President Joe Biden has shown Americans that he is more willing to pander to his own anti-Semitic base than to support Israel, America’s greatest ally and the only democracy in the Middle East.
One of his first acts was to revive the failed Iran deal, which he has continued to give the green light to since. Billions of dollars to ease sanctions on Iran, The world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. His pandering is also visible in our cities and university campuses, where extremists are violently rallying in support of Hamas and the extermination of Jews. This cancer has taken over the Democratic Party and sparked violence against the Jewish community.
President Biden has made it clear by his decision that the American people cannot trust his administration. I never am. That’s why I’m very concerned that the Biden administration will use this aid package as leverage against Israel without proper safeguards in place.
On October 7, Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists burned people alive in their homes. raped woman and young girl He then killed the parents in front of the children. They brutally murdered 1,200 innocent Israelis, including Americans, and are still holding eight Americans and hostages 200 days after the attack. There are over 100 other innocent people in Gaza..I was in Israel Earlier this month, I made my sixth Jewish visit to the state while serving as Florida’s governor and now as a U.S. senator, where I have spearheaded support for Israel.
I voted for support for Israel on this bill, but it died in the Senate with all Democrats voting against it. For years, I have voted for significant funding for Iron Dome, David Thring, and other critical military assets to protect Israel from Iranian-backed terrorism.I am leading Block taxpayer funding of Hamas legislationThis is to ensure that aid is conditioned on the release of the hostages and that not a single dollar of American tax money will be sent to Gaza unless the president certifies that it will not end up in the hands of Hamas terrorists.
Senate Democrats have blocked this bill from consideration and passage in the Senate three times, including when I tried. include This was included in the foreign aid supplementary bill passed by the Senate in February. And just this week, Senate Democrats once again refused to vote on this very simple amendment.
That means the bill still includes billions of dollars in aid known to go directly to Hamas and does not ensure the release of the hostages, including eight Americans. That is unacceptable, and while I can tolerate policy disagreements, I cannot and will not support providing aid to terrorists who continue to kill and hold American citizens hostage.
President Biden is ceding the party to pro-Hamas extremists. While these anti-Israel mobs are calling for the destruction of Israel and threatening Jewish Americans, Biden is more concerned with winning in places like Michigan than confronting violent anti-Semitism. As a result, they are doubling down on their criticism of Israel for fear of angering extremists within their bases. .In Iran, they cry “Death to America”, but now it’s the Democratic Party Activists in Michigan are chanting this. and new york city. At this point, Biden administration considers sanctions on Israel Defense ForcesAnd just a few weeks ago, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York was on the Senate floor. call for regime change in Israel, a free and democratic ally of the United States. The civil war within the Democratic Party over Israel is completely out of control. By continually weakening Israel, the Democratic Party is at the mercy of Iran and Hamas through radical anti-Semitic political activists.
From its first day in office, the Biden administration has stepped up its appeasement policy toward Iran, providing billions of dollars in freebies to fuel Iranian support for terrorism and turn its back on Israel. While it is critically important to continue funding Israel’s defense efforts, as I have fought for for years, President Biden has made this a radical move to appease anti-Semites within his party. It will be used as necessary leverage to advance its anti-Israel foreign policy. .
We understand that providing aid to Israel is urgent, but there are no safeguards in place to ensure money does not flow to Hamas, or guarantees that Biden is not “bound.” Without it, this aid will not protect Israel from being forced into an unacceptable compromise with Biden. regime at war.
In Washington, compromise means no one has to make difficult choices because everyone gets what they want. The bill introduced in the Senate today is a perfect example of this broken way of doing business that has become commonplace in Washington. If we were given the opportunity to vote independently on these issues, as the House of Representatives is, I would do what I have done many times: put in place strong safeguards prohibiting aid to Hamas and aid to Israel. will vote to uphold — all blocked by Democrats before this vote.
I would vote to ban TikTok unless we see a complete withdrawal from TikTok by entities controlled by Communist China. I vote to sanction Iran’s evil regime. I would vote to support aid to Taiwan to help it avoid the threat of Chinese invasion.and i vote for it REPO methodThis bill flies in the face of the fact that this bill would allow President Biden to send billions of American taxpayer dollars to Ukraine in unaccountable aid. Billions of dollars to pay salaries of Ukrainian politicians.
Some politicians will claim that the bill introduced in the Senate today is a silver bullet to restore order and protect democracy around the world, but we know that is not true. Most bills contain some good policy. This is no different. But I am not willing to turn a blind eye and vote for policies that in many ways will prolong the suffering that Biden’s weakness and appeasement are causing every day to the American people and to our friends and allies around the world. will not separate.
Rick Scott represents Florida in the U.S. Senate. He is a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee and the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and is a former Governor of Florida.
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