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Overwhelming bipartisan solidarity with Israel from Congress on Oct. 7, with a few slamming Netanyahu

“On Oct. 7, Hamas displayed such viciousness to try to scare Israelis, Americans and the world into submission, but they failed,” the Senate majority leader said.

A view of the U.S. Capitol, Washington D.C., on No. 11, 2017. Photo by Yossi Zamir/Flash90.
A view of the U.S. Capitol, Washington D.C., on No. 11, 2017. Photo by Yossi Zamir/Flash90.

U.S. congressional leaders released videos, attended ceremonies and issued statements on Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on southern Israel. Almost all of the statements from Congress expressed solidarity with the Jewish state, although some of Israel’s harshest critics denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is Jewish, posted a photo of himself praying at the Reform synagogue that he attends in Park Slope in Brooklyn.

“As we mark Oct. 7, I prayed at my synagogue, Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, for the victims of Hamas’s terrorism, the hostages and their families,” Schumer wrote. “On Oct. 7, Hamas displayed such viciousness to try to scare Israelis, Americans and the world into submission, but they failed.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued statements supporting Israel and memorializing those killed in the Hamas attacks.

Johnson called on the Biden administration to do more to support the Jewish state in the face of the threat that Iran and its proxies pose.

“The terror and antisemitism we’ve witnessed have demanded full resolve from America’s leaders, which is why Congress passed legislation in the spring to provide Israel with necessary military aid and support,” Johnson wrote.

“Today, at this critical time, following a second direct attack by Iran and ongoing terror from Hezbollah, Americans must insist that the Biden-Harris administration stand unequivocally with Israel and against the terrorist regime in Iran, as we continue to pray for peace and security in Israel,” he said.

With Congress in its October recess ahead of the November elections, many elected officials attended events in their districts to mark the anniversary of the attack.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who is Jewish, helped congregants at the “blended” congregation Ramat Shalom Beth Israel Synagogue install 1,200 plastic red anemone flowers (calanit in Hebrew) on Sunday to represent the victims of the attack and the communities around the Gaza border area where those flowers are common.

“The wildflowers in southern Israel have become symbols of resiliency,” wrote Andrew Jacobs, the rabbi of the synagogue, which combines Conservative and Reform traditions. “We’ve planted them outside to honor the memory of those we’ve lost and remind ourselves that we are a resilient people.”

Some members of Congress focused on the effect that the Oct. 7 attacks have had domestically in the United States, including an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents and crimes, as recorded by the FBI and Jewish advocacy groups.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, wrote that she will continue to lead investigations into schools and colleges that permit Jew-hatred on campus.

“No one will forget the K-12 student walkouts featuring calls to ‘kill the Jews’ and ‘bring Hitler back,’” she wrote. “No one will forget the harassment and suffering Jewish students have faced this past year.”

“The committee’s aim today is the same as day one: to ensure that Jewish students can sit in a classroom with the same sense of safety, dignity, and respect as any other student,” she added. (Hearings with presidents of universities about antisemitism on campus before Foxx’s committee have led to several high-profile resignations.)

Accused of ‘undermining ceasefire negotiations’

Many of Israel’s fiercest critics in Congress were notably silent on Monday or used the occasion to criticize the Jewish state. 

Of the eight members of the so-called “Squad” of left-wing progressives, Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) did not issue statements about the Oct. 7 anniversary through their offices or on social media.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) condemned both Hamas’s attack and Netanyahu.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu pursued a path of mass revenge, killing over 40,000 Palestinians, blocking humanitarian aid, pushing Gaza to the brink of famine while only further endangering the lives of hostages and consistently undermining ceasefire negotiations,” she wrote.

Ocasio-Cortez also blamed the Biden administration for the ongoing conflict, adding that it “has failed in its responsibility and own stated goals to prevent a wider regional conflict.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has frequently partnered with members of “The Squad” to criticize Israel, also used the majority of his statement commemorating the attacks to criticize Netanyahu.

“Netanyahu’s extremist government has not simply waged war against Hamas,” Sanders wrote. “It has waged total war against the Palestinian people.”

Sanders also accused Netanyahu of having “consistently sabotaged efforts to obtain a ceasefire deal and secure the release of hostages,” claiming that the Israeli prime minister introduced new demands whenever an agreement was imminent.

Biden administration officials have repeatedly said in recent weeks that it is Hamas, not Netanyahu, that introduced last-minute demands that made a Gaza ceasefire agreement untenable.

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