Seoul Gazette - Biden says Hamas, Russia threaten democracy

Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin "represent different threats but they share this in common: they both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy," Biden said in the prime-time speech.

Fresh from a whirlwind trip to Israel, the 80-year-old Democrat delivered just the second speech of his presidency from behind the historic Resolute Desk in a bid to win over war-weary voters and hardline Republicans.

Biden, seeking reelection in 2024, is preparing to push Congress for a massive, $100 billion package that includes funding for Israel in its war with 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.

Biden had earlier said on X, formerly Twitter that "we are at a global inflection point that is bigger than party or politics."

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 debt default.

But Congress has now been paralyzed for more than two weeks as divided Republicans, who control the majority in the House, fail repeatedly to agree on electing a House speaker.

Hard-right 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 to Ukraine since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Biden hopes to break the logjam by hitching it to funding for Israel, Taiwan and the troubled southern border with Mexico, recasting the trio of issues as parts of the same overriding task of ensuring US security.

He said while in Tel Aviv that 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.

Zelensky welcomed the delivery of powerful 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."

Biden has also been striking a statesmanlike tone on the Israel-Hamas war with an eye on US voters where there is strong support for Israel -- even if leftwing Democrats oppose his stance.

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.

The threat of a wider Middle Eastern conflict meanwhile looms in the background.

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.

H.Yoon--SG