‘A Smart Investment’: Biden Calls for Wartime Aid to Israel, Ukraine in Prime-Time Speech

President Biden called on Congress to send additional aid to Israel and Ukraine in a rare prime-time address from the Oval Office on Thursday evening, in which he denounced Hamas terrorists but also drew a clear distinction regarding the need to assist “innocent Palestinians.”

“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.

Biden announced his intention to send Congress an “urgent budget request to fund America’s national-security needs.”

“To support our critical partners, including Israel and Ukraine, is a smart investment that’s going to pay dividends to American security for generations, help us keep American troops out of harm’s way, help us build a world that is safer, more peaceful, more prosperous for our children and grandchildren,” he said.