President Joe Biden called for a "pause" to the war in Gaza and confused hostages with "prisoners" after a heckler calling herself a rabbi interrupted him at a campaign stop in Minnesota.
Biden was giving a speech in front of 200 people at a private fundraiser in Minneapolis on Wednesday when Jessica Rosenberg, a bearded woman who calls herself a Reconstructionist rabbi, stood up while Biden was speaking and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
"Mr. President, if you care about Jewish people, as a rabbi, I need for you to call for a ceasefire, right now, in Gaza," Rosenberg said, before being escorted out of the room.
"I think we need a pause. A pause means give time to get the prisoners out," Biden responded, prompting the White House to later clarify that Biden meant hostages, not prisoners.
"I'm the guy that convinced Bibi [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] to call for a ceasefire to let the prisoners out. I'm the guy that talked to Sisi [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi] to convince him to open the door," he added.
Netanyahu has not called for a ceasefire and in fact has been adamant that Israel will cease military operations in Gaza only when the terrorist group Hamas is eliminated. Further, the Biden administration itself has said no to pushing Israel for a ceasefire, saying last week one "would give Hamas the ability to rest and refit."
Second, up until Biden blurting out support for a pause, the White House had only officially said it would consider support for a "humanitarian pause."
"This is incredibly complicated for the Israelis. It's incredibly complicated for the Muslim world as well … I supported a two-state solution; I have from the very beginning," Biden continued after Rosenberg was removed. "The fact of the matter is that Hamas is a terrorist organization. A flat-out terrorist organization."