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Joe Biden Raises Eyebrows with Remarks About Palestinians While in East Jerusalem

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  July 15, 2022 12:30 PM

As we all knew would happen, President Joe Biden engaged in a series of gaffes while in Israel for his trip to the Middle East. Our friends at Twitchy have compiled a list of four he made while in East Jerusalem, moves that could greatly alienate a key ally. 

One such gaffe, reported Friday morning in the United States, came when the president was delivering remarks at the Augusta Victoria Hospital. 

Not only did Biden remind the crowd of his Irish heritage – as if anyone could forget – he brought the English and Palestinians into it. 

"I — my background and the background of my family is Irish American, and we have a long history of — not fundamentally unlike the Palestinian people with Great Britain and their attitude toward Irish-Catholics over the years, for 400 years," he said. 

CBS News' Margaret Brennan highlighted these specific remarks on Twitter, drawing considerable attention. 

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Melissa Braunstein, whose work has appeared in publications such as Washington Examiner and The Dispatch, asked if the White House would explain the president's statements. 

It does not appear that they have done so yet, though Biden's remarks raising questions appear in the official White House transcript. 

There has been disarray and disunity when the White House attempts to clean up Biden's remarks, especially on foreign trips, which was the subject of a damning NBC News report from May 31 about how the White House is "adrift." Per the report: 

Beyond policy, Biden is unhappy about a pattern that has developed inside the West Wing. He makes a clear and succinct statement — only to have aides rush to explain that he actually meant something else. The so-called clean-up campaign, he has told advisers, undermines him and smothers the authenticity that fueled his rise. Worse, it feeds a Republican talking point that he’s not fully in command.

In March, while in Poland, Biden had called for the removal of Russia's Vladimir Putin. "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power," he said. That same day, the White House had to walk back his remarks. 

It was considered problematic that Biden was even speaking at the hospital, as no Israeli officials could attend. The hospital is run by German Lutherans, with a strict policy to forbid Israeli officials from attending press conferences, according to Haaretz. 

Reporting from Allison Kaplan Sommer noted that "Israeli right-wing politicians, pundits and activists, some of them with ties to opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, have blasted U.S. President Joe Biden over his plan to visit a hospital in East Jerusalem on Friday without any Israeli officials alongside him." 

Biden's appearance at the hospital earned criticism from Israeli Hananya Naftali, who has a strong social media following. Naftali included a comparison to former President Donald Trump:

Hananya Naftali, followed by more than a million users on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, took to all three platforms to let the world know that Israelis are “furious” at Biden, charging that the U.S. president was “de facto dividing Jerusalem with his visit. What a shame.” 

The reason behind the fury, Naftali explained, were the conditions surrounding Biden’s scheduled visit to the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem.

“President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the eternal and undivided capital of Israel, and moved the U.S. Embassy there,” Naftali said in the video, accompanied by images of Trump at the Western Wall. “Now Biden plans to visit the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem and his team is refusing to allow Israeli health officials to join the hospital visit in Israel’s undivided capital.”

...

Following the publication of this article, and after repeated requests for a comment, Naftali told Haaretz: "My opinions are my own and do not represent anyone but myself."

Biden also had a terrible coughing fit, claiming he "swallowed wrong" after taking a sip of water. 

While Israeli officials were not permitted at the event, an audience member is quoted in the official transcript as telling Biden at the event, "I am American Palestinian from New Jersey, Bergen County, and I vote for you. I am a head nurse of pediatric intensive care unit at Makassed Hospital. Thank you for your support, but we need more justice, more dignity. And thank you." 

Biden's next stop is Saudi Arabia, where he'll meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a move that has been heavily criticized, especially considering Biden said while campaigning he wanted to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah."