2023-10-20 03:41:00
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin want to “annihilate” democracies, Joe Biden said this Thursday (19) in a speech in which he announced that he will ask the United States Congress for “urgent” funding for the shipment aid to Israel and Ukraine.
The United States will be safer “for generations” if it helps these two warring countries, the American president insisted in an unusual message to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House.
“Hamas and Putin pose different threats, but they have something in common: they both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy,” added the 80-year-old Democrat, who has just returned from Tel Aviv, where he assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of that the United States supports Israel.
Therefore, on Friday he will ask Congress to “urgently” finance aid to Israel and Ukraine, “our essential partners.”
“It’s a smart investment that will pay dividends for America’s security for generations. It will help us keep American troops out of harm’s way. It will help us build a safer, more peaceful and more prosperous world for our children and grandchildren,” he said Biden.
“America’s leadership is what holds the world together. America’s alliances are what keeps us, the United States, safe. American values are what make us an ally that other nations want to work with,” he said he.
“The United States is still a beacon for the world. Still. Still,” he assured.
With this address to the nation, Joe Biden, candidate for re-election, wants to convince his Republican rivals, but also the electorate, tired of the war in Ukraine, about the need for an aid package for Kiev and Israel.
– “Petty politics” –
By linking Israel’s defense with that of Ukraine, he hopes to gain the consensus he has so far lacked in Congress to fund additional military aid to Kiev.
It is also an opportunity to distinguish itself from a Republican Party that has been in turmoil since some Republican congressmen close to former President Donald Trump provoked the impeachment of the president of the lower house, without so far being able to impose a successor.
Thus, the institution is immersed in a crisis, unable for now to approve a bill.
“We cannot allow petty, partisan politics and anger to get in the way of our responsibility as a great nation. We cannot and will not allow terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin to win. I refuse to allow that to happen,” said Biden, convinced that his country remains the guardian of freedom.
– “A lighthouse” for the world –
“To put all of this at risk, if we turn away from Ukraine, if we turn our backs on Israel, it’s just not worth it,” Biden insisted.
According to a source close to the negotiations, the White House wants to ask Congress for US$100 billion (R$500 billion) for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the migration crisis on the border with Mexico.
A few hours before his speech, the American president spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelensky, who thanked him for the “vital support” from the United States.
Republicans have doubts about the wisdom of increasing military aid to Ukraine, but they are the first to demand massive support for Israel and tougher stance on immigration and China.
Joe Biden, whose country has already spent tens of billions in Ukraine, needs to overcome not only the fatigue of some congressmen, but also that of the American public in the face of a prolonged war.
Biden, who could face Trump again in the November 2024 presidential election, knows that time is running out: if Congress does not approve an annual budget, the United States will enter a budget shutdown on November 17.
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