President Biden Says He's Done 'More for the Palestinian Community Than Anybody' While Talking About His Support for Israel

President Joe Biden doubled down on his support for Israel amid their ongoing conflict with Palestine.

President Biden, 81, appeared on the latest episode of Complex’s 360 with Speedy, which was filmed on July 12, just a day prior to an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, 78, during a re-election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Speedy Morman asked Biden about his “unwavering support” for Israel, including an estimated $26 billion in aid approved to be sent. The president clarified that the aid is for defensive purposes only and for the necessity of Israel to exist as a safe haven for Jewish people.

“If there weren't an Israel, every Jew in the world would be at risk,” Biden told Morman at the 10-minute mark above. “And so there's a need for it to be strong, and a need for Israel to be able to have, after World War II, the ability for Jews to have a place that was their own.”

“But you don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist,” Biden added. “And a Zionist is about whether or not Israel is a safe haven for Jews because of their history of how they've been persecuted.”

“Are you a Zionist?” asked Speedy.

“Yes,” Biden confirmed, adding that some people don’t know what it means to be a Zionist.

If you weren’t sure, Merriam-Webster defines Zionism as “an international movement originally for the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine and later for the support of modern Israel.” A Zionist is an individual in support of the movement.

Biden, who stated that the “United States has Israel’s back” last October and that what is happening in Gaza is “not genocide” in May, also said he has done more to support the Palestinian community more than “anybody.”

“By the way, I'm the guy that did more for the Palestinian community than anybody. I'm the guy that opened up all the assets,” Biden said, referring to working with Egypt's President El-Sisi to allow aid into Gaza through the country’s previously sealed borders.

“I have been very supportive of the Palestinians. But Hamas, they’re a bunch of thugs,” Biden added. “Hamas is not worthy to—I was over there about eight days after the massacre, [I] saw photographs of mothers and daughters being tied in a rope together, and kerosene poured over their heads and burned to death. Nothing's happened like that since the Holocaust, and it's just not appropriate."

The President did not speak on the death toll in Gaza since the current conflict. A July 5-published Lancet study determined "it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza." The number is increasingly difficult to measure based on Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

When asked why Muslims or Arab-Americans should vote for him in the upcoming election, Biden pointed to his efforts to support a two-state solution.

“I've been a strong supporter of that, and everything I've done has been. I've gotten significant support from Arab countries in the region as well,” Biden told Speedy before mentioning his collaborations with nations such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

“I don't have a prejudiced bone in my body,” Biden added. “The Arabs are good people. They need help now. They need help.”