Biden Says US Won't Let Putin And Hamas 'Wipe Neighboring Democracy Off The Map': 'America Will Lead'

Israel and Hamas have reportedly struck a deal to pause fighting in exchange for freeing women and children held as hostages in Gaza. Ahead of the development, President Joe Biden underlined the U.S.’ leadership in resolving the crisis.

Inflection Point: “The world faces an inflection point,” said Biden in a Washington Post op-ed. The choices made now with respect to the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict will likely determine the future for the next generation, he said.

As “[Vladimir] Putin and Hamas are fighting to wipe a neighboring democracy off the map” and as both hope to “collapse broader regional stability and integration and take advantage of the ensuing disorder,” Biden said America will not let that happen for “our own national security interests and for the good of the entire world.”

US’ Leadership Role: Biden said the U.S. will support allies and partners to stand up to aggressors. “The world looks to us to solve the problems of our time,” he said, adding “that is the duty of leadership, and America will lead.”

Against this backdrop, if the U.S. chooses to walk away from the challenges, the risk of conflict could spread and the cost of addressing it will only rise, the president said. “We will not let that happen,” he said.

Biden suggested that U.S.’ support to Ukraine is an investment in its own security, given that this will prevent a broader conflict in the future. Biden noted that U.S. troops have been kept out of the war and, instead, the country has been providing weapons and economic assistance to Ukraine to halt Russia’s advances. The president also acknowledged the support of the U.S.’ NATO and Asian allies.

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Biden also expressed solidarity with Israelis who are fighting Hamas in the Middle East.

“The Palestinian people deserve a state of their own and a future free from Hamas,” he said, however. “Our goal should not be simply to stop the war for today — it should be to end the war forever, break the cycle of unceasing violence, and build something stronger in Gaza and across the Middle East so that history does not keep repeating itself,” he added.

The president advocated for a “two-state solution” to ensure the long-term security of the Israeli and Palestinian people. This would mean the two communities living “side by side with equal measures of freedom, opportunity and dignity,” he said.

Way Forward: “Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution,” Biden said.

The president added that he has been impressing upon Israeli leaders that extreme violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop.

“The international community must commit resources to support the people of Gaza in the immediate aftermath of this crisis, including interim security measures, and establish a reconstruction mechanism to sustainably meet Gaza's long-term needs,” Biden said.

Referring to an alarming rise in antisemitism in the U.S., Biden said, “We can't stand by when hate rears its head.”

“We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate and bias,” he added.

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