Israel Needs America’s Full Support, Not the Biden Administration’s Wobbling

T hroughout my public career, I have traveled to cities and towns ravaged by wars, hurricanes, and natural disasters. But nothing could have prepared me for what I saw recently on the streets of communities in southern Israel still reeling after the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. I have seen tragedy up close, but I had never seen this. This was not the aftermath of war — this was the aftermath of evil. In all my travels, I have never experienced a greater combination of grief and anger than I felt that day.

In Kfar Aza, a small kibbutz ravaged by Hamas terrorists, I spoke to a father who saved his family from certain death by physically holding the door of their safe house shut to stop terrorists from breaking in. I heard from a mother who could only listen helplessly on the phone as her daughter was kidnapped and taken hostage. I walked into bullet-ridden homes with blood-stained walls and heard tales of unspeakable acts of violence committed against men, women, and children of every age.

What became clear to me is that October 7 was more than just a terrorist attack — it was a terrorist invasion. Its purpose was not only to slaughter thousands of innocent Jews, but ultimately, to end the Jewish state forever.

Few people realize that on October 7, Hamas simultaneously breached Israel’s border wall at 90 different locations, with some 3,000 terrorists moving in three waves coordinated with military precision. In private briefings, leaders in Israel told me that the terrorists had sufficient weapons and supplies to march all the way to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, splitting the country in half. And they might well have succeeded, were it not for the heroic efforts of local police, IDF forces, and courageous citizens.

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, no one second-guessed America’s right to respond to Japanese military aggression. No one demanded that the United States place a time limit on achieving her military goals. Instead, the whole world recognized Japan’s attack for what it was and understood that a massive military response by the United States was completely justified.

The same should apply to Israel’s justified war in Gaza. I grieve the loss of innocent human life, but our ally now has no choice but to hunt down and destroy Hamas, once and for all. After Hamas terrorists’ unprovoked attack, which claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Jews, every civilian casualty in Gaza should be considered a casualty of Hamas. There should be no time limit on Israel’s response — the war should end when her military goals are achieved, and not a moment sooner.

Predictably, the Biden administration is signaling the opposite approach — kowtowing to left-wing opinion rather than standing unambiguously with our ally, Israel. The president continues to drone on and on about the pipe dream of a two-state solution, as if any peaceful family should have to tolerate living next door to a serial killer. President Biden even told a group of pro-Palestinian protesters, “I’ve been quietly working with the Israeli government to significantly get out of Gaza.”

There has never been a more important time for the world to know that America stands with Israel, without hesitation or apology. Instead of demanding arbitrary limitations on Israel’s military response, America should fully support Israel’s effort to eradicate Hamas in the south and secure her border against Hezbollah in the north. Most importantly, our president should make it clear that Iran will pay a steep price if it continues to attempt to escalate the violence through its proxies in Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, and elsewhere.

When I visited IDF troops at Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, an IDF officer told me that as he left his family on October 7, his wife told him sternly: “Do not come home until it is done.” For the sake of justice, peace, and the long-term stability of the Middle East, the Jewish state must have the support to finish the job and end the threat posed by Hamas, Hezbollah, and their handlers in Iran once and for all. America must stand with Israel, and Israel must prevail.