Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Rep. Stefanik and Sen. Hagerty: Biden’s policies endanger Israel

The legislators sent a letter to the administration urging steadfast support of the Jewish state’s self-defense against Hezbollah.

Elise Stefanik Award from ZOA
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) accepts the Zionist Organization of America’s Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Defender of Israel Award on March 17, 2024. Credit: Courtesy.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) sent U.S. President Joe Biden a letter advocating “our strong support for Israel’s right to self-defense amid the intensifying attacks that Israel faces from Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel, “Hezbollah alone has launched over 5,820 rocket, missile and drone attacks into northern Israel that have killed 33 Israelis and forced more than 60,000 Israelis to uproot their lives and flee their homes,” they wrote.

Bill Hagerty
Bill Hagerty, before he was elected as the junior senator of Tennessee in 2020, addresses reporters upon his arrival to Tokyo as U.S. ambassador to Japan on Aug. 17, 2017. Credit: U.S. State Department Photo.

The legislators called on the Biden administration to “unequivocally support Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah’s attacks, and to provide in a timely manner the support necessary to restore peace and security.”

Stefanik criticized Biden and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, saying they had “completely failed to stand with our most precious ally Israel.” She urged the United States to defend Israel’s right to protect its borders.

“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s failure to support the only democracy in the Middle East undermines America’s national security interests and has emboldened the violent Iranian regime,” she said.

The promotion of one of the president’s most partisan and hard-nosed lieutenants to one of the most powerful jobs in Washington may signal how Trump intends to respond to his party’s defeat in the midterms.
“It’s an evolving trend that shows greater signs of permanence than temporary quality,” Dan Diker of the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs told JNS.
The National Jewish Assembly called on the government to address concerns over sanctions targeting Israelis in Judea and Samaria after a 94–90 vote.
The U.S. Justice Department told JNS that Eric Lee Boltz and the government agreed that the hate-crime sentencing enhancement would apply.