A protester calling on Joe Biden to demand a ceasefire in Gaza has prompted the president to abruptly alter his Middle East policy on the fly.

He responded with, “I think we need a pause,” after a protester at Biden’s speech in Minnesota said, “If you care about Jewish people, as a rabbi, I need you to call for a ceasefire.”

CBS confirmed it was a “departure” from Biden’s existing position, that the White House would not “dictate how the Israelis carry out their military operations in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.”

In that terror attack, militants in Hamas drugged themselves and carried instructions to carry out “atrocities” on civilians in Israel, where 1,400 were killed and another 200 or so were kidnapped.

The massacre involved some of the most horrific deaths since the Holocaust, reports have confirmed, with whole families burned alive by Hamas terrorists, even babies beheaded.

Biden was speaking to launch his Rural Investment Tour in Northfield, Minn.

Israel responded to the terror attack by Hamas with a military campaign launched against Gaza, Hamas’ home.

Air strikes have been followed by ground assault troops. Israel has been warning civilians in areas it is targeting to evacuate before the attack starts.

But, the CBS report said, Biden has been under pressure from “human rights groups” and members of his own liberal Democrat party to call on Israel to halt its response to the terror attack.

The White House already has suggested there be brief times without bombing so that civilians can get aid and foreign nationals leave.

Biden said, “I think we need a pause. A pause means give time to get the prisoners out.”

He then bragged about what he said he’s done.

“I’m the guy that convinced Bibi (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) to call for a ceasefire to let the prisoners out. I’m the guy that talked to Sisi (Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi) to convince him to open the door” to let humanitarian aid enter through the Rafah border crossing from Gaza into Egypt,” the report revealed.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog already has said, “We are ramping up humanitarian supplies into Gaza in those areas which are away from Hamas in the southern part of Gaza. The number of truckloads doubles and is going to pick up more and more.”

This article was originally published by the WND News Center.

This post originally appeared on WND News Center.