Rep. Calvert Statement on Attack on Israel

Rep. Calvert issued the following statement on the Hamas attack on Israel:

"This weekend we saw atrocities and crimes committed against innocent Israeli people in an unprovoked attack by the terrorist organization Hamas.  Right now, Israel is reeling from the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. I can only imagine the impact of the scenes of women and children being taken, and slaughtered, for Jewish people around the world.  There are moments when evil shows its face and what we saw these past few days was the absolute face of evil. 

As Israel rightfully conducts the war against Hamas and defends its homeland and people, it is important that they know their American friends stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them in what may be a prolonged and difficult war.  When Israel handed over Gaza in 2005 the Palestinian people had a choice: build a society, begin a delicate but peaceful relationship with their neighbors, and move forward into a brighter future or they could continue the hostility.  They chose to elect Hamas as their government and invest in rockets, missiles and terrorist training.  Whenever Israel has extended its hand in peace to its neighbors, it has been slapped away with violence. 

Now a new age has begun where Israel has no choice but to eradicate Hamas, which has proved every bit as brutal as ISIS, from Gaza.  We also cannot divorce Hamas from its benefactor, Iran.  There is no doubt that Iran, seeking to disrupt the normalization of relations between Israel and several of its Arab neighbors, has had a strong hand in this attack.  We need to fully understand their culpability in this and further ostracize Iran from the world.

The United States must take proactive steps to:

• Give Israel the space and time they need to respond to this horrendous attack;

• Evacuate and rescue any U.S. citizens in Israel or Gaza;

• Provide the necessary munitions and military support to Israel;

• Ensure other outside actors, such as Hezbollah, stand down by having a U.S. presence in the Mediterranean; 

• Secure our own border, in which terrorists have been caught, and increase interior enforcement;

• Claw back the $6B in frozen money to Iran;

• Re-evaluate our relationship with the Palestinian Authority;

• Protect our own Jewish population from antisemitic attacks.

When our country was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, Israel did not hesitate to offer support and solidarity.  Today, in Jerusalem, there is a memorial to 9/11 that is the only memorial outside the U.S. that bears the name of all those who perished.  True friendship is not demonstrated only in the good times but in those darkest hours in which it may be hardest to see the light.  Israel is a beacon of hope, democracy and liberty in the Middle East and our shared values bind us in a friendship and partnership that will endure and will light the way forward. 

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