"You're Not Alone" - Biden Says Attacks On Israel Like "Fifteen 9/11s"

Update(1037ET): Biden emphasized during his remarks from Tel Aviv, "I'm the first US president to visit a nation during a time of war." His talk was heavy on religious imagery, while recounting the Oct.7 Hamas terror incursion into Israel and the number of Jewish victims. He only briefly touched on the Gaza hospital bombing, but stressed that the US sees eye to eye with Israel's assessment. "Based on the information we have seen today it seems to have been the result of an errant missile fired from a terrorist group in Gaza," Biden said.

"Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people," he at one point emphasized, while also asserting that Hamas uses civilians an "human shields" and places command centers and tunnels under civilian buildings. Biden, while briefly acknowledging the deep humanitarian crisis and suffering in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, unveiled $100 million in new US assistance for the Palestinians. But he qualified that aid will soon flow from Egypt to Gaza under the close eye of inspectors, and he warned Hamas against thwarting or stealing this aid. "If it happens it will stop the international community from being able to provide this aid," Biden threatened.

He also demanded that the International Red Cross be allowed immediate access into Gaza to be able to visit the hostages and check on their condition. He renewed a call for a two-state solution.

Importantly, he affirmed that he will ask Congress "this week" for "unprecedented" Israel aid, after he early in the speech said that the Hamas attack on Israel resulted in a death toll akin to Israel's population suffering "fifteen 9/11's".

Biden: "The attacks on Israel was like FIFTEEN 9/11s" pic.twitter.com/H9dTC9iVAj

— Chris | JFKClassicalLiberal🇺🇲🇩🇴🇭🇳 (@endmediadivide) October 18, 2023

* * *

Given his earlier performance as mumbler-in-chief...

Biden is collapsing in this Israel meeting. He can’t even stay awake

This is hard to watch

Its no wonder everyone is taking advantage of him pic.twitter.com/Jco3siuO57

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) October 18, 2023

...the jet-lagged, dementia-ridden POTUS' address - amid potentially the most tense moment in geopolitics in decades - will be 'interesting' to watch'.

Watch live here (whoknow when he wiull actually appear, but he is reportedly due to speak any minute):