President Biden is hosting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for a state visit on Wednesday. But the White House is scaling back a bit of its planned celebrations at a gala state dinner — months in the making — because of the crisis in the Middle East.
As he welcomed Albanese, Biden noted that the two countries were "standing with Israel against Hamas's terrorism," and Albanese praised Biden for making the case that Palestinian civilians should be protected in Gaza. "We applaud the personal resolve you have brought to this troubled part of the world," Albanese said.
