[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 59 (Monday, April 8, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2635-S2636]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Israel

  Mr. WICKER. Madam President, in 1948, President Truman recognized the 
State of Israel on behalf of the United States. He clearly called for 
the world ``to accord the State of Israel the right of self-defense.''
  In the decades since, American leaders have stood by Israel. Our 
support has been reliable, spanning Presidential administrations and 
congressional terms. It has been bipartisan. President Eisenhower 
continued President Truman's promise to stand with Israel, establishing 
a bipartisan tradition cemented by Presidents from Kennedy to Reagan, 
from Clinton to Trump.
  In America, voters regularly select new parties to lead our country. 
Administrations come and go. Congresses come and go. That volatility 
makes it all the more profound that we have always kept our solemn 
promise to stand with our allies.
  It has now been 75 years since President Truman made this vow. For 
those many decades, Israel's position has always been and will be to 
live peacefully in its ancestral land alongside its Arab and largely 
Muslim neighbors.
  Slowly, often grudgingly, other nations in that region have come 
around to that position.
  Egypt agreed to peace with Israel in 1979. Jordan has been a longtime 
U.S. partner and has lived in peace with Israel since 1994. Recently, 
the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to partnership with Israel 
in the Abraham Accords.

[[Page S2636]]

  One regime that has continually rejected the international consensus 
about Israel is the Islamic Republic of Iran. Three decades into the 
21st century, Iran and its proxies continue to pursue Israel's absolute 
annihilation. Coexistence has never been the policy of Iran or its 
terrorist proxy group Hamas.
  Disturbingly, we find adherents of that view here at home. Last week 
in Michigan, protesters chanted ``Death to Israel'' and ``Death to 
America,'' rejecting either country's right to even exist. This is one 
example of the rise of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incidents we have 
seen since October 7. They show us what our Jewish friends and allies 
fight against every day.
  Of course, the protests and chants remind us of a pivotal event. 
Yesterday, we marked the 6-month anniversary of the October 7 attacks. 
Hamas, backed by Iran, demonstrated both its goal--the annihilation of 
Israel--and its strategy--the murder and hostage-taking of civilians.
  October 7 was one of the worst attacks on the Jewish people since the 
Holocaust. It was a nightmare scenario that eight decades of Israeli 
citizens have had to guard against. In light of those atrocities, our 
task is clear: We need to reaffirm Israel's right to self-defense.
  Since October 7, Hamas has continued to pursue its goal by the same 
strategies. It single-mindedly seeks to wipe Israel off the map and 
does not care how many innocent people are lost on the way, how many 
families are burned alive. Hamas's entire operation is a violation of 
international law. By contrast, Israel has essentially been striving to 
administer civilian aid while uprooting terrorists who hide behind 
those civilians--all in dense urban settings.
  International friends and allies can and should give advice and 
counsel to each other on issues of mutual security and diplomacy. That 
has always been the practice between Israel and the United States. On 
the other hand, it is wrong to make demands of an ally and to suggest 
that vital aid to them will be withheld unless those demands are met. 
This is especially true when those conditions are ones which we 
ourselves could never accept.
  War is always a tragedy. On top of that, it also carries accidental 
sorrows in its wake. The killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid 
workers was an avoidable and unmitigated tragedy. Our hearts break for 
their loved ones, their colleagues, and others delivering humanitarian 
assistance around the world.
  And this is personal to me. Teams from World Central Kitchen have 
come to the aid of my State of Mississippi. World Central Kitchen was 
there on the ground during the recent Jackson water crisis. They 
answered the call in the wake of the 2023 tornadoes. I am an advocate 
and friend of Jose Andres. I have worn the ``World Central Kitchen'' 
cap in Poland when I spent time serving meals to refugees from the 
brutal Russian invasion.
  I believe that Israel takes the workers' deaths seriously too. The 
Israeli Defense Forces assumed responsibility right away. Its leaders 
promptly launched an investigation. Since then, the Israeli Government 
has said that the military committed ``serious violations'' of 
protocol. They have admitted this about themselves. They fired two 
officers and disciplined three others for mishandling information and 
breaking the Israeli Defense Forces' rules of engagement.
  That is more than the Biden administration can say about themselves. 
In the chaos of our disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, our military 
shelled a car in Kabul. Leaders initially feared the vehicle carried 
explosives destined for American servicemembers, but it turned out to 
be a civilian vehicle, and 10 innocent people, including 7 children, 
died at our hands. The Biden administration took far longer than Israel 
to own up to that mistake. I am glad our country did eventually 
acknowledge our fault.
  This shows that the free world holds ourselves to exacting standards 
of care for the innocent caught in harm's way--including the thousands 
who have died in Gaza since October 7.
  Time and again, Israeli combatants have published warnings before 
taking a building. They regularly give evacuation notices to civilians. 
In so protecting the innocent, they risk giving the enemy a heads-up, 
but they do this. Yet it has become fashionable to hold Israel to 
unachievable standards, benchmarks to which we do not hold ourselves or 
any other ally.
  Hamas does not place itself under such handicaps. This Iranian proxy, 
Hamas, has no regard for the standards of civilian protection. For one 
of many examples, look no further than the hostages taken October 7 and 
their often brutal treatment.
  Unfortunately, our President's recent call for a cease-fire plays 
directly into Hamas's hands. Our Commander in Chief's priority should 
be the release of hostages and victory for our ally. But instead of 
displaying American resolve, our President seems to be mollifying the 
left wing of his party.
  Calling for a cease-fire instead of hostage release and unconditional 
victory creates a false equivalence between Israel and Hamas. After 
Pearl Harbor, no one asked us about a cease-fire. After 9/11, no one 
asked the United States about a cease-fire.
  We need to remember that Israel is fighting terrorists bent only on 
the destruction of the Jewish State. Hamas's leadership has vowed to 
commit repeats of the October 7 massacres. If this terrorist group is 
not totally eradicated, it will continue killing and kidnapping.
  To paraphrase former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, if Hamas put 
down their weapons today, there would be no more violence; if Israel 
put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.
  Hamas started this conflict, and they could end it today. Hamas could 
let hostages walk out of the tunnels and into the sunshine. Its 
militants could stop using women and children and aid workers and 
healthcare workers as human shields.
  We need to give our steadfast ally what it needs to win this battle. 
Victory has to be our position.
  I believe we should keep our promises to our friends. Our Commander 
in Chief threatens to break that promise to Israel today.
  The President's call for an immediate cease-fire is tantamount to a 
call for Hamas to remain in business, to reestablish itself for future 
atrocities. That is not something Israel will allow--nor should they--
and it is not something we should ask of Israel or any other partner or 
ally.
  A world in which a terrorist organization can win by committing mass 
murder is a more dangerous world for us all. The allies who have stood 
by us for 7\1/2\ decades and who stood by us after 9/11 understood that 
then, and we should not forget that now.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Butler). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.