On October 19, President Biden gave a speech from the Oval Office. For all the lofty rhetoric, it was short on specifics on how America could help Israel and Ukraine.
The Biden administration has proposed $105 billion dollars in assistance, which includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine, $14.3 billion for Israel, and $13.6 billion to strengthen America’s southern border.
Instead of answers, I have several questions for President Biden.
Ukraine-Russia War
From February 2022 to July 2023, Congress authorized $113 billion dollars for Ukraine and actually spent $76.8 billion dollars on Ukraine. We spent $46.5 billion dollars in military assistance, $26.4 billion in financial assistance, and 3.9 billion dollars in humanitarian assistance for Ukrainian refugees.
In fiscal year 2023, our total deficit was $1.7 trillion dollars. How much money would it take for Ukraine to win?
It’s obvious that we haven’t provided Ukraine with enough help to win this war. Can the United States send enough weapons to help the Ukrainians win while maintaining an adequate stockpile for ourselves?
In February 2023, the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said, “The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production.”
Even before the chaos in Congress, and the new Israel-Hamas War, I have never been optimistic that Ukraine could defeat Russia and take back all its territories.
In September 2023, political scientist John Mearsheimer accurately predicted that the counteroffensive would fail. He also predicted President Putin would eventually win a war of attrition due to Russia’s advantages in population, and equipment:
“Furthermore, the Russians already enjoyed a significant advantage in artillery, the most important weapon in a war of attrition like the one being fought in Ukraine. Neither Kyiv nor the West had the capability to rectify that imbalance, which was estimated to be somewhere between 5:1 and 10:1 in Russia’s favor.”
Israel-Hamas War
I hope Israel destroys Hamas as quickly as possible. As General Douglas MacArthur once said, “War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision. In war there is no substitute for victory.”
According to Article 13 of the 1988 Hamas Covenant, “There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”
While Israel will try its best to limit civilian casualties, Israel needs bipartisan support in Congress and bunker buster bombs to destroy Hamas’ tunnels.
I have great sympathy for the innocent Palestinians in Gaza. I have no sympathy for any of their corrupt leaders.
You cannot be pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas at the same time. The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, has a luxurious lifestyle in Qatar.
President Biden should put pressure on our “ally” Qatar to arrest Hamas’ leaders, and then we can exchange them for the hostages.
It has been 30 years since the handshake between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat. If the Palestinians had spent the last few decades developing their economy, they would be far better off right now.
The Gaza Strip (5,828.9 people per square kilometer) is not the most densely populated region in the world. The population density of Singapore was 7,595.5 people per square kilometer in 2021.
Singapore was in shambles after World War II. According to the World Bank, “In the decades after independence, Singapore rapidly developed from a low-income country to a high-income country. GDP growth in the city-state has been amongst the world’s highest, at an average of 7.7% since independence and topping 9.2% in the first 25 years.”
Unlike Yasser Arafat, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (1959 to 1990), and his successors, focused on economic growth and not confronting Singapore’s larger neighbors.
Instead of waiting for economic assistance, Singapore relied on markets, meritocracy, and good leadership. Singapore per capita GDP grew from $428 dollars in 1960 to just over $82,800 dollars in 2022.
In 2022, the per capita GDP of the West Bank and Gaza Strip was only $3,789 dollars.
The Palestinians are never going to have a decent life as long as Hamas controls Gaza and Mahmoud Abbas controls the West Bank. The Palestinians deserve better leaders.
For Israel to win the peace, the Palestinians will need to hold elections after this war. The Palestinians have not held a presidential election since 2005 and parliamentary elections since 2006.
Although I still believe in a two-state solution, I don’t pretend that any of the Palestinian leaders do.
It’s going to be a long time before the Palestinians ever make peace with Israel. It’s probably going take even longer for Russia to become a free country.
Until then, I can only pray for my family and friends in Israel, Ukraine and Russia.
Robert Zapesochny is a researcher and writer whose work focuses on foreign affairs, national security and presidential history. He has been published in numerous outlets, including The American Spectator, the Washington Times, and The American Conservative. When he's not writing, Robert works for a medical research company in New York. Read Robert Zapesochny's Reports — More Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.