Hamas, but decries ministers in Netanyahu coalition who want \u2018retribution against all Palestinians\u2019 13 December 2023 (timesofisrael.com) President Joe Biden listens to a question from a reporter during a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1612,388,1613,828],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30595"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30597,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30595\/revisions\/30597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/static.timesofisrael.com\/www\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AP23346808422505.jpg\"){kind=link}