Several Republican senators slammed Democrats during a press conference Wednesday for not fully standing behind Israel in the current conflict with Hamas.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, flanked by several other GOP Senators during a Wednesday press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday, blasted President Joe Biden, and Democrats in Congress for apparently weakening their support for Israel amid the current violence.
“Just six months ago, peace was flowering throughout the Middle East,” Cruz said referring to the “historic” Abraham Accords signed during the administration of former President Donald Trump. “Biden came in and immediately began undermining Israel. He immediately began sending hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority, which is in bed with Hamas terrorists.”
Cruz said Biden also reentered the “disastrous” Obama Iran nuclear deal.
“As a direct result of those failed decisions, we have hundreds and hundreds of [Hamas] rockets raining down on innocent men, women, and children in Israel,” he said.
Cruz and the other senators called on Biden and congressional Democrats to officially announce their strong “unequivocal” support for the Jewish state.
Hamas launched some 2,000 rockets into Israel since the conflict began, killing 12 Israelis, and the Israeli military has conducted several air strikes in Gaza, killing more than 200 Palestinians, including women and children, according to published reports.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., wrote May 12 on Twitter:
“It’s time for the United States to hold Israel accountable. We cannot stand by as $3.8 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars support Prime Minister Netanyahu’s far-right government and its racist violence every year. Our country must condemn this now, and pressure Israel to start respecting Palestinians’ human rights. Enough is enough.”
Talib, one of two Muslims serving in Congress and of Palestinian descent, confronted Biden during a visit to a Michigan Ford plant Tuesday about his stance on the violence, according to a report by NPR.
“Palestinian human rights are not a bargaining chip and must be protected, not negotiated,” the aide said Tlaib expressed to Biden. “The U.S. cannot continue to give the right-wing [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government billions each year to commit crimes against Palestinians. Atrocities like bombing schools cannot be tolerated, much less conducted with U.S.-supplied weapons.”
The Republican senators also rebuked Biden’s call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, where he called for a stand down of retaliation measures taken by Israel.
“President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu today,” the White House Press Office stated. “The two leaders had a detailed discussion on the state of events in Gaza, Israel’s progress in degrading the capabilities of Hamas and other terrorist elements, and ongoing diplomatic efforts by regional governments and the United States. The president conveyed to the Prime Minister that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire.”
Cruz put the blame on Biden’s administration’s “mistakes.”
“The Biden administration’s mistakes caused this crisis,” Cruz said. “Today, he called Prime Minister Netanyahu, not to say America stands with Israel, not to say, ‘we have your back,’ not to say you have a right to defend yourself against terrorism, but instead a ‘tough call,’ where President Biden condescended and lectured to Prime Minister Netanyahu and urged him to stop defending Israel against the terrorists.”
Source: Newmax
