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On the Issues: Israel and the Middle East

Since 1948, the United States and Israel have shared an unbreakable bond, solidified by our common democratic values and desire to bring security to the Middle East. I have joined with my colleagues in Congress in consistently supporting foreign aid to Israel and protected Israel's right to security and self-defense.

I am pleased that President Barack Obama has made it a priority to help advance a two-state solution in the Middle East, where the Palestinian right of return is rejected, and Israel's right to exist is affirmed. During President Obama's June 2009 speech in Cairo, Egypt, he spoke direclty and honestly to the Arab world about the fact America's bond with Israel is unbreakable and that we hold Israel's security as sacrosanct. I commend the President for calling on all parties - the Israelis, the Palestinians, the United States, and the greater Arab world to fulfill its obligations in regards to the "road map for peace."

Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have staunchly advocated for numerous Congressional initiatives that hold Israel's right to self-defense in the highest regard and that ensure our nation's unwavering support for Israel. To this end, following an Israeli airstrike on a Syrian nuclear facility in September 2007, I introduced a resolution expressing the support of the House of Representatives for Israel’s right to self defense in the face of an imminent nuclear or military threat from Syria.

In the aftermath of the horrific attacks against Israel perpetrated by Hezbollah in 2006, I remain deeply concerned about Israel's security and condemn Palestinian rocket attacks launched by Hamas and other extremists from Gaza.  Recently I have joined with my colleagues in Congress in co-sponsoring a resolution condemning the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians in Sderot. It is critical that Congress and the American people stand firmly with Israel and state clearly that Israelis have an unequivocal right to respond to these heinous rocket attacks.  

In May 2007, I also led a bipartisan trip to Israel with Florida Governor Charlie Crist, where I reaffirmed my commitment to Israel's security and its right to self-defense, and assured the Israeli government that America stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel in its ongoing, fifty-nine year struggle for security and peace.  Also, in the 109th Congress, I supported the passage of House Resolution 921, which reaffirmed the steadfast support of the United States for the State of Israel and condemned Hamas and Hezbollah for engaging in unprovoked armed attacks. Israel continues to be victimized by attacks on its sovereign land, and the international community must now act to disarm Hezbollah and eradicate this burgeoning threat.

In this vein, as Chairman of the Europe Subcommittee, I have taken the lead in writing several letters to European Union (EU) High Representative Solana, as well as French President Nicolas Sarkozy, calling on them to add Hezbollah to its terrorist list. In June 2007, I chaired a Europe Subcommittee hearing calling on the EU to add Hezbollah to the terrorist list. Such action on the part of the EU would effectively cripple European funding of Hezbollah, and send a strong message that Europe will no longer tolerate its insidious agenda of terrorizing Israel and destabilizing the Middle East. These letters sent a strong message to the EU that Hezbollah is not an American or Israeli problem alone but remains a global threat. Hezbollah has also targeted U.S. and European interests throughout the world, and Europe must now exhaust all efforts to combat Hezbollah’s growing international reach.

I am also deeply disturbed by the continued threat of Iran as well as the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements made by President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad of Iran. His unconscionable words and actions culminated in a Holocaust denial conference that took place late 2006 in Tehran.  In this vein, I recently cosponsored a congressional resolution, calling on the U.N. Security Council to charge Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as well as the United Nations Charter.  This resolution condemns Ahmadinejad’s offensive remarks and reprehensible policies aimed at the destruction of the State of Israel, and the steadfast commitment of the United States to defend the right of Israel to exist as a free and democratic state.  This resolution passed unanimously in the House of Representatives on January 9, 2007.

As a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, I will continue to be an advocate for the unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel.  As Israel's strongest ally and friend, the United States must continue to support Israel’s right to self defense.