RSS
Will Biden’s Patience Run Out?
US President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address at the US Capitol, March 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
JNS.org – A U.S. president’s State of the Union address is always a festive event, but this year the speech was different. Along with the need to disabuse people of the growing claims that he was too old to serve another term as president, Joe Biden had to contend with the explosive issue of Gaza.
Even before the speech, pro-Palestinian protesters, who called him “Genocide Joe,” delayed his way to the Capitol building. Inside, the Palestinian-American lawmaker Rashida Tlaib came to the evening wrapped in a keffiyeh, while above her, in the visitors’ gallery, sat the released hostage Mia Schem, along with the families of Israelis still being held by Hamas.
The speech came after weeks in which the president and his senior staff had repeatedly accused Israel of indiscriminately bombing Gaza, treating its civilian population inhumanely, and causing the death of “too many Palestinians.”
Such accusations are blatantly unfounded and support those who accuse Israel of war crimes. They also helped convince Hamas chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar that he just needs to hold out because ultimately the president will demand a ceasefire.
The president did not retract any of these accusations, but rather doubled down on them and referred to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as “gut-wrenching.” Israel also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza,” he declared, earning the evening’s loudest applause.
He warned Israel not to use aid to Palestinian civilians as bargaining chips and said 30,000 have died—the figure quoted by Hamas. Therefore, Biden stressed, the administration was working relentlessly to achieve a ceasefire and ensure the release of the captives.
What are the key takeaways for Israel?
The U.S. military will build a “floating pier” to bring food and aid to Gaza by sea, but without deploying American troops on the ground. The question of how these shipments will reach the residents was left unanswered.
On the other hand, on the pro-Israel side, the president reiterated Hamas’s crimes and Israel’s right to defend itself. While Biden’s criticism of Israel satisfied the progressives in his party and Arab and Muslim Americans, it seems his statements supporting Israel helped assuage an equal number of Israel supporters.
What can be inferred from Biden’s speech? Despite the administration’s efforts to provide ammunition to the IDF and prevent the U.N. from imposing a ceasefire on Israel—gestures that have been politically costly to Biden—the administration’s patience with Israel is wearing thin.
The administration in Washington is not one person, it’s thousands who could lose their livelihoods due to the president’s support for Israel. It is quite possible that if the fighting expands to Rafah, the president will decide to significantly reduce military aid to Israel and even demand a ceasefire.
Therefore, Israel must continue to work to debunk the administration’s false claims and continue to explain to the world that the meaning of a ceasefire is a victory for terror and a death blow to Israel. Most important—the IDF must continue fighting until Hamas’s total defeat, even, if necessary, with stones and sticks.
Michael Oren is a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
The post Will Biden’s Patience Run Out? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.