-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, the eyes of the world are watching to see how we react to the terrorist attack Israel has suffered. Days after Hamas launched a horrific assault, kidnapping nearly 200, killing over 1,000, and injuring thousands more, the world is watching with bated breath.

Scenes of Hamas's evil are seared into our collective conscience. The images are indelible: Israelis slaughtered by marauding thugs, concertgoers shot in the back in broad daylight, people butchered, women raped, even infants murdered in cold blood. The barbaric atrocities are an affront to humankind itself. In the face of unspeakable evil, we must not mince words. We must not waiver in our resolve. Every single one of us in this Chamber has a moral responsibility to speak out unequivocally and unapologetically as we stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel and her people.

Now, I have been staunchly devoted to this cause for 31 years in Congress. Why? Because the bond between our nations is sacrosanct. In 1948, the United States was the first Nation to recognize Israel, a mere 11 minutes after it declared independence. Our two nations-- intrinsically linked--were founded on similar principles, among them, justice, equal rights, freedom of religion, and the respect for the rule of law.

Over the years, both nations have been shaped by individuals seeking refuge from tyranny and oppression. Both nations have pursued truth and knowledge in an open society, unleashing innovation and creating untold prosperity for millions across the world.

But beyond this common cause, the United States-Israel relationship has stood the test of time because of three fundamental facts: One, the United States is strong when Israel is strong; two, the Jewish people deserve to live in peace and security in the indisputable land of their ancestors going back to the times of Abraham and Sarah; and, three, Israel has the right to defend herself from the existential threats that surround it.

This last point deserves special attention, especially as some seek to equate the two sides in this conflict. To me, adherents of this view could not be more mistaken. There is no moral equivalency. We cannot ``both sides'' the Israeli-Hamas conflict, not when one is a sovereign democracy that guarantees freedom of religion and the other is a designated terrorist group hell-bent on killing Jews and destroying the Israeli people.

We cannot ``both sides'' the conflict when, for decades, one has shouldered the heavy costs of war, terrorism, and unjustified boycotts and the other has diverted humanitarian aid towards weapons designed to kill as many as possible. We cannot ``both sides'' the conflict in light of the steps taken by Israel to limit civilian casualties. No nation but Israel actively takes steps to warn of impending attacks. None. No other nation drops leaflets and makes phone calls to alert residents that they may be in danger's way. Only Israel waits to begin its military offensive, even when it means losing the element of surprise and putting it at a tactical disadvantage.

Compare that to the barbaric steps taken by Hamas. When Israel voluntarily and unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, did Hamas moderate its actions? Did it take the opportunity to build peace and create prosperity for the Palestinian people? No.

Instead, it instigated war, and it continued to terrorize and kill Israelis. It fired tens of thousands of rockets into population centers, indiscriminately raining terror down on families while they slept, children while they walked to school, or congregants while they gathered to pray. Not only did it brazenly commit these war crimes, it did so while using its own residents as human shields. That is right. Across the Gaza Strip, Hamas co-opted Palestinian homes, schools, and mosques to carry out attacks on their Israeli counterparts.

So to those who seek moral equivalence between the two sides, I ask you: Who fires rockets out of someone's home? Hamas. Who uses schools and hospitals as launching sites for deadly missiles? Hamas. Who uses mosques as weapons depots? Hamas. Moreover, who denies food, water, fuel, and shelter to civilians in order to better its fighters? Hamas. Who denies Palestinians the right to leave northern Gaza, trapping them to use them as human shields? Hamas.

We must recognize, of course, that not all Palestinians are part of Hamas and that many residents in Gaza are trapped in a cycle of violence that is nothing of their doing. But I will say it again: Hamas is not a legitimate political entity. It does not have a mandate to govern the people of Gaza. It is a terrorist organization guided by religious fanaticism. Full stop.

In the past, when Israel has opened up economic opportunities for Palestinians in Gaza, Hamas used the good will of Israel to lull Israel into a false sense of security. In this way, the Gazan people's thirst for freedom and prosperity has been supplanted by Hamas's thirst for vengeance and destruction. And after misleading Israel into thinking that it cared about the economic well-being of Palestinians instead of its stated mission of killing Jews, Hamas bought itself time to train and prepare for one of the most heinous terrorist attacks in Israel's history.

So make no mistake. The difference between Israel and Hamas is the difference between a civilized society and barbarism. If there is suffering to be found in Gaza, it is a direct result of Hamas's actions. Hamas does not care if innocent Israeli families are forced to suffer, and it does not care if Palestinians go without food, shelter, or electricity. It only cares about sowing chaos and fomenting violence in pursuit of its stated goal: the destruction of the State of Israel.

And by refusing to accept Israel's right to exist, putting it at odds with Arab countries who have joined the Abraham Accords and Palestinian authority for that fact in the West Bank, Hamas has revealed its true colors. For the sake of Israel, for the sake of the Palestinian people, Hamas must be eradicated from the face of the earth.

On October 7, it launched a brutal first salvo, an operation that clearly--in my mind--has Iran's fingerprints on it because of the capabilities Hamas alone does not have: intelligence and technological factors. Only a state actor would have that.

And the only state actor willing to assist Hamas with that is Iran. Now, perhaps Hamas launched its attack in the belief that others would join a multifront war to eliminate Israel. Perhaps it saw the writing on the wall with the recent Abraham Accords and talks of Israeli-Saudi normalization, or perhaps it sought to turn public sentiment against Israel with a race to the bottom, boosting its own image among the rogues' gallery of anti-Israel regimes.

But regardless of why Hamas carried out its attack, today, in this Chamber, let us expose Hamas for what it is. Let us reject the trap that they have tried to set and stand with our ally Israel in the wake of abhorrent attacks. Let us recommit to the principles we share with Israel as we support her in her hour of need. Let us call out Holocaust deniers who deny Israel's legitimacy. Let us promote the honest truth about Israel's contributions and call out anti-Semitism wherever it is found. And let us also root out the poisonous ideology of Islamophobia that recently claimed the life here in the United States of a 6-year- old Palestinian-American boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume.

And, above all, let us do the work we were elected to do, passing a bipartisan funding package to replenish the Iron Dome--something that, in the past, I have led on--and swiftly confirming a nominee to be our Ambassador to Israel. This is not a moment to hesitate. This is a clarion call.

As we prepare to take votes in support of our ally's struggle against terrorism, I can't help but think back to my very first visit to Israel over three decades ago. It is a trip I will never forget, especially the helicopter ride that crossed the narrowest part of Israel in only 3 minutes. In 3 minutes, we traversed a piece of land of such significant history where so many residents, with their backs to the sea, are surrounded by unfriendly neighbors.

As I crisscrossed the country from the Negev Desert to Jerusalem to the Galilee, I was immensely moved, not just by the people who made the desert green, but by the holy sites that ground my faith as a Christian. I freely visited these sites--as so many others have over the years--because Israel's jurisdiction ultimately opened them up to all. It is a freedom to worship that isn't guaranteed everywhere.

Mr. President, to me, this conflict boils down to the fundamental idea of freedom. Will we accept a world where militants with rockets and weapons can dictate the future? Or will we send them to the dustbin of history?

Will we stand up to terrorists and be there for our staunchest ally when they are in need? Freedom-loving people, freedom-loving nations, must answer this call and meet the moment at hand. Israel is the one place in the world--the one place--where anti-Semitism can be structurally impossible. It is the field of hope on which fear can be vanquished, the island of refuge that can stand firm no matter how stormy the sea of history turns, and that is why we must always keep it safe and always keep it free.

May we find the courage and the political will to do so quickly in the days ahead.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source