Congress must support Israel: Standing by an ally under siege by Hamas terror

On Oct. 7, we woke up to darkness. One of us experienced the anguish up close, awakened from sleep in a Tel Aviv hotel by rocket sirens and a frantic announcement that our family had just 90 seconds to seek shelter from rocket fire in an interior stairwell. The other, though safely in New York — thousands of miles away from the unspeakable violence — felt immediate dread, informed by a lifetime of proud Zionism and decades in Congress, the last several years serving as the most senior Jewish member of the House of Representatives.

On the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust, neither experience could compare to the unthinkable horror that so many Israelis, particularly in the south, were facing. Bloodied cribs told the story of children massacred in front of their parents. Reports that followed described innocent civilians decapitated before being burned and spouses having to identify what was left of their loved ones. Mothers began preparing to send their 18-year-old children off to war. 300,000 troops readied themselves to defend their country.

Like the unified global support the United States received following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we must now lead the world in standing with Israel following one of the most brutal and depraved terrorist attacks in history. As the only two Jewish representatives from New York — home to the most Jews outside of Israel — we are honored to lead Congress in supporting Israel’s right to defend itself as part of an international effort to eradicate terror networks.

Guided by President Biden’s strong leadership and unwavering support for Israel, it is essential to understand that the enemy in this war is Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, not the Palestinian people. In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip as part of a peace-building effort. Shortly thereafter, however, Hamas took control of Gaza. Rather than investing in schools, hospitals, infrastructure and the economy, Hamas instead used international aid to fund their terror network, to the detriment of the more than 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza.

The mission is clear: Hamas must be dismantled and eliminated. That is the only path towards peace and security for Israel. It is also the only path towards peace, security and prosperity for the Palestinian people, as well.

Our urgent first order of business must be to free hostages that Hamas abducted into Gaza, which includes the elderly (a Holocaust survivor!), women and children, and Americans. We applaud the Biden administration for offering immediate assistance to Israel in that effort.

We must also focus on extracting American citizens from both Israel and Gaza who want to return to the United States. In particular, our districts have perhaps the most Americans who traveled to Israel for the Sukkot holiday, and we have been working overtime with the State Department to bring them back. But the trauma will linger long after they return home — as it will for so many Americans who have been impacted by this atrocity — and we must ensure that we come together to support each other during this difficult time.

We in Congress must also provide the means necessary for the Biden administration to provide whatever military, security and diplomatic support Israel needs to protect herself and eradicate Hamas within the laws of war. But we must also rally our allies around the world to work with Israel, Egypt and other countries in the Middle East to alleviate the developing humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, where Hamas has intentionally placed much of its infrastructure and command centers in residential areas.

More than anything, we as Americans must remain united against terrorism around the globe. Just as we rallied together to eliminate Al Qaeda and ISIS, we must do the same in rooting out Hamas. On the other hand, we also remain unified in support of the innocent civilians in Gaza who have suffered under Hamas rule. This is a war against Hamas, a terrorist organization, not against the Palestinian people.

This unity must spread to the halls of Congress, where, like after 9/11, Republicans and Democrats alike must rally in support of the Biden administration’s efforts to support our ally Israel in this fight against terrorism for its own sovereignty and recognition. There is simply no place for any elected official to weaponize Jewish lives for political gains.

Unfortunately, some of our Republican colleagues have already tried to use the tragedy in Israel to undermine the administration and play politics with Israel in its darkest moments through the introduction of unnecessary and partisan resolutions in Congress. These tactics threaten to undermine many decades of bipartisan consensus on Israel. They are wasting the time of Jewish members of Congress, who are forced to waste time addressing Republican members’ efforts to create political wedges for their partisan purposes instead of focusing on the critical work we must do.

One of our Republican colleagues rushed to introduce a resolution to freeze $6 billion in a Qatar bank account that was designated to support the Iranian people with humanitarian aid as part of a prisoner swap arrangement. Since Iran is Hamas’s primary supporter, the administration — as part of its foreign affairs authority — was already in the process of doing exactly that. The resolution was clearly designed to attempt to score political points mere days after the initial attacks and before the administration had the necessary time to reassess this aid.

Another more egregious example of the politicization of this international crisis was a resolution introduced by Republican Mike Lawler of New York that condemns the New York City-Democratic Socialists of America’s recent anti-Israel, antisemitic rally. Democrats across the political spectrum, from the most moderate to the most progressive, have resoundingly condemned the rally, ourselves included. Such vile rhetoric supporting terrorism and horrific war crimes has no place in our country.

But Rep. Lawler’s non-binding resolution would have no actual impact; instead, its sole intent was to use the terror attack as a political ploy for his own partisan gain. Democrats refused to fall for this transparent effort to use this tragedy for political purposes, and none of us co-sponsored the resolution.

In this current precarious situation, with the possibility of war in the Middle East escalating, these partisan gotcha games have no place in Congress. Democrats want to take decisive action. To defeat Hamas, rescue hostages, and save lives, Congress must not only supply Israel with urgent additional military aid as requested by the president but also must rally behind the president so that the United States speaks with one voice — in support of Israel and against terrorism.

Rather than engage in partisan chicanery, we urge our Republican colleagues to spend time on electing a speaker of the House so we can pass essential legislation to support Israel in its existential fight for democracy against terrorist organizations.

Allies stand together. The United States became the first country to recognize Israel as a state in 1948 and in 1987 designated Israel a major non-NATO ally. In this moment, as Americans are being held hostage in Gaza, and democracy is under attack, our democratic alliances are more important than ever. As President Biden made clear, “This is not about party or politics. This is about the security of our world, the security of the United States of America.”

Congress has a choice. It can abuse this moment to try to inflict inter-party political damage, or it can rise to the occasion and do something meaningful to support the administration’s efforts to fight terrorism and protect Israel. With so much at stake, we must choose the latter.

Goldman represents parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan and Nadler represents parts of Manhattan in the House of Representatives.