[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 14, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S3673]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 ISRAEL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I would like to begin my remarks today 
with a quote: The idea that we would cut off military aid to an ally--
our only true, true ally in the entire region--is absolutely 
preposterous. It's just beyond my comprehension why anyone would do 
that.
  Five years ago, then-Candidate Biden was saying the right thing about 
America's commitment to the Jewish State of Israel. Unfortunately, 
today he is doing the complete opposite. The President and his 
administration are withholding critical military assistance from Israel 
as it fights to restore its security against savage terrorists, and 
they are refusing to answer basic questions about it.
  Last week, the Speaker of the House and I sent a letter to the Biden 
administration, pressing for specific details on which weapons were 
being withheld and why they were being withheld. And while we waited 
for an answer, the Secretary of State spent the weekend dodging 
requests for any serious rationale driving the President's decision.
  Now, it is no secret that the administration is under immense 
pressure from the anti-Israel left. It is evident in the words of some 
of our own colleagues. Members of this body have urged the President to 
``be more aggressive with the Israelis.'' They have demanded that ``not 
one penny go to support America's ally unless Israel yields to their 
view of what's acceptable in self-defense.'' And, of course, they have 
even engaged in grotesque political interference, calling for regime 
change in a sovereign democracy.

  The Intelligence Committee is holding a hearing tomorrow about 
foreign interference in our politics and elections, and yet too many of 
our Democratic colleagues can't seem to resist the temptation to put 
their fingers on the electoral scales of other democracies.
  Far too many Washington Democrats have indulged in what I call the 
``Bibi derangement syndrome,'' an absurd trope that is setting a 
dangerous precedent.
  Some of our colleagues talk about an Israeli Government dominated by 
shadowy, far-right forces. That government literally does not exist. 
Israel is led by a coalition, a national unity government. And its war 
cabinet, which includes members of multiple political parties, is 
distinguished by the absence--the absence--of the most conservative 
members of the coalition.
  By all accounts, support for military operations in Gaza and against 
Hezbollah in Lebanon transcends Israeli politics. But here in 
Washington, Democrats want to pretend that what they are objecting to 
is merely the will of a Prime Minister they don't like.
  Some of our most senior Senate colleagues, including the chairman of 
the State Foreign Operations Subcommittee, just this weekend have even 
demonstrated an eagerness to assign political blame within Israel for 
the failure to prevent the October 7 attacks. Well, that will be the 
job of the people of Israel, and it will come after they finish 
restoring their security against the terrorists wearing Israeli and 
American blood.
  But let's make one thing absolutely clear: If the Biden 
administration continues to hector and impede our ally's progress 
toward this goal, a share of the blame for Hamas's success may well 
come to rest right here in Washington. Of course, there is already 
plenty of blame to go around among the Western institutions that have 
fallen into predictable patterns of dangerous, anti-Israel bias in the 
months after October 7, from the media that rushed to fit the deadliest 
attack on Jews since the Holocaust into tidy, artificial narratives of 
moral equivalence and ``cycles of violence'' to the prominent 
international organizations that continue to elevate and legitimize 
outright terror propaganda.
  Just a few days ago, the United Nations finally admitted that the 
figures on Palestinian casualties it had held up for months as 
objective truth had been grossly overstated. As a spokesman put it, 
``In the fog of war, it's difficult to come up with numbers.'' No 
kidding. It is especially difficult to get accurate data when you rely 
exclusively on the word of Hamas.
  Unsurprisingly, just days after announcing its revised numbers, the 
U.N. backtracked yesterday and resumed taking the Hamas-run Ministry of 
Health in Gaza at its word. But remember, the U.N.'s affiliation to 
terrorists isn't limited to data gathering, is it? Employees of the 
U.N.'s relief and work agency, UNRWA, quite literally participated in 
the October 7 attack.
  So why don't we talk about the facts. In the last 9 days, the 
terrorists controlling southern Gaza have attacked a major entry port 
for humanitarian aid from Israel six times--six times. This is not an 
accident. And if terrorists strike the absurdly inefficient and costly 
floating pier, that won't be an accident either.
  The true obstacle to peace and stability for the people of Gaza is 
loudly identifying itself. Hamas is showing us precisely why it can 
play no part in the future of Israelis or Palestinians, and a true ally 
would give Israel the time, space, and support it needs to eliminate 
the terrorist threat.
  But that is not what we have seen from the Commander in Chief. By 
limiting Israel's options, the President is giving the terrorists a 
lifeline. Does the Biden administration really expect Hamas to 
capitulate at a negotiating table when our conditions on Israel help 
terrorists survive on the battleground? And does the President think 
exhausting an arsenal of expensive, low-inventory interceptors is 
changing Iran's broader calculus?
  The lesson from repelling Iran's direct drone and missile attacks on 
Israel or commercial shipping vessels isn't that we can't intercept 
them; the lesson is that we still haven't managed to compel Iran to 
stop doing it and that we ought to be doing much more to rebuild our 
stocks and capacity to produce air and missile defenses as well as the 
long-range weapons that can credibly threaten what Iran and other 
adversaries hold dear.
  This isn't new criticism, and it isn't a new problem. An emboldened 
Iran, an unchecked network of proxies, and brazen violence against 
Israel, America, and the global economy--the President's choices have 
magnified these threats. He has invited them with retreat, with 
hesitation, and with appeasement.
  Today, the United States has effectively allowed itself to be 
deterred by a second-rate terrorist power, and the world is taking 
note. Our credibility is not divisible. Our failure to meet one 
challenge compounds the others we face.
  But the path forward is not a mystery. As I have said repeatedly: 
rebuild our military power, stand with our allies, deter our 
adversaries, and do it today.

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