[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 46 (Thursday, March 14, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S2378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lujan). The Republican leader is 
recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Jewish State of Israel deserves an 
ally that acts like one. The people of Israel, at home and in 
captivity, deserve America's support; and Israel's unity government and 
security cabinet deserve the deference befitting a sovereign democratic 
country.
  The primary obstacles to peace in Israel's region are genocidal 
terrorists, like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who slaughter 
innocent people and corrupt leaders of the Palestinian Authority, who 
have repeatedly--repeatedly--rejected peace deals from multiple Israeli 
Governments.
  And foreign observers who cannot keep these clear distinctions 
straight ought to refrain from weighing in. It is grotesque and 
hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign 
interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of a 
democratically elected leader of Israel. This is unprecedented. We 
should not treat fellow democracies this way at all.
  Things that upset leftwing activists are not a Prime Minister's 
policies; they are Israel's policies. Make no mistake, the Democratic 
Party doesn't have an anti-Bibi problem; it has an anti-Israel problem. 
Israel is not a colony of America whose leaders serve at the pleasure 
of the party in power in Washington. Only Israel's citizens should have 
a say in who runs their government. This is the very definition of 
democracy and sovereignty. Either we respect their decisions or we 
disrespect their democracy.