Congressman Hakeem Jeffreys (D-NY) opened by saying that he represents more Russian-speaking Jews than any other Member of Congress in the country. “Israel is a wonderful country with a great cosmopolitan culture … In the 2008 rocket assaults, I had the chance to spend time in Sderot and Ashkelon, and my colleagues and I experienced first-hand the count-down to a missile hit … I had meaningful conversations with a high-ranking member of the Israeli Foreign Ministry who told me that ‘Hakeem, we live in a tough neighborhood.’ It was such a simple and elegant and comprehensive statement of what the great state of Israel confronts … We must do everything we can to stand up for our ally, Israel, for their defense, their qualitative military advantage. We must stop Iran from its nuclear aspirations. I will do whatever I can do to see that happens, whatever I can to see that strategically vital relationship with Israel continues.”
Louie Gohmert (R-TX) addressed the scope of the Iranian nuclear threat, observing that the Iranian regime would soon “have enough material to make several [nuclear bombs] before they make even one … Then they can immediately disperse them and then no one can be sure they’ll get them all in an attack – and then they can strike Israel.” Regarding the frigidity of the Obama Administration towards Israel, he said, “If you study history, one thing becomes clear – When a regime like Iran sees their strongest enemy holding Israel at a distance, its provocative. This emboldened for example the Turks to send the Gaza flotilla … There are dangers and consequences of putting daylight between ourselves and Israel … I’d vote to give $3 billion, $6 billion, $9 billion or $12 billion to Israel … More sanctions are worthless, Iran breathes a sigh of relief when we promote new sanctions. It sends a message to them that we’re not going to use military action against them”
Trent Franks (R-AZ): “A lot of people talk of how important the U.S. is to Israel but can I tell you how Israel is important to the U.S. … There have been some wonderful things; the amazing progress on Iron Dome has put a new face on missile defense. I worked very hard to make sure we have continued support for the Arrow-3 missile. Everybody knows how important that is to Israel. Some wanted to just replace the system. I said no, we made a promise to Israel to assist them to make their own system, one of the premier missile systems in the world. I was in Israel in October last year for two weeks, met with a lot of the defense people, Israeli Aerospace people. We are already in discussions to see the Israeli improvements that have been made to the American Arrow 3s … I truly believe that as long as America stands with Israel it will be important to the peace and security of the world … It is also very important to restrict Palestinian Authority funding based on what the PA does, as it is also in the case of Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood … Israel is the toughest friend on the block, and we’re not going to forsake them. G-d bless you all.”
Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA): “I am a Bible believing Evangelical Christian and I have been described as – and I have embraced the term – a Zionist Christian. The reason I do this is because I believe what my Bible said – we have the same Bible, we just have a few extra books – and I am an ardent supporter of the nation of Israel. In fact, the modern state of Israel was born on my birthday on May 14 1948; so we’re the same age. Because of all the geopolitical and scientific issues and all the things my colleagues have said, we should support Israel and I’m going to add one additional reason: you see, our father Abraham – I consider myself an adopted Jew – Abraham got a visit from G-d and was told: ‘Pack up and move to a land that going to belong to you for all eternity. I’m going to make your seed as numerous as the stars in the sky’ … G-d gave the land title to the Jewish people and it should never ever be taken away. And G-d gave us the boundaries of that land of Canaan, in the Torah, saying that ‘I will bless those who bless you and curse those that curse you’ … Some of our opponents say that they’re going to get rid of all the Judeo-Christian values that got into the Constitution, all those values that have made this country so great. G-d’s blessings on this country today are because we bless Israel, and it must never cease. I believe very firmly, our country pressured Israel to give up Gaza. I was totally against that. We have a President who says we must go back to pre-war borders; I think Israel should go all the way to the Jordan River. I don’t say so – G-d says so. The capital should be in Jerusalem and our U.S. embassy should be in Jerusalem … We should also give Jerusalem every single bunker-busting bomb they need … Recently we saw three very critical people [Chuck Hagel, John Brennan & John Kerry] nominated to critical positions in the Administration. If I had been in the Senate, I would have voted no to Chuck Hagel, and no to John Brennan and no to John Kerry … We’ve not done enough in the sanctions on Iran, nor have we done enough to support the freedom–seeking people in that country … We should never give money to a nation in my opinion that goes around burning the American and Israeli flags and saying ‘Death to America.’ It must stop. As long as I’m here in Washington, I’ll do everything I can to make sure that the United States is supporting Israel.”
