US President Joe Biden will deliver a rare Oval Office speech Thursday urging Americans to back billions of dollars in military aid for Israel and Ukraine at what he calls a perilous moment for global democracy.
Fresh from a whirlwind trip to Israel, Biden will deliver only his second address to the nation from behind the historic Resolute Desk as he tries to win over war-weary voters and hardline Republicans.
The 80-year-old Democrat, who is seeking reelection in 2024, is preparing to push Congress for a massive $100 billion package that includes funding for Israel in its war against Hamas and for Ukraine’s battle against Russia’s invasion.
Tying together two conflicts an ocean away from the United States is a bid by Biden to frame them as part of a bigger struggle to shape the world order and protect Americans at home.
“Hamas’s terrorist attacks against Israel. The need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine. We are at a global inflection point that is bigger than party or politics,” Biden said on X, formerly Twitter, ahead of the speech scheduled for 8:00 pm (0000 GMT).
US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer told MSNBC that Biden would give a “message to the American people (about) how those conflicts connect to our lives back here.”
– ‘Fight for freedom’ –
Presidents traditionally reserve speeches from the solemn setting of the Oval Office for moments of key national significance.
Biden’s only previous address from there was in June when he hailed a deal with Congress to avert what would have been a catastrophic US default.
But Congress has now been paralyzed for more than two weeks as divided Republicans struggle to elect a House speaker — in turn holding up aid for Ukraine.
Hardline Republicans, and a growing number of voters, are also strongly opposed to adding to the $43.9 billion in security assistance that the United States has committed since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Biden hopes to break the logjam by hitching it to funding for Israel, Taiwan and the southern border with Mexico. He said in Tel Aviv he would ask Congress for an “unprecedented” package for Israel’s defense this week.
US media reported that the package will include $10 billion in emergency assistance for Israel and $60 billion for Ukraine, although fuller details may not be released until Friday.
Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hours before the speech in a move apparently designed to turn up the heat on Republicans.
Zelensky welcomed the delivery of ATACMS long-range missiles from the United States, adding: “Ukraine is grateful for the vital and enduring US support in our fight for freedom and against Russian aggression.”
– Missiles in Yemen –
Biden has also been striking a statesmanlike tone on the Israel-Hamas war, partly with an eye on US voters where there is strong support for Israel.
In Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Biden backed Israel as it gears up for a ground invasion of Gaza after the October 7 attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas which killed more than 1,400 people.
But he also brokered a deal to get some aid through Egypt into the Gaza Strip, where Israeli bombing since has killed at least 3,785 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas health ministry.
Diplomatically, Biden now faces a more severe test as his personal show of support for Israel means he will be seen in much of the Arab world as backing any Israeli offensive.
Left-wingers in his own Democratic Party have also opposed his stance.
There is also the risk of a wider conflict. The United States has already moved two aircraft carriers into the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran or Lebanon’s Hezbollah, both allies of Hamas, from getting involved.
The Pentagon said that a US Navy ship on Thursday shot down missiles and drones that had been fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, possibly at Israel.
Russia and China, eyeing a new world order of their own, will also be in the background of his speech. Biden has repeatedly warned that authoritarian states pose a threat to global democracy.