ARAB AND WORLD
Sat 11 Jan 2025 7:49 am - Jerusalem Time
Biden to deliver foreign policy speech Monday
President Biden will deliver a foreign policy legacy speech on Monday, a senior administration official said. The speech will focus on his administration’s work to advance America’s standing around the world, and will be delivered from the State Department in Washington, D.C., the official said.
Biden is expected to discuss America’s place on the world stage when he first took office in 2021 and argue that the United States has been in a stronger position in the four years since then. He is also set to argue that international alliances and partnerships are the strongest they have been under his administration.
The official also said Biden will argue that America, unlike its adversaries, is in the driver's seat globally and that he is handing the incoming Trump administration a stronger hand than he inherited after President-elect Trump's first term.
The president will talk about NATO alliances, support for Ukraine, partnerships in the Indo-Pacific to challenge China, support for Israel and the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to the official.
President Biden is expected to address the war on Gaza, pointing to his efforts to support Israel, which contradicts this support that “enabled Israel to defeat Hezbollah and Hamas,” and pointing to his efforts to “achieve a deal that guarantees the release of the hostages and the entry of aid into Gaza,” according to what was leaked.
The official added that he will also discuss bringing Japan and South Korea together, defeating Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, restoring the Paris Agreements, strengthening supply chains and advancing the development of artificial intelligence globally.
Biden delivered his first foreign policy address as President of the United States also from the US State Department on February 4, 2021.
The president campaigned for re-election in 2020 on his extensive foreign policy experience from his time in the Senate and as vice president. His presidency was marked by the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, followed by Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the October 7, 2023, attacks that sparked Israel’s 17-year-old genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
On January 4, the administration of US President Joe Biden notified Congress of a potential arms deal with Israel worth eight billion dollars, including ammunition for fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery shells.
This deal is expected to be the last arms sales approval to Israel by the Biden administration.
This comes at a time when reports have indicated allegations by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team that the Biden administration has imposed a "silent ban" on arms sales to Israel in recent months.
It is noteworthy that the size of American spending on Israel in its war on Gaza, and related American operations, amounted to at least $22.76 billion (and the number is still increasing) between October 7, 2023, and September 30, 2024.
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Biden to deliver foreign policy speech Monday