Sullivan in Israel: Be Warned, Iran. The United States Will Defend its Friend and Ally.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) joined a bipartisan group of colleagues, led by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-Md.), for a press conference Sunday in Tel Aviv, Israel. The senators discussed their thoughts after visiting Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Senator Sullivan warned Iran not to widen the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and condemned the vicious nature of the Hamas terrorist regime.
“Be warned, Iran, be warned,” Senator Sullivan said. “There are so many U.S. Senators on both sides of the aisle who view the terrorist leadership in Iran as the biggest malign threat in this region and in many ways, the world. And we won't stand for you widening the war. We have military assets here and the United States is going to defend its friend and ally.”
Members of the bipartisan delegation include U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Chris Coons (D-Delaware), Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island), and John Thune (R-South Dakota).
To watch Senator Sullivan’s remarks, click here.
Senator Sullivan delivers remarks at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 22, 2023. (Source: U.S. Embassy Israel).
Click here to download this photo in high resolution.
Senator Sullivan and a bipartisan Senate delegation meet with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (Source: U.S. Embassy Israel).
Click here to download this photo in high resolution.
FULL REMARKS FROM SENATOR SULLIVAN:
“Well, thank you, Lindsay. And I want to thank all my colleagues for being here. You know, we do CODELS for a whole host of reasons: To send messages, to stand with our allies like we're standing here with Israel, and also to learn. And I will tell you, and I think you're getting the impression here, this is a very sobering day meeting with the families of the hostages, seeing videos that I actually think the whole world should see of the just severe brutality and viciousness and evil.
“These are GoPro head mounted killings by the Hamas terrorists. And the point here is that we're just talking about it. And this is really important to our friends in the media. There's no moral equivalence here. There's no moral equivalence. Every civilian death in a war is horrible. But what we're seeing and what we saw with regard to Hamas was an attempt to actually make more civilian deaths as bloody and vicious as possible.
“That's not what Israel does That's not Israel. That's not what Israel is doing right now. It's not what the United States does. It's what terrorist groups like Hamas and ISIS, too. You've heard this issue that Hamas should be viewed as ISIS. I couldn't agree more. I think we all agree. The good news is I think not just in Israel, but in other parts of the region. Leaders agree. What does that mean?
“We undertook a global campaign to defeat ISIS in every country in the world joined us. That's what we need to do now with Hamas. So countries that fund Hamas, countries that keep their leadership like Qatar, they need to get with the program. This is just like ISIS and the world needs to know that.
“Finally, Iran appears to be loosening its leash on its proxies. Look, at what happened with the Houthis just last couple of days. We know for a fact the Houthis wouldn’t act like that, firing missiles and rockets and drones without Iran's permission. Be warned, Iran, be warned. There are so many U.S. Senators on both sides of the aisle who view the terrorist leadership in Iran as the biggest malign threat in this region and in many ways, the world. And we won't stand for you widening the war. We have military assets here and the United States is going to defend its friend and ally.
“And finally, one other thing we're also trying to do is look around the corner of history. What do I mean by that? The Middle East is going to be changed, there's no doubt, because of this horrendous, vicious terrorist attack.
“And it's either going to change for good or for evil. But a lot of historic positive changes in the Middle East have actually arisen out of the ashes of major conflict. Think about the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago. And we've had very fruitful discussions in that regard. And we've got to keep our focus on that kind of bright future.”
###
Next Article Previous Article
