President Joe Biden will deliver only the second Oval Office address of his term on Thursday night to make the case for U.S. backing of Ukraine and Israel in a time of war.
President Joe Biden declared it is "vital for America's national security" for Israel and Ukraine to succeed in their wars, making the case Thursday night for deepening U.S. involvement in a rare Oval Office address as he preparedto ask for billions of dollars in military assistance for both countries.
Ahead of his address, Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stress that the U.S. remained committed to backing Kyiv, the White House said. And a senior White House official said Biden continued to develop his remarks on Thursday after working with close aides throughout the week, including on his flight home from Israel. The official declined to be identified ahead of the president's speech.
There will be resistance on the other side of the political spectrum when it comes to military assistance for Israel, which has been bombarding the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. "I cannot work in support of a set of major policy decisions, including rushing more arms to one side of the conflict, that I believe to be short-sighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse," he wrote in a statement posted to his LinkedIn account.
A speech from the Oval Office is one of the most prestigious platforms that a president can command, an opportunity to try to seize the country’s attention at a moment of crisis. ABC, NBC and CBS all said they would break into regular programming to carry the address live.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
How to watch President Biden’s address on Israel, Ukraine wars tonight (10/19/23)President Joe Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.
Read more »
Biden to address nation from Oval Office to discuss Israel, UkrainePresident Biden to discuss Israel, Ukraine during speech.
Read more »
Israel-Hamas war live updates: Biden set to arrive in Israel; Gaza hospital blast fuels protestsThis is additional taxonomy that helps us with analytics
Read more »