Joe Biden and many Western politicians have apparently forgotten what happened on Oct. 7, but the people of Israel can’t.
On May 27, in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, I spoke with one of the survivors of Hamas’ killing spree. Tali was dancing at the Nova music festival when the terrorists swarmed in. By the grace of God, she found a place to hide, and the terrorists didn’t find her. But she heard everything that happened just feet away.
Tali heard the unmistakable thud of men’s boots, chasing young women — the same women she’d been dancing with minutes earlier. She heard their screams. She heard them cry for help and beg their attackers to stop. She heard the gunshots that took their lives.
When the terrorists finally left, Tali came out of hiding, and what she saw was even worse than she imagined. Her friends and fellow concertgoers were butchered. Many women had been raped. Some had their genitals mutilated. Tali, a nurse by training, found some survivors and tried to administer what care and comfort she could. Many had called their parents in a panic as the attack unfolded. Their parents told them to hide under dead bodies.
The same terrorists that had targeted, raped and murdered them had done the same across the region.
I also visited Nir Oz, a once beautiful kibbutz now filled with ruins, where neighbors were tortured and burned alive. The terrorists who perpetrated those crimes have promised to do it again. It’s crucial that Israel finish the job in Gaza, defeat Hamas and return every hostage back home to their families. That includes the eight Americans who are still hostages in Gaza, five of whom are known to be alive.
Yet instead of supporting Israel against the terrorists who pledge Death to Israel and Death to America, President Biden and some members of Congress are withholding weapons, punishing Israel diplomatically and economically and dictating what they want politically instead of what Israel needs for security.
Worst of all, they’re demanding a cease-fire.
A cease-fire is the same as defeat. It would give the terrorists time and resources to complete their mission, which is the total destruction of Israel. By paving the way for another massacre, politicians like Joe Biden are downplaying what happened on Oct 7. But if you’ve seen the burned houses, smelled the ash and death and heard directly from the survivors — as I have — you can’t ignore the reality of what happened.
Supporting Israel will ensure it never happens again — in Israel or America. Make no mistake: Joe Biden is failing both America and Israel. Israel is fighting our enemies. That’s true of Hamas. It’s true of Hezbollah and the Houthis. Most of all, it’s true of Iran.
Iran is funneling rockets to those terrorist armies. It’s developing ballistic missiles with ever-longer ranges. And yes, Iran is on the brink of a nuclear bomb. It openly promises to wipe Israel off the map and has frequently attacked Americans.
Our own security demands that we stand with Israel to stop Iran. But Joe Biden is letting Iran get away with murder — literally. Even as he criticizes Israel for defending herself, he continues to give Iran the money and time that will lead to more deadly attacks and deadlier weapons. Biden is actively enabling a regime that wants to murder every Israeli and every American. As commander-in-chief, he is utterly failing his most important job, which is to keep the American people safe.
To protect Americans, we must partner with Israel. We must give it everything it needs to destroy Hamas, defeat Hezbollah and beat down everything Iran throws its way. At the same time, we must hold accountable international bodies that are attacking Israel.
The International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice should be sanctioned, even as sanctions on Iran should be fully enforced and dramatically expanded. Any country or entity that attacks Israel emboldens America’s enemies. Punishing them is key to protecting ourselves. The alternative is to abandon Israel, ignore what happened on Oct. 7 and assume it could never happen on American soil.
Whether it’s Joe Biden or anyone else, our leaders need to remember what happened to people like Tali on that dreadful day, which was reminiscent of what happened to thousands of Americans on Sept. 11. Tali survived, but she lives with the images of her mutilated friends every single day. She deserves the justice that comes through victory. So do the American people, because if Israel loses, America does, too.