Embassy of Israel
Washington, D.C.
MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you all for having me here today.
Ambassador Herzog, Mike, thank you — both for your hospitality here and for a year that has been difficult and challenging, but you have always stayed committed to the strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship and see it as larger than any two people, and I'm grateful to you for that.
And it means a lot to me that I've been invited here to mark this solemn occasion with all of you.
As you know, President Biden spoke with President Herzog earlier today, and he shared his deepest condolences with the President and the people of Israel as they commemorate this godawful anniversary.
He lit a candle in the White House together with the First Lady, and they said a prayer in remembrance of those lost, loved ones massacred by terrorists who exalted in the assault and murder of innocent Jewish men, women, and children.
Perhaps for the first time ever, this morning, the traditional mourning prayer, El Malei Rachamim, was read in Hebrew in the quiet of the residence of the White House. One line from that prayer, as many of you know: "God full of mercy…grant rest on the wings of the Divine."
The thousands of miles between Washington and Israel do not feel so distant today. As the President shared in his statement this morning, we grieve with the families and communities who are still in mourning, just as we share in the excruciating pain of those whose loved ones are still held hostage by Hamas, including American citizens.
I've spent a lot of time with the families of the American hostages over the past year. I remain humbled by their resilience and their courage. Instead of succumbing to the dark paralysis of grief, they are working every day to secure the return of their loved ones — always thoughtful, always constructive, always pushing us hard, as they should.
I look around this room and I see colleagues here that I've gotten to know very, very well through these challenging times. In the days that followed October 7th, our defense, intelligence, and national security teams were in constant touch. At President Biden's direction, we moved military assets into the region, including carrier strike groups with their destroyer escorts and air wings, the finest on the planet, to protect U.S. forces in the region and, yes, to support the defense of the State of Israel.
I traveled with President Biden to Israel on October 18th, the first president to visit Israel in a time of war. And I was with him this past Tuesday. He was scheduled to be in the Oval Office for his annual Rosh Hashanah call with Jewish leaders. Instead, he was in the Situation Room, where, for the second time in five months, he ordered the U.S. military to take action to defend Israel from a significant attack by Iran.
Side by side, U.S. naval destroyers joined Israeli air defense units in again intercepting a rainfall of inbound missiles — ballistic missiles from Iran. We thank God we were successful in rendering that attack ineffective, but we remain highly vigilant to the further threats and attacks from Iran and its proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
Backed by the ironclad security partnership of the United States, Israel has demonstrated its remarkable capacity, including through impressive operations that killed terrorists with Israeli and, yes, with American blood on their hands.
The challenge going forward is to turn tactical wins in battle into a strategy that secures Israel's people and its future. That takes real discipline, it takes courage, it takes foresight to match the conduct of war to a clear and sustainable set of objectives and to turn tactical advantage into enduring strategic gains. That is never easy, but it's imperative, and we are here to work with you on that.
Because as I look around this room, I see colleagues that I haven't just gotten to know in the crucible of the past year but in the work that preceded it, a project to make real the vision of broader peace, stability, and economic connectivity across the Middle East and to make real a future where Israelis and Palestinians can live alongside one another in security, dignity, self-determination, and peace.
As the President said in his statement this morning, "I believe that history will also remember October 7th as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day. Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict — and tens of thousands have been killed, a human toll made far worse by terrorists hiding and operating among innocent people."
Ambassador Herzog spoke in his remarks of the Jewish commandment that every innocent life has value, whether it's American or Israeli, Lebanese or Palestinian. Every innocent life.
In my family, we read the poet John Donne, who said, and I quote, "Any man's death diminishes me, / because I am involved in mankind." And we have to bring that spirit to this conflict as well.
We have continued to actively pursue a pathway to a future where Israel enjoys normalized relations with all of its Arab neighbors, where Palestinians have a state of their own, and where Israel's security is assured forever.
And we have continued to stand strong against the antisemitism that still burns in America, around the world, and that has gotten oxygen since October 7th, as the Ambassador said. And we will continue, from the President through every member of his administration, to stand firmly against it.
I'm not blind to the difficulties of this moment. I'm not blind to their deep roots. The challenges are many. The suffering and trauma is real, and it's with me always. And no one is ever criticized for predicting that things will only get worse in the Middle East. The hard thing is to push past the hopelessness and put the pieces down that build toward a genuinely brighter future, even as we navigate the heightened risks and exacting human toll of the present day.
This is a focus of my own conversations, President Biden's conversations, the Vice President's conversations, the Secretary of State, every member of our team, with leaders across the Middle East who recognize that this future I'm describing can still be the ultimate legacy of October 7th. And we stand ready to work with all of you, everyone here, everyone of good faith across the region.
But this future, as you all know and has been shown to us so many times, is far from assured. We have to work to make it so.
So, may God protect our troops and watch over the hostages. May the memory of those lost be a blessing, just as the joyousness of their lives remains our light and inspiration forward.
Thank you. (Applause.)
