[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 98 (Tuesday, June 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4005-S4006]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Israel

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on Saturday, in a daring daytime raid, 
Israel rescued four innocent hostages who had suffered in Hamas 
captivity since October 7. The mission was the product of careful 
planning. It demanded the utmost secrecy, professionalism, and bravery. 
In the case of one elite commander, it required the ultimate sacrifice.
  The people of Israel can take pride in their Nation's dedication to 
restoring its security and delivering justice for the brutal attacks 
that shattered a quiet Sabbath morning last fall.
  Of course, the same operation also exposed even further the 
tremendous obstacle that continues to threaten Israel's sovereignty and 
block the prospect of peace for both Israelis and Palestinians. It 
brought into focus the appalling lengths to which hardened terrorists 
will go to sow chaos and exploit innocent suffering, and it raised 
uncomfortable questions about the broader complicity of some 
Palestinian civilians.
  With the help of U.S. intelligence, the Israeli forces' mission led 
them not to the depths of Hamas terror tunnels but to the heart of a 
refugee camp run by the United Nations and to the family home of a 
Hamas terrorist who self-identified as a journalist.
  So the brutal exploitation of civilians is a well-documented tactic 
in Hamas's playbook. These are, after all, the terrorists who 
repeatedly deploy their weapons and combatants in or beneath schools, 
hospitals, and mosques in order to use civilians as human shields. The 
detention of Israeli hostages in family homes is a predictable 
extension of this despicable practice, and every drop of blood spilt 
this weekend is the responsibility of the party that violated a cease-
fire, launched a barbaric attack, took innocent hostages, and has 
refused calls from around the world to release them.
  These are the basic facts, but predictably, they are not what we read 
over the weekend in the coverage of Western media. Instead of outrage 
that a Hamas terrorist would exploit their profession as a cover for 
hostage-keeping, major publications have directed their indignation at 
Israel for seeing through the

[[Page S4006]]

terrorists' flimsy cover as doctors and journalists and daring to bring 
its people home.
  One major national newspaper's initial coverage of the raid made no 
mention of the fact that Hamas had chosen to hide its hostages in 
private homes. Just days after publishing its own analysis of the bogus 
casualty reporting of the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, another 
outlet reverted to breathlessly parroting the terrorist group's own 
death toll propaganda in the headlines of its coverage on the hostage 
rescue. And to the surprise of absolutely no one, the U.N.'s so-called 
Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights shamelessly accused 
Israel of using hostages to legitimize killing innocent civilians.
  If this--if this--is the media diet the American people have to 
consume, then what came next should surprise no one.
  In New York, masked protesters waving Hezbollah flags jeered at 
visitors to an exhibit honoring the victims of the October 7 attack on 
the music festival from which the hostages freed this weekend were 
abducted. Predictably, news broadcasts characterized the protesters, 
who chanted ``Long live the intifada'' and ``Israel, go to hell,'' were 
merely pro-Palestinian, not anti-Israel.
  Meanwhile, unhinged throngs of Hamas apologists occupied Lafayette 
Square, outside the White House, defacing statues, attacking law 
enforcement, and chanting disgusting anti-Semitic slurs--a generation 
of useful idiots and fifth columnists adrift on a sea of performative 
sympathy for terrorists and beyond the reach of fact or reality. Lest 
anyone doubt, this contagion is not confined to so-called elite 
universities.
  Americans who are rightly worried about crime and violence may wonder 
why on Earth the President would permit this lawlessness on Federal 
property, let alone the park outside the White House, or why no arrests 
were made. They especially ought to wonder why the Biden administration 
chose this moment, as the people of Israel celebrated a small but 
precious victory in securing the freedom of four of its citizens, to 
try to box Israel in with a stunt--a stunt--vote at the U.N. and why 
the White House so desperately wants to constrain our ally's freedom of 
movement and to micromanage its military.
  This weekend's developments may feel like a significant inflection 
point, but the fundamental realities of this situation have not 
changed. Israel has a right to defend itself. Terrorists have no right 
to take innocent hostages, and they alone--they alone--bear 
responsibility for the consequences of their actions.