[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 14, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3675-S3676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Israel

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, it has been more than 7 months since 
Israel was attacked by an Iranian proxy, known as Hamas, from Gaza. 
Hamas terrorists attacked innocent Israelis on October 7 of last year, 
marking the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Innocent people 
were raped, murdered, and taken hostage, and nearly 130 remain hostage 
in Gaza, including at least 4 American citizens.
  In this conflict, the line between good and evil could not be 
clearer. On one side is America's alley and the lone democracy in the 
Middle East. On the other is a terrorist organization whose greatest 
goal is to simply destroy the Jewish State. Hamas terrorists will do 
whatever it takes to achieve that goal, including using their own 
citizens as human shields. I can only recall back to some of the 
horrific videos that we have seen of what they have done to babies and 
innocent civilians--men, women, and children.
  Despite this, President Biden--and notwithstanding some of his rather 
unequivocal rhetoric--seems confused by whom we should be supporting in 
this conflict. As the war goes on, the President has slowly backed away 
from Israel--first with words and now through action. Last week, he 
threatened to withhold military aid--military aid that had been voted 
for on a broad, bipartisan basis in the Congress and which he had 
actually asked for. He effectively issued an ultimatum to our ally as 
it fights these terrorists: Do what I say or else.
  From the beginning of this war, I have said that Israel's operation 
should not be dictated by anyone but themselves and their national 
security interests. For some reason, President Biden has focused on 
Prime Minister Netanyahu as if he were the sole decisionmaker in Israel 
when, in fact, there is a unity war cabinet that is making those 
decisions, not Prime Minister Netanyahu alone.
  I can only think back to the horrible days after 9/11/2001, a day 
that 3,000 Americans died as a result of a terrorist attack in New York 
and Washington, DC. America's allies knew better than to attempt to 
micromanage our response. Instead, they stood in solidarity with the 
American people and pledged their support as U.S. troops defended our 
country. Israel deserves the same support now that we got 23 years ago, 
but the Biden administration seems confused and of two minds and is 
sending a terrible message to our closest Middle Eastern ally.
  But this is not the first time we have seen the Biden 
administration's growing rift with Israel. Last week, when Hamas 
announced it had accepted the terms of a cease-fire agreement offered 
by Qatar and Egypt, the announcement set off a media frenzy, but it 
quickly became clear there was one glaring problem: Israel had yet to 
see, much less accept, the terms of the proposal. The Israeli 
Government didn't even receive the text of the proposal until an hour 
after Hamas released its statement. Prime Minister Netanyahu described 
the terms as ``far from Israel's necessary requirements.''
  It is no surprise to me that Hamas's leaders went rogue and announced 
a deal before anything had been agreed to, much less seen, but it is 
very deeply concerning that Israel was caught completely off guard, 
especially when reports indicate that the United States had been 
involved in those negotiations, presumably to the exclusion of Israel. 
According to reports from Axios, the Biden administration knew about 
the deal but failed to brief Israel before Monday's surprise 
announcement from Hamas.
  The report says:

       Two Israeli officials said the feeling is that ``Israel got 
     played'' by the U.S. and the mediators who drafted ``a new 
     deal'' and weren't transparent about it.

  Negotiations of this magnitude are understandably extremely delicate, 
but there is no reason the Biden administration should have kept the 
Israeli Government in the dark. Israel is a valued ally, but the Biden 
administration continues to treat it as an untrustworthy antagonist.
  Administration officials have developed a habit of manipulating, 
denigrating, and withholding vital information, and I am extremely 
worried about the impact of this growing rift and what it will mean 
between the strong relationship between our two countries. It is Iran 
which is the principal state sponsor of international terrorism. 
Particularly in the Middle East, that is the evil head of the snake. 
Hamas, of course--like Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and 
the Shia militias in Iraq and Syria--is the means by which they attack 
the United States and its allies, including Israel, and they are bent 
on the destruction of the State of Israel.
  Of course, it is not just President Biden's interactions with Israel; 
it is the way he treats the situation here at home as well. Since 
Hamas's unprovoked attack on Israel, countless Americans have spoken 
out about this conflict. We have seen pro-Israel protests, anti-Israel 
protests, and repeated calls for the violence to end. Of course, we all 
know the First Amendment protects the right of any American to speak 
freely and protest peacefully, and countless Americans have exercised 
that right without incident. But we also know that the Supreme Court 
has said that neutral factors like time, place, and manner in which 
those protests occur are important, and school administrators and other 
officials are completely within their rights to determine the time, 
manner, and place of the exercise of those First Amendment rights.

  In the past few weeks, we have seen an alarming escalation in protest 
tactics, and some of the most concerning examples have taken place on 
college campuses. I have to wonder whether our higher education system 
has simply lost its way. The purpose of our institutions of higher 
learning are just that--to learn. Yes, protesting, diversity of 
opinion, and debate are important parts of learning but not breaking 
the law or breaking the rules of the institution or jeopardizing the 
ability of other students to actually pursue their education.
  At Columbia University, a group of protesters broke into an academic 
building and barricaded its doors. At UCLA, anti-Israel protesters 
physically blocked Jewish students from getting to class. At Yale, a 
Jewish student journalist was attacked by a pro-Hamas mob while 
attempting to film a protest.
  As I said, the First Amendment protects speech. It protects the right 
to protest peacefully. It does not give anyone the freedom to riot, to 
destroy, to threaten, or to carry out acts of violence against others. 
It certainly doesn't protect the right to attack someone based on their 
religion.
  This situation has become so volatile and so dangerous that two major 
universities canceled their graduation ceremonies. Can you imagine, 
after living through the pandemic, where classes were canceled and put 
online and where students were prohibited the privilege of attending 
their own graduation exercises to now having, because of these violent, 
destructive protests, their graduations canceled? Columbia and the 
University of Southern California called off their main commencement 
ceremonies due to security concerns. It is important to note that the 
college class of 2024 was also the high school class of 2020. Many of 
these students didn't have high school graduation ceremonies because of 
the pandemic, and now they have been denied an opportunity to graduate 
in a public ceremony from their colleges or universities.
  Despite the escalation of violence and anti-Semitic rhetoric in 
recent weeks, President Biden has failed to demonstrate much needed 
leadership. Every statement he has made on this topic has been paired 
with some sort of equivocation, with some sort of expression of moral 
equivalency to what Israel is doing and what Hamas is doing.
  As an example, a few weeks ago, the President said, ``I condemn the 
anti-Semitic protests,'' but then quickly noted, ``I also condemn those 
who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians.''
  He equated anti-Semitism with ignorance, seemingly suggesting that 
attacking Jewish people was just as bad as ignoring the news. But there 
can be no equivocation. Anti-Semitism is

[[Page S3676]]

wrong. Violent riots are wrong. Attempts to occupy college campuses, 
destroy property, break university rules, and interfere with the 
educations of your fellow students is wrong.
  It is no surprise that the President was met with serious criticism 
and that his communications team seemed to shift to a new approach--
this time, silence, radio silence. As rioters occupied a building on 
Columbia's campus and Jewish students endured threats, the President of 
the United States was eerily silent. It wasn't until a couple of weeks 
ago that he unequivocally condemned the threats against Jewish 
students. I am glad he finally came around to his senses, but he hardly 
deserves credit for reaching the obvious conclusion after so much 
damage has already been done.
  The war initiated by Hamas against Israel last October 7 has exposed 
a startling lack of leadership from the Commander in Chief. The 
President is withholding military aid to our closest ally in the Middle 
East. He and his lieutenants have created fractures in the historically 
strong relationship between the United States and Israel. They have 
failed to show resolve when it comes to quashing anti-Semitism on 
college campuses, and intentionally or not, they have allowed violent 
protests to terrorize college campuses.
  Over and over again, the Biden administration's response to the war 
between Israel and Hamas has fallen short. Again, there is no 
equivalency. There is no on one hand it is Israel and on the other hand 
it is Hamas. This is a conflict not only between Hamas and Israel--the 
proxy of Iran--but also between good and evil. We know President Biden 
is in campaign mode 6 months now before the election, but he cannot 
turn on one of his closest allies in an attempt to appeal to the most 
radical elements in his political party.
  The fate of Israel--its existence--is at stake here. The safety of 
the Jewish people in America is at stake. The President needs to treat 
this issue with the seriousness and the clarity that it demands.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Nevada.