A few serious friends of Israel in the U.S. congress introduced legislation which will, if passed, offer a reward of up to $5 million for information on or the capture of the terrorists who kidnapped and murdered 16 year old Naftali Frenkel, an Israeli-U.S. citizen, on June 12, 2014.
Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the legislation in the U.S. Senate and Congressmen Doug Lamborn (R-CO-05) and Brad Sherman (D-CA-30) introduced the companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
The measures, known as the Naftali Fraenkel Reward Bill, were introduced on Wednesday, July 9.
Frenkel was kidnapped and murdered along with Israeli teens Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach.
Unlike some representatives of this administration, these members of congress put the blame fully on the terrorists both for the murders of the three Israeli teens, and for the escalation of violence that has led to the current conflict between Gazan terrorists and Israel.
“The Israeli government’s recent action against Hamas is a just and appropriate mission to both bring the terrorists responsible to justice, and to degrade their capability to launch further attacks,” Sen. Cruz said. “No one doubts Israel’s ability to carry out this mission, but given Naftali’s citizenship, I believe the United States should demonstrate our clear support for Israel by offering a reward as we traditionally have in terrorist attacks involving Americans.”
Cruz made a point of noting that Israel’s fight against radical Islamic terrorism is the same fight the U.S. is fighting.
“This support should be understood in the context of our partnership with the nation of Israel in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism, which is our fight as well. I’m proud to work with Congressman Lamborn on this legislation,” Cruz said.
Congressman Lamborn explained the basis for the bill.
‘This bill will require the Secretary of State to use the Rewards for Justice program to offer a five million dollar reward for information that leads to the capture of the terrorists responsible for the death of an American citizen, ensuring that they will never again be allowed to murder innocent teenagers.”
Lamborn also took the opportunity to blast the administration: “The silence from the Obama Administration is truly appalling. Doing nothing in the face of such a heinous action is not an option. That’s why Senator Cruz and I are working on moving this solution forward in a bipartisan manner.”
