SEN STEVE DAINES: A Roadmap For The U.S.-Israel Alliance
I travelled to Israel this past weekend, and with the two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 atrocities approaching, it’s important to remember what happened, reflect on where the conflict stands, and offer suggestions for…
I travelled to Israel this past weekend, and with the two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 atrocities approaching, it’s important to remember what happened, reflect on where the conflict stands, and offer suggestions for where we go from here.
Where We’ve Been
Oct. 7 was the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and murdered 1,200 people from 41 countries, including 39 Americans. They raped women, beheaded men, burned babies alive in ovens and took 255 people hostage, including 12 Americans.
Hamas is funded by the political leadership of Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. Iran’s top priority is to annihilate Israel.
Survivors of the Holocaust and students of history recognize the objectives of these actions are not much different from the Nazi’s in the 1930’s and 1940’s. In short, this is a battle between freedom and terror. To characterize it as anything less is to forfeit all moral clarity.
It’s important to recount these facts because many in the media and the enemies of Israel are trying to whitewash history. In fact, Iran is advancing and financing a propaganda campaign to do just that.
They wish to make people forget that at its core this is a struggle between good and evil.
Where We Are
The soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces have been a model for bravery and courage as they defend their homeland and freedom. It’s important to note that the IDF has soldiers of every faith and political persuasion. Conservatives and liberals, Jews, Christians, Druze, and Muslims fight shoulder to shoulder.
This is the way of the Israelis. And unlike their enemies, they do not target innocent civilians or use hospitals for military headquarters.
To date, Israel has recovered 135 hostages, many in daring raids. It has destroyed the leadership structure of the Hezbollah network, an Iranian proxy, and used explosives in pagers and walkie-talkies to kill Hezbollah fighters. Rooting out the source of extremism and violence, they have killed other enemies in Tehran, Damascus, and Beirut.