President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel got off to a bit of a rocky start after he accidentally substituted the word ‘honor’ for ‘horror’ while talking about the Nazi plot to exterminate Europe’s Jews during the Second World War.
“Later today, I will once more return to the hallowed ground of Yad Sh-Vashem [Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, ed.] to honor the 6 million Jewish lives that were stolen in a genocide and continue – which we must do every, every day – continue to bear witness, to keep alive the truth and honor of the Holocaust- horror of the Holocaust, honor those we lost…” Biden said in a speech after arriving at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday.
Biden’s remarks were immediately clipped and spread online, with Twitter users collectively cringing and facepalming over the gaffe. “Honor the Holocaust? Get this guy away from the mic. He’ll plunge us into war with Israel,” one user quipped. “Kinda makes you want to crawl under a rock until 2024,” another person suggested.
Wednesday’s trip is Biden’s tenth visit to Israel, but his first as president. Elsewhere in his remarks, Biden said he was “proud to say that our relationship with the state of Israel is deeper and stronger in my view than its ever been,” and emphasized that “with this visit, we’re strengthening our connection even further.”
“We have reaffirmed the unshakable commitment of the United States to Israel’s security, including partnering with Israel on the most cutting-edge defense systems in the world,” Biden said. “From here, I’m going straight to a briefing on Israeli missiles and rocket defense capability, including the US support for the Iron Dome and Israel’s new laser-enabled system called the Iron Beam.”