Biden insists the Pentagon has evidence Israel was not behind Gaza hospital strike and says ‘you don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist’ in meeting with family members of Hamas victims and first responders
President Joe Biden held a very public show of solidarity with Israel on Wednesday, telling reporters that the Pentagon showed him evidence that Israeli forces were not behind an explosion that killed hundreds of people at a Gaza hospital.
His trip to the region was disrupted by the political fallout from the blast before he even set foot in Israel.
And he was accused of parroting Israeli propaganda when he said he believed the “other team” was responsible – following Israel’s claim that Islamic Jihad, an extremist group, was responsible for launching a failed rocket ship.
Later that afternoon, a reporter asked him how he could know for sure.
“The data was shown to me by my Department of Defense,” he said.
President Joe Biden shakes Dr. Jordanna Hadas Link hands during a meeting with Israeli first responders, family members and other civilians directly affected by the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, in Tel Aviv
Biden had to abandon his plans to visit Jordan and instead spent the entire day in Tel Aviv
The explosion at a hospital where Palestinians were sheltering on Tuesday evening sparked protests across the Middle East.
And it meant that Arab leaders canceled plans for a summit with Biden in Jordan.
Instead, he spent the day focusing on Israel, a country still mourning the 1,300 people killed by Hamas terrorists and praying for hostages to be allowed home from Gaza.
After meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden met with survivors and heroes of the terror attack, including a young woman who saved people on her kibbutz.
He told a well-worn story about his meeting with Golda Meir, a former prime minister of Israel, who told him that the Jews had a secret weapon to defend their country: “We have nowhere else to go.”
He continued: ‘You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist. And I think that the safety and security of Jews worldwide is entrenched and perpetuated… by the State of Israel.
‘I think that’s what it’s really about.’
Understanding this could help more people embrace Israel, he said.
President Joe Biden will be greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival on Israeli soil on Wednesday morning. He finds himself at the heart of a growing storm
On Tuesday, bodies of victims of the strike at al-Ahli hospital are seen lined up in a courtyard
Palestinian authorities said 500 people were killed in Tuesday’s attack on al-Ahli hospital (photo)
It was one of a series of meetings that Biden used to reaffirm America’s commitment to the country.
He hugged Netanyahu after stepping off Air Force One at the start of a trip, in a very public show of solidarity with the Israeli leader.
And he was quick to say that initial indications suggested it was not the Israelis but “the other team” that were responsible for the massive blast that ripped through the Gaza hospital on Tuesday night, killing 500 people.
Palestinian leaders initially said Israel was to blame, while the Israeli military said a rocket launched from Gaza by Islamic Jihad misfired and exploded.
“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion yesterday at a hospital in Gaza,” Biden said as he sat with Netanyahu at a beachside hotel.
“And based on what I’ve seen, it looks like it was done by the other team and not you. But there are many people who are not sure.
“We have a lot of things to overcome.”
As if to underline the high stakes, the Israeli military said rocket sirens sounded in a village near Gaza just as Air Force One landed at Ben Gurion Airport.
Biden arrived for a hastily shortened trip. Plans for a trip to Jordan to meet key Arab leaders were abandoned before he left as protests rocked the region after the hospital explosion.
And he is said to have learned aboard Air Force One that his troops in Iraq were targeted by drones in the early hours, an attack that was reportedly thwarted by US forces.
He was greeted warmly by Netanyahu as the first US president to visit in wartime, despite a frosty history between the two men.
‘Mr. President, the world sees that support and the moral clarity that you have shown from the moment Israel was attacked,” Netanyahu said.
“You rightly drew a clear line between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism and you described what Hamas did as pure evil. That’s exactly how it is.’
In his response, Biden was clear that he was expressing his support for Israel, while pointing out that not all Palestinians supported the terrorist group.
“I wanted to be here today for a simple reason: I want the people of Israel, people of the world, to know where the United States stands,” he said.