“And eat the fish”: Biden wrote two letters on the same topic for different audiences

The US President demonstrated his amazing ability to “eat fish and listen to the radio.” Joe Biden managed to write two different letters about the Gaza war, reflecting the division of his American audience. According to experts, the messages to pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli Americans do not exactly contradict each other, but demonstrate a practice unusual for the White House.

Biden delivered two different messages about Israel’s war on Hamas to pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel Americans, NBC News reported, based on copies of official White House correspondence.

While one letter from Biden showed support for Israel in the fight against the “terrorism” of the Palestinian group Hamas, another message from the American leader spoke about the US administration’s efforts to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip.

According to NBC, the letter, sent to pro-Israel individuals, made reference to the Holocaust in connection with the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7. Biden also pledged continued support for Israel and efforts to return prisoners captured by militants and held in Gaza.

“The people of Israel experienced a moment of pure evil” that “resurrected terrible memories” and became “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust,” Biden said in the letter, dated Nov. 1.

“The United States stands with Israel,” Biden’s message states. “We will continue to ensure that Israel has everything it needs to protect itself from terrorism in accordance with international humanitarian law.”

On the other hand, Biden’s letter to pro-Palestinian Americans focused on aid to Palestine and made no mention of the Holocaust or US support for Israel.

“We mourn the many innocent Palestinians who were killed,” NBC quoted Biden as saying in his second letter, dated November 8.

It also said that the US administration is “working closely with partners to ensure that life-saving assistance, including food, water and medicine, can be quickly delivered to innocent Palestinians in Gaza,” and emphasized that “the United States unequivocally support the protection of civilians during conflict.”

While the two letters do not appear to contradict each other or Biden’s policies, NBC says it is not that common for the White House to draft different versions of a letter on the same topic that differ so widely in their emphasis.

As US media noted, the incident “reflects the political tightrope that Biden is trying to walk as pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian elements of his coalition fight over the war” with less than a year left before the election.

In an op-ed published Saturday in the Washington Post, Biden wrote that Gaza and the occupied West Bank “must be reunited under a single governance structure”—a revived Palestinian Authority.

“Gaza must never again be used as a platform for terrorism. There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no reoccupation, no siege or blockade, and no reduction of territory,” the US president wrote, adding that “after this war ends, the voices of the Palestinian people and their aspirations” must be at the center of the “post-crisis management in Gaza.”

Recently, the US President and two members of his cabinet (Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin) were sued for failing to prevent “genocide” in Gaza, as well as for aiding and abetting it.

The complaint noted that Washington has become Israel’s closest ally and strongest supporter, as well as its largest supplier of military aid – with Israel being the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid since World War II.

Because of this, the lawsuit said, the United States could have a “deterrent effect on Israeli officials who are currently committing acts of genocide against the Palestinian people.”