In an interview that was aired this week, President Biden acknowledged that the terrorist strike on Israel by Hamas had increased the threat of terrorism in the U.S.
In a segment with CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” which aired this week, Biden made the comments in response to the assaults that claimed the lives of over 1,300 Israelis, including over two dozen Americans.
Biden was asked by presenter Scott Pelley if the terrorist attacks made “the risk of terrorism in this country greater.”
“Yes,” Biden said in response. “Today, I spent the better part of an hour in a meeting with representatives from Homeland Security, the FBI, and the Situation Room discussing measures to ensure that no one acts alone or in a coordinated effort to harm Jews on the streets, as was the case in the past when Jews were attacked in synagogues. There will be a lot of work done to not let that happen.”
Another important difference that Biden brought up was between the deaths of people in Israel and those in Gaza.
“Look, the two are very different. Israel is focusing on going after a group of individuals who have done horrible things that are on par with the Holocaust. And I believe Israel needs to respond,” he said. “They need to go after Hamas. Hamas is made up of weak people. They are hiding behind regular people. They put their offices in places with people, houses, and other things like that. Israelis will do everything they can to keep innocent people from being killed.”
He expressed his confidence that Israel would take all necessary steps to adhere to international regulations governing warfare and reduce the number of civilian casualties.
Biden additionally stated that Israel had to get rid of Hamas for good.
