Earlier this month, President Joe Biden visited Northfield, Minnesota, in a political shot at that district’s representative, Democrat Dean Phillips, who is challenging Biden in the presidential primaries.
But not everyone in the Democratic Party crowd was happy to see him, and one person — a bearded woman who claimed to be a rabbi — began heckling Biden on the Israel-Hamas War.
The heckler stood up and said, “Mr. President, if you care about Jewish people, as a rabbi, I need you to call for a ceasefire right now.”
The bearded woman received boos and jeers from the crowd.
Biden, confused, talked to her.
“I think we need a pause. A pause means give time to get the prisoners out,” Biden reportedly said. “I’m the guy that convinced Bibi [Netanyahu, Israeli Prime minister] to call for a ceasefire to let the prisoners out. I’m the guy that talked to [Egyptian President] Sisi to convince him to open the door.”
The heckler has been identified as Jessica Rosenberg, a Pennsylvania-based rabbi. In the video, Rosenberg is wearing a beard. She’s described herself as “a queer Jewish woman” and “someone involved in Israel/Palestine organizing.”
While being escorted away offscreen, Rosenberg reportedly chanted, “Ceasefire now!”
“I understand the emotion,” Biden reportedly concluded.
Take a look —
NEW: President Joe Biden gets interrupted by a bearded female rabbi who called on him to support a ceasefire in Gaza.
The person in the video is Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, a “queer Jewish woman obsessed with Jewish history.”
The incident clearly caught Biden off guard because he… pic.twitter.com/BhSwqH3eee
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 2, 2023
As of Thursday, Israel agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on radical Islamic terrorists in northern Gaza, the White House said.
Biden had asked Netanyahu to institute the daily pauses during a Monday call and said he had also asked the Israelis for a pause of at least three days to allow for hostage negotiations.
“Yes,” Biden said, when asked whether he had asked Israel for a three-day pause. “I’ve asked for even a longer pause for some of them.” He added there was “no possibility” of a formal cease-fire at the moment, and said it had “taken a little longer” than he hoped for Israel to agree to the humanitarian pauses.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.