Biden: Gaza not a genocide; US wants Hamas beaten, is working with Israel to make that happen

US President Joe Biden says his administration “stand[s] with Israel to take out Sinwar and the rest of the butchers of Hamas.”

“We want Hamas defeated, and we’re working with Israel to make that happen,” Biden says at a White House event marking Jewish American Heritage Month.

“Contrary to allegations made against Israel in the International Court of Justice, what’s happening is not genocide,” Biden says.

“I’ll always ensure that Israel has everything it needs to defend itself against Hamas, and all its enemies,” Biden says.

He adds that he is working to boost humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza but stresses that the crisis is Hamas’s doing.

“In America, we respect and protect fundamental rights of free speech, protest peacefully. That’s America,” he also says. “But there’s no place in any campus in America, any place in America for antisemitism for hate speech that threatens violence of any kind against Jews or anyone else.”

Biden notes that American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s parents Rachel and Jon are in the audience and pledges to not cease in his efforts to bring their son home.

Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin also address the JDCA event. Polin urges those attending to help keep all the hostages still in Gaza at the front of the American mind. “We all need to be fighting every day all day to bring them home,” he says.

Also addressing the event is Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who laments the antisemitism Jewish students are facing on college campuses amid the wave of anti-Israel protests.

Emhoff, who is Jewish, stresses that the Biden administration has the backs of Jewish students amid the escalation of hate and is working to combat it.

JTA contributed to this article.