Biden deputy national security adviser lifts the fog of war in Israel

The Conversation with Dasha Burns

POLITICO

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4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

Jon Finer, President Joe Biden’s principal deputy national security adviser, opens up to Playbook co-author and Deep Dive host Ryan Lizza about how the administration is approaching some of the thorniest problems related to the war in Israel, including: striking the right balance between supporting Israel and expressing concerns about an extreme response; Biden’s warnings to Iran; and whether America should now consider itself at war with Hamas.

Transcript

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0:00.0	On Saturday, Hamas militants from Gaza invaded southern Israel, massacring some 1,000 people,
0:08.7	including at least 27 Americans, and kidnapping and estimated 150 others, including some from
0:15.0	the United States.
0:17.7	Israelis compared the terrorist attack to 9-11.
0:20.8	The Biden administration was swift to denounce Hamas and support Israel in unequivocal terms.
0:27.6	Upades went out of their way to express disgust with some congressional Democrats whose
0:32.1	first instinct was to call for a ceasefire.
0:35.2	We believe they're wrong.
0:37.0	We believe they're repugnant and we believe they're disgraceful.
0:41.0	Our condemnation belongs squarely with terrorists who have brutally murdered raped kidnapped
0:45.8	hundreds, hundreds of Israelis.
0:49.6	There can be no equivocation about that.
0:51.8	There are not two sides here.
0:53.8	There are not two sides.
0:55.4	As Biden prepared to address the crisis from the White House, he took a hard-line position
0:59.4	about both sidesism with his aides during a speech writing session.
1:03.6	A knowledgeable source told Politico that Biden quote, angrily and forcefully admonished
1:07.4	aides who tried to water down the speech.
1:09.2	In the final version, the president was crystal clear.
1:13.2	Like every nation in the world, Israel has the right to respond and deed has a duty to
1:18.0	respond to these vicious attacks.
1:22.5	The headlines about that speech emphasized Biden's moral clarity and his righteous anger.
	...

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