Joe Biden asks Congress for emergency aid for Israel and Ukraine

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, will formally request this Friday from the American Congress “unprecedented” financial aid for Israel and Ukraine, in order to counter regimes that, according to him, want to “annihilate” democracy, such as Hamas and the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin.

“It’s a smart investment that will pay dividends for America’s security for generations, help keep American troops out of harm’s way, and help us build a safer, more prosperous world for our children and grandchildren.” -children,” argued Mr. Biden, during an address to the nation which was broadcast around the world, Thursday mid-evening.

The president did not specify how much his financial request would be estimated, but according to a source close to the discussions whose comments were reported by AFP, the White House would like to ask Congress for a huge envelope of 100 billion dollars to Ukraine, Israel, even Taiwan or even the migration crisis on the border with Mexico.

According to the Democrat, the commitment that Congress would make would be “unprecedented for the security of Israel, to which we are committed.”

“We will ensure that all hostile actors in the region know that Israel is stronger than ever and prevent this conflict from spreading,” the president promised, clearly expressing concern that if the war continues, “These conflicts and chaos could spread to other parts of the world.”

“Human shields”

During his ten-minute speech, Mr. Biden made a clear link between Vladimir Putin’s regime and Hamas, which “represent different threats”, but which “both want to destroy a neighboring democracy”, he said. hammered the 80-year-old elected official.

His speech comes the day after his trip to Israel, where he strongly reiterated his support for this country in its fight against Hamas, while also pleading for more humanitarian aid to the approximately 2.4 million Palestinians in the Strip. Gaza.

“Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people,” the president persisted in his speech, instead accusing the Islamist movement of using Palestinian civilians as “human shields” in the midst of the conflict.

Once again repeatedly attacking “Putin’s appetite for control”, Joe Biden reiterated that US military support is necessary in Ukraine, otherwise the Russian president “won’t just limit himself to Ukraine.”

A consensus strategy

By linking the defense of Israel to that of Ukraine, President Biden concretely hopes that he will succeed in finding the consensus that he has so far lacked in Congress to finance additional military assistance to Kyiv. In other words, he hopes that combining all these issues into a single legislative text will create the political coalition necessary for sufficient consensus to emerge.

It is also an opportunity for the Democrat to draw a contrast with a Republican Party turned upside down by certain elected officials devoted to Donald Trump whom Joe Biden could well face again in the presidential election of November 2024.

The White House said Thursday evening that Mr. Biden had spoken before his speech with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to emphasize that the United States remained committed to supporting Kyiv as long as necessary.

If Joe Biden’s Republican adversaries are for some hesitant on military aid to Ukraine, they are nevertheless the first to demand massive support for Israel, a muscular stance on immigration and a firm attitude towards China. The American president also and above all knows that time is running out: if Congress fails to pass an annual budget, the United States will head straight to budgetary paralysis, the “shutdown”, on November 17.

As a curtain raiser, towards the end of his speech, the democrat also denounced the “anti-Semitic” or “Islamophobic” comments that have been made online and in the streets since the start of the conflict in the Gaza Strip. “I see you, you are at home. You are all Americans,” he told Americans from Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities.

“We cannot let angry politicians prevent us from fulfilling our responsibilities as a nation. I refuse to let this happen. We must remember who we are. We are the United States of America, and nothing is beyond our capabilities if we do it together,” the president said, emphasizing the need to “not give up on peace and a two-state solution” in the Middle East.

With Agence France-Presse