Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. stands squarely by Israel and will ensure it “has what it needs to defend itself” after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war against Palestinian militants that launched a surprise attack on his country.
Austin said in a statement he was “closely monitoring developments in Israel” and extended his condolences to families of the victims who lost their lives in the Saturday attack.
“Our commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself remains unwavering,” Austin said. “Over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism.”
The U.S. is one of Israel’s staunchest allies and has provided around $3.8 billion a year to the country.
Netanyahu declared war on Saturday against Palestinian militant groups after Hamas launched a surprise, multi-frontal attack inside Israel.
Militants launched more than 2,000 missiles and stormed Israel from multiple directions after infiltrating the border.
Why are the displaced and oppressed minority always described as militants? Fuck Israel.
Hamas is technically a militant group.
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They killed civilians and dragged a dead womans naked body around for their military parade.
They are not militants they are subhuman scum.
Both sides are all just humans being the worst we have to offer as a species.
Egged on by ridiculous stories about men in the sky, they fight for no reason when we could all just treat each other as human.
they fight for no reason when we could all just treat each other as human.
Okay “they fight for no reason” ignores a lot. The blockade of Gaza is genuinely one of the most horrific actions of the 21st century, and let’s not mention the ethnic cleansing.
Apartheid sucks for everyone
They’re not subhuman. Don’t do that.
There’s no good guys and plenty of bad guys, but they’re all still people.
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Surprised? Yes. The only person who benefits from this is Netanyahu. Hamas has to know that. They also know that a) there is no way in hell they can defeat Israel militarily and b) acts like this push public opinion even more against a Palestinian homeland. So what was the rationale? I’m mystified.
You have a point, I don’t really know what Hamas’ plan is, or if there is one. What I’m thinking is that they, and the people of Palestine, are being brought to the point of having nothing left to lose, and so being desperate, the commit acts of desperation. I’m not sure if it’s “right” or “good”, but it’s not surprising to me.
Israel made their bed, they should lie in it
Aint Bibi a criminal? You’re gonna finance the war hes gonna use to dissolve more of the protections that should have kept him out of office?
Unfortunately, skilled politicians never let a good crisis go to waste.
I wonder how the American people would respond to this if it were put to a vote.
Something tells me we wouldn’t get 50% of the nation to agree to funding Israel.
After seeing videos recorded by militants themselves, it is really hard to support Palestine. It looks like likely Gaza strip (controlled by Hamas) might be no more after this and there might be little international opposition.
I think Hamas fucked Palestinians hard with this move.
I normally don’t support Israel, but there’s no way I support this.
I’m not saying support Palestine.
I’m saying remove funding for Israel, one of the wealthiest nations in the world.
If they need more money, they can take it from their ruling class instead of our taxpayers.
wow…I get the feeling that this this community is quite against Israel.
I’ll speak for myself but I’m not against the Israeli people other than the settlers. Israel keeps grabbing up Palestinian land and moving settlers in. It’s already an apartheid state situation. What Hamas did today was terrible, and Israel did what it always does- blow up civilians. Hamas and the increasingly dictatorial government of Israel are both shitty, but Israel provoked this shit by backing desperate people into a corner.
Personally I’m not against Israel specifically, just any Etho/religious state, any state commiting war crimes, any state commiting genocide and any colonialist power.
Zionists can go pound sand.
I’m against spending money on pointless and futile efforts
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Isn’t that a bit patronizing? I would guess Israel is well equipped to deal with the situation on it’s own.
But maybe it’s more about US internal politics or media?
Are you serious? An ally declared war, you expected what? A get well card?
Ally or dependant?
Good point, maybe that’s all there is to it, and I’m reading too much into it. I stumbled over sentences like this one:
“Over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians […]”
That seems to imply Israel currently, without benevolent help, does not have what it needs, and cannot protect it’s own civilians. The wording can be seen as a way to stylize Israel as a dependent weakling. Also note they talk about a proactive, unilateral action. US takes steps to ensure that Israel can defend itself. That’s quite different from coming to help, or offering assistance.
There are other ways to react and phrase things. They could firmly reassure their ally of their unconditional support by offering it, whenever Israel wants to request it. Maybe even prepare steps but emphasize it’s Israel’s call. While expressing confidence Israel is well equipped to deal with the situation.
But maybe the servant role does not sell so well to the domestic audience. Again, I don’t know. I just found this odd.
I think I read somewhere that Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid since WWII…so there’s that
God dammit pentagon, shut the fuck up
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. stands squarely by Israel and will ensure it “has what it needs to defend itself” after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war against Palestinian militants that launched a surprise attack on his country.
Austin said in a statement he was “closely monitoring developments in Israel” and extended his condolences to families of the victims who lost their lives in the Saturday attack.
“Over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism.”
Netanyahu declared war on Saturday against Palestinian militant groups after Hamas launched a surprise, multi-frontal attack inside Israel.
The U.S. has condemned the recent violence and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has discussed the situation with his counterpart.
The latest clashes come after decades of violence between Palestine and Israel, which has only picked up in recent months following more controversial policies under Netanyahu’s far-right government against Palestinian communities.
The original article contains 237 words, the summary contains 170 words. Saved 28%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Good. The innocent civilians of Israel must be protected against the terrorists.
Who’s gonna defent the inocent civilians of Palestine from Israel though? I mean this likely wouldn’t have happened if Israel didn’t just kill hundrends of Palestinians, including civilians, just weeks ago (or you know, if they didn’t occupy territories that don’t belong to them)
And who will protect the innocent civilians from Israel?
