Joe Biden’s Remark to Israeli Reporter About Hostage Deal Sparks Criticism
President Joe Biden asked a reporter if she could “get hit in the head” by a camera behind her after being asked about a hostage deal on Tuesday.
Israeli journalist Neira Kraus asked Biden if he thought he could “get a hostage deal by the end of your term.” The president responded, “do you think that you can get hit in the head by the camera behind you?” Biden then quickly moved on to his remarks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the Oval Office.
I asked President Biden if he thinks that he can get a hostage deal done by the end of his term. He answered, commenting on the number of cameramen in the room: “do you think that you can get hit in the head by the camera behind you?” pic.twitter.com/B3DCJoHdaw
— Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) November 12, 2024
Newsweek reached out to multiple people in Biden’s communications team for comment.
Kraus’ question referred to the hostages Hamas is still holding after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Hamas and other militant groups abducted about 251 people, 73 of which were reportedly killed on October 7 or while in captivity. As of August 28, 2024, 117 hostages had been returned to Israel alive. An additional 37 bodies were repatriated.
At the start of the war, Hamas had offered to release all hostages in exchange for Israel releasing its Palestinian prisoners.
Biden has rejected calls for a ceasefire, saying: “We should have those hostages released and then we can talk.”
AP Photo/Ben Curtis
Kraus’ video has sparked some remarks on social media, including from The View host Alyssa Farah Griffin.
“Are we rly surprised millions of Americans felt gaslit about Biden’s condition and mental sharpness?” she posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Many responded to Kraus’ video calling Biden “cooked” and a “terrible man.”
Independent journalist Kyle Becker posted that Biden’s “term cannot end soon enough.”
“What a complete a**,” Fox News’ Lawrence Jones III posted.
Following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory last week, Hamas issued a statement laying out five points for Trump that include a demand to “end the blind bias toward the Zionist occupation.”
“Our position on the new American administration depends on its positions and practical behavior toward our Palestinian people, their legitimate rights, and their just cause,” the statement said, reported by independent Palestinian news agency SABQ24NEWS.
AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg
Throughout Trump’s 2024 campaign, he insisted he would end multiple wars around the world, including in the Middle East. Trump has appointed Representative Elise Stefanik of New York to be his United Nations ambassador, meaning she will be picking up the baton on U.N. policy issues, including Israel. Stefanik previously pressed former Harvard President Claudine Gay over the pro-Palestinian protests on her campus in December 2023.
In a press release from November 4, Stefanik said: “The United States must stand with Israel’s decision to ban Hamas-infiltrated UNRWA from operating in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. UNRWA staff participated in the heinous terrorist attacks on October 7th, its headquarters housed an underground Hamas data center, and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar carried the passport of an UNRWA teacher when he was killed.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has sent over $1 billion to UNRWA since 2021, filling the coffers of this terrorist front. This must end.”
