President Biden on Wednesday gave remarks in Tel Aviv after meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Earlier, he spoke at his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. This was his second speech he delivered in Israel on Wednesday, before leaving back to the United States. His earlier remarks can be viewed on YWN here. The following are the text of his remarks, as well as a video below to watch in full: THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Please have a seat. I come to Israel with a single message: You are not alone. You are not alone. As long as the United States stands — and we will stand forever — we will not let you ever be alone. Most importantly, the – I know the recent terrorist assault on the people of this nation has left a deep, deep wound. More than 1,300 innocent Israelis killed, including at least 31 American citizens, by the terrorist group Hamas. Hundreds — hundreds of young people at a music festival of — the festival was for peace — for peace — gunned down as they ran for their lives. Scores of innocents — from infants to elderly grandparents, Israelis and Americans — taken hostage. Children slaughtered. Babies slaughtered. Entire families massacred. Rape, beheadings, bodies burned alive. Hamas committed atrocities that recall the worst ravages of ISIS, unleashing pure unadulterated evil upon the world. There is no rationalizing it, no excusing it. Period. The brutality we saw would have cut deep anywhere in the world, but it cuts deeper here in Israel. October 7th, which was a sacred to — a sacred Jewish holiday, became the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. It has brought to the surface painful memories and scars left by a millennia of antisemitism and the genocide of the Jewish people. The world watched then, it knew, and the world did nothing. We will not stand by and do nothing again. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. To those who are living in limbo waiting desperately to learn the fate of loved ones, especially to families of the hostages: You’re not alone. We’re working with partners throughout the region, pursuing every avenue to bring home those who are being held captive by Hamas. I can’t speak publicly about all the details, but let me assure you: For me as the American president, there is no higher priority than the release and safe return of all these hostages. To those who are grieving a child, a parent, a spouse, a sibling, a friend, I know you feel like there’s that black hole in the middle of your chest. You feel like you’re being sucked into it. The survivor’s remorse, the anger, the questions of faith in your soul. Starting at — staring at that empty chair, sitting Shiva. The first Sabbath without them. They are the everyday things — the small things that you miss the most. The scent when you open the closet door. The morning coffee you shared together. The bend in his smile, the perfect pitch of her laugh, the giggle of your little boy — the baby. For those who have lost loved ones, this is what I know: They’ll never be truly gone. There’s something that’s never fully lost: your love for them and […]
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