Anti-Israel protesters repeatedly disrupted U.S. President Joe Biden’s $26 million fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, prompting the president to lay out his views on the conflict in Gaza.
“There are too many innocent victims, Israeli and Palestinian,” Biden said on Thursday evening. “We’ve got to get more food and medicine, supplies into the Palestinians.”
The president said that it was “understandable Israel has such a profound anger” about Oct. 7 but criticized the Jewish state’s military operations.
“We must in fact stop the effort that is resulting in significant deaths of innocent civilians, particularly children,” he said.
Anti-Israel protesters repeatedly interrupted Biden’s panel discussion with former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. They also protested outside the event, which Jill Biden, the first lady, touted as “the biggest fundraiser the DNC has ever held” which “raised a record amount.”
“You can’t just talk and not listen,” Obama told the protesters, at one point. “That’s what the other side does.”
It’s not clear that the protesters believed they were on Obama’s side, as video from outside the venue showed demonstrators chanting, “Democrats, you can’t hide. You’re voting for genocide.”
Biden told attendees, who reportedly paid anywhere from $225 for the most basic ticket to $500,000 for access to private receptions, that he would continue to pursue normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia in exchange for a path to an independent Palestinian state.
“I’ve been working with the Saudis and with all the other Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan and Qatar. They’re prepared to fully recognize Israel,” Biden claimed. “But there has to be a post-Gaza plan, and there has to be a train to a two-state solution.”
“It doesn’t have to occur today, but there has to be a progression,” Biden added. “I think we can do that.”
Caught up with @BarackObama, @BillClinton, and @StephenAtHome last night. I’ve gotta say: I like their style. pic.twitter.com/v5iOCDTeuB
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 29, 2024
Clinton told attendees that Biden deserved to be re-elected due to his support for both Israelis and Palestinians.
“He genuinely cares about preserving the existence of Israel, which Hamas doesn’t, and he genuinely cares about giving the Palestinians a decent state of self-governance and the support they need for self-determination,” Clinton said.
“If you’re younger and all you know is the Israeli government denying the rights of the Palestinians, Joe Biden says he wants a two-state solution,” he said. “We lived this, and you should trust them to work for it.”
“To work to ease the suffering of the totally innocent Palestinian citizens and not to allow Israel’s security to be lost over a bitter difference between the legitimacy of the Palestinians to statehood, which we agree with all three of us,” Clinton added.
