U.S. leaders on the Israel-Hamas conflict
President Biden, speaking at the White House October 7: “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. We will not ever fail to have their back.”
“The United States stands with Israel.”
— President Biden
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Saudi Arabia October 14: “As Israel pursues its legitimate right to defending its people and to trying to ensure that this never happens again, it is vitally important that all of us look out for civilians. And we’re working together to do exactly that, in particular working on establishing safe areas in Gaza, working on establishing corridors so that humanitarian assistance can reach people who need it. None of us want to see suffering by civilians on any side, whether it’s in Israel, whether it’s in Gaza, whether it’s anywhere else. And we’re working together to do our best to protect them.”
Biden, speaking from the Oval Office October 20: “We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia.”
Blinken, speaking at the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting October 24: “We all recognize the right, and indeed the imperative, of states to defend themselves against terrorism.”
Blinken, speaking at the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting October 24: “Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”
“The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas.
Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”
— President Biden
Biden, speaking at the White House October 18: “The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”
Blinken, speaking at the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting October 24: “We all agree on the vital need to protect civilians.”
Biden, in a statement issued October 21: “The first convoy of humanitarian assistance since Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack on Israel crossed the border into Gaza and reached Palestinians in need. I made it clear from the outset of this crisis … that humanitarian assistance was a critical and urgent need that had to get moving.”
Blinken, speaking at the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting October 24: “Even as we address this immediate crisis, we all agree that we must redouble our collective efforts to build an enduring political solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The only road to lasting peace and security in the region, the only way to break out of this horrific cycle of violence, is through two states for two peoples.”
“We must keep pursuing a path so that Israel and the Palestinian people can both live safely, in security, in dignity, and in peace.”
— President Biden
Biden, speaking from the White House October 18: “We must keep pursuing a path so that Israel and the Palestinian people can both live safely, in security, in dignity, and in peace.”
Blinken, speaking at the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting October 24: “A broader conflict would be devastating, not only for Palestinians and Israelis, but for people across the region and, indeed, around the world.”