Joe Biden was harassed by a rabbi protester at a closed fundraiser in Minneapolis where he was defending his own efforts to rein in Israel’s war on Gaza.
“As a rabbi, I need you to call for an immediate ceasefire,” shouted Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, whose website describes her as a “reconstructionist” rabbi. She interrupted Biden as he discussed the origins of his campaign and the “anti-Semitic bile” at a right-wing march in Charlottesville. After the interruption, the rabbi was removed from the room where Biden spoke to about 200 donors in a warehouse event room.
“I think we need a pause.” “A pause means giving time to get the prisoners out,” Biden said in his loudest call for a “humanitarian pause” that distinguishes his administration from a broader ceasefire that pro- Palestinian demonstrators demand.
Biden then took credit for tempering Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu. “I’m the guy who convinced Bibi to call for a ceasefire to release the prisoners.” I’m the guy I spoke to [Egyptian President] Sisi should persuade him to open the door.
As the protester was being removed, she identified herself to . She chanted “Now ceasefire.”
Rosenberg interjected when Biden called for a recess. “What break?” she asked.
“A pause means giving time to get prisoners out,” Biden said.
The audience cheered Biden’s response and booed the protester. “I understand the emotions,” Biden told his supporters.
President Joe Biden was heckled by a rabbi at a closed fundraiser calling for a ceasefire as Israel wages war on Hamas. He traveled to Minnesota on Wednesday, addressed the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and sent a message to Israeli forces urging them to act “in accordance with international and humanitarian law.”
The protester identified herself to as Jessica Rosenberg
The drama came hours after Biden spoke about the “devastating” images he saw in Gaza on Wednesday of children crying for their parents in one of his most emotional warnings, warning Israel against attacking the territory .
He made the comments after Israeli forces attacked a refugee camp for the second day in a row, destroying a top Hamas terror target, according to the government.
His government has repeatedly spoken publicly about the importance of adhering to the “rules of war” but has refused to respond to individual incidents or tell Israel how to wage the war itself after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack as he prepared to send billions of dollars in new military aid to the US ally.
“We will continue to reaffirm that Israel has the right – and responsibility – to protect its citizens from terrorism and that it must do so in accordance with international and humanitarian law, while prioritizing the protection of citizens,” said Biden.
He then continued to describe some of the harrowing scenes from Gaza, just weeks after 1,400 Israelis were killed during the Hamas attack.
“We have seen the devastating images from Gaza. “Palestinian children cry out for lost parents and parents think and write their children’s names on their hands and legs to be identified.”
Then a child in the crowd in a barn at Dutch Creek Farms in Northfield, Minnesota, let out his own scream.
‘It’s okay. Children are allowed to do that. “Don’t worry about it,” Biden joked.
Then he asked whether it was a boy or a girl who made the scream. “I don’t blame her,” he joked, laughing despite the grim news.
Biden also spoke about a breakthrough in negotiations to finally get some dual citizens out of Gaza, after the White House said a “handful” of Americans were among those who left Gaza on Wednesday as part of a broader deal.
“This is the result of intensive and urgent American diplomacy with our partners in the region,” Biden said. “I personally spent a lot of time talking to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Egyptian President Sisi and others to make sure we can open that access for people to get out,” he said.
He made the comments after Israeli forces attacked a refugee camp for the second day in a row, destroying a top Hamas terror target, according to the government
He thanked partners in the region and praised Qatar for its close cooperation with us in the talks. Qatar has provided financial support to Hamas and hosts former Hamas leaders.
“At the same time, we continue to work to significantly increase the flow of critical humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” Biden said, citing an earlier breakthrough to bring busloads of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
This comes after Israel cut off water and energy supplies early in its incursions into the area, where Israeli troops are vulnerable to Hamas militants and a kilometer-long network of underground tunnels.
En route to Minnesota, national security spokesman John Kirby called the agreement an “important first step” and a “significant breakthrough” in getting out the estimated 1,000 U.S. citizens who are in Gaza during the fighting.
Biden had a largely uneventful flight to Minnesota, although the same cannot be said for the reporters who followed him there.
A Nighthawk helicopter carrying reporters to the farm experienced four loud bangs during takeoff and was forced to make an unscheduled landing at a public airport after smoke filled the cabin.
The reporters and photographers, including , tracking Biden switched to a separate Osprey helicopter and quickly caught up with the president.
The White House said an “electrical issue” triggered some preventative alarms, including an automatic fire extinguisher.
Biden flew by helicopter to a farm in Minnesota, where he discussed his rural agenda and the situation in Gaza
The remarks came on a trip where Biden touted rural investments at an event that his White House team insists has nothing to do with his new primary challenger, who happens to be from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Biden’s visit puts him back on the road amid a brewing international crisis abroad and an unexpected hurdle in his path to the Democratic presidential nomination. Last week, Rep. Dean Phillips, who represents the state’s third congressional district, filed to run against Biden in the New Hampshire primary.
White House deputy press secretary Emilie Simons told reporters on Air Force One that the event was planned months in advance after being asked about a statement from Phillips welcoming Biden in the state as a “last minute trip”.
Biden, who has more than $71 million in his campaign coffers, does not typically face a challenge from a third-term Democrat who has supported much of his policy agenda.
But Biden helped shuffle the schedule for the Democratic primary this year, and because New Hampshire flouted Democratic Party calendar rules, his name will not appear on the ballot. This forces his party to organize a campaign to avoid the possible humiliation of defeat by Phillips. The state’s primary election is expected to prevail against a party-approved calendar that could allow South Carolina to break with tradition and go first.
U.S. President Joe Biden is greeted by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Gwen Walz, First Lady of Minnesota, upon his arrival in Northfield, Minnesota, U.S., November 1, 2023
Down on the Farm: President Biden travels to rural Minnesota on Wednesday. His trip comes after Minnesota Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips announced he will run against Biden in New Hampshire
Asked Tuesday whether the visit had anything to do with Phillips, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre again invoked the Hatch Act as a shield.
“I said this last week and I’ll say it again: We are very proud – or very excited and grateful – to the congressman who has voted with the president almost 100 percent over the last two years and I.” “I’ll leave it at that,” she said.
The Hatch Act limits policymaking to government property or government time.
Instead, Jean-Pierre said the trip was about pushing Biden’s rural agenda – without mentioning that Biden also planned a fundraiser with a Democratic hedge funder in Minneapolis before his return trip.
“The president says that all the time.” He’s the president for everyone. I also just said this above when I answered this question to one of your colleagues. It doesn’t matter if it’s a red state or a blue state – it doesn’t matter. “He is a president for everyone,” she said.
The trip comes days after Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) announced he would challenge Biden in New Hampshire
US President Joe Biden visits a family farm in Kankakee, Illinois, USA on May 11, 2022. He is expected to be back at the farm in Minnesota on Wednesday
“So, it’s important.” This isn’t the first time he’s traveled to a rural area to talk to Americans. And that’s why he’s going to do this tomorrow and talk about what he did on behalf of this community, but on behalf of Americans across the country,” Jean-Pierre said.
She called Biden a “president for everyone.”
“You know, just as he travels to urban and suburban parts of the country, he also visits rural areas of the country,” she said.
Phillips has his own problems. Democrats from his state have thrown their support behind Biden. And Rep. James C. Clyburn (D-South Carolina) accused him of “disrespecting” the party leader by violating the new calendar.
Biden’s allies aren’t waiting to attack Phillips. Former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) told Politico: “The reality is.” [Phillips’] The bizarre attempt to run for president in the only state with no delegates and virtually no support appears to be stalling less than a week after it began — and insults against one of our party’s most respected and successful members certainly won’t be revived in it .’
Biden is expected to announce $5 billion in funding to help rural areas combat climate change.
He is scheduled to speak at Dutch Creek Farms in the town of Northfield. Operators grow corn and soybeans while also raising pigs, one of many livestock known to contribute to methane emissions. Farm operators are also making efforts to sequester carbon, a type of environmental initiative that the government is promoting through billions of dollars in Inflation Reduction Act legislation.