Curated By: Shankhyaneel Sarkar
Last Updated: December 12, 2023, 10:58 IST
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
President Joe Biden arrives to speak at a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (Image: AP Photo)
At the White House Hanukkah reception, Biden promised continued backing for Israel but also warned of waning public support due to devastation in Gaza.
President Joe Biden hosted a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Monday night where he vowed that the US and his administration will stand with Israel in its war with Hamas until Israel reaches its desired goal of eliminating the terrorist group, which rules the Gaza Strip, from the blockaded coastal enclave.
Biden said one does not have “to be a Jew, to be a Zionist” and pointed out that a “surge of antisemitism” around the globe “is sickening” in the presence of nearly 800 guests, who filled the East Room which was overflowing with people. Also attending the event were Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and around two dozen members of Congress, with Jewish community leaders and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who with Biden lit a menorah partially made from the original timbers of the White House.
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The event was also attended by Holocaust survivors, state and local officials, entertainers and leaders from across the Jewish religious denominations.
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Central Synagogue in New York City led Monday’s ceremony, lauding Biden for his support. “You’ve been a steadfast supporter of Israel’s right to defend itself. A trusted and true friend to the Jewish people,” Buchdahl said.
“I ran into trouble and criticism when I said a few years ago that you don’t have to be Jewish to be a Zionist, and I am a Zionist. We continue to provide military assistance until they get rid of Hamas. Were there no Israel, there wouldn’t be a Jew in the world who is safe. As I said after the attack, my commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, and the security of Israel, its right to exist as an independent Jewish state, is unshakeable,” Biden said.
But the US President seemed to be aware of the raging protests across the globe demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza where the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 18,205 Palestinians have died in Israel’s bombardment since it attacked Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 Israelis.
The US came under global criticism when it used its veto on Friday to halt a draft text calling for a ceasefire at a United Nations Security Council meeting convened after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres invoked deployed rarely-used Article 99 of the UN Charter to bring to the council’s attention “any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”.
“But, but, we have to be careful — they have to be careful. The whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight. We can’t let that happen,” Biden said, referring to the growing death toll in Gaza.
The UN estimates 1.9 million of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the war, half of them children. A Gazan civilian said he lost seven children in an air strike on Rafah after fleeing there from Gaza City further north.
“I have four children left. Last night they bombed the house we were in and destroyed it. They said Rafah would be a safe place. There is no safe place,” the civilian told a news agency.
Protests were also staged outside the White House as Hanukkah celebrations went on inside. Nearly 20 women describing themselves as “Jewish elders” chained themselves to the fence around the grounds. Wearing black T-shirts reading “Not In Our Name,” they chanted: “Biden, Biden, pick a side! Cease-fire not genocide!” while reading the names of those killed in Gaza.
(with inputs from Associated Press, Times of Israel and AFP)
