Congressman Moore's Statement on Hamas's Attack on Israel
"As the horrific attacks against Israel and its people continue, I want to provide an update on the current state of play as well as resources from the US State Department and the US Embassy in Israel.
For background, Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday morning—the morning of the Jewish holiday Shemini Atzeret and the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu declared a state of war on Saturday, and many of our key foreign allies have demonstrated unity in showing support for Israel in its time of need.
While I appreciate President Biden’s clear statement of support for Israel, it highlights one of my biggest frustrations with this administration—you cannot have it both ways in matters of foreign policy. First, the US State Department Office of Palestinian Affairs posted, then deleted, a statement on X that called for “all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks.” Israeli citizens are getting murdered in the streets, and they are fully justified in using whatever forceful means necessary to stop the violence and ensure this never happens again. Second, President Biden reentered into Obama-era negotiations (i.e. the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA) with Iran. The Trump-Pence administration cancelled JCPOA, and the result was regional trade relationships between Israel and some Arab States—the best potential for sustainable peace we’ve ever seen in that region. You cannot have it both ways, and President Biden needs to take a stand against Iran.
At the time of this writing, at least 800 Israeli and foreign citizens have been killed, including some murdered in their own homes. Over 100 people have been abducted. 260 have been found dead at the site of a music festival near the Gaza border where Hamas relentlessly raped and shot at festival goers, many of them young adults. US authorities have also confirmed that 11 American civilians have been killed in Israel. This morning, several synagogues received bomb threats, including one in the First District.
The Israeli government was blindsided by this attack, which clearly took months to plan. The lack of information and foresight into this attack presents several questions as to how our intelligence community failed to assess such threats from Hamas–-as well as our failure to adequately work in concert with Israeli intelligence and their defense forces.
Further, we know that Iran has funded Hamas for years and given haven and training to their leadership. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Iran knew about this planned attack and even helped Hamas train, prepare, and execute. The American people should be furious that the Biden Administration unfroze $6 billion in Iranian assets in exchange for American political prisoners. While the Administration said the money could not be used for military purposes, we know Iran cannot be trusted.
What now? Due to the actions of eight House Republicans and all Democrats last week, the House of Representatives is without a speaker, meaning we cannot debate or advance support to aid Israel—and what would happen if we needed to declare war? This is a sad example that when you act in self-interest, you weaken our nation and our allies. We need to elect a speaker immediately and the Biden Administration should call an emergency G7 meeting to develop a plan to help Israel and coordinate any necessary sanctions on Hamas and its financial backers. This includes an honest assessment of Iran’s involvement with the attacks and imposing sanctions where necessary. It must also start an investigation into why our intelligence capabilities failed to recognize such a wide-scale attack on one of our greatest allies. Congress, for its part, should heavily scrutinize future aid packages for the Palestinian Authority requested by the Biden administration until it can be properly audited and confirmed that it will not indirectly reach Hamas’s leadership.
For the latest updates from the U.S. Embassy in Israel, click here. For travel updates for Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, click here. US citizens in Israel in need of assistance should contact their closest embassy or consulate by filling out this crisis intake form. Please call my Washington office at (202) 225-0453 if you have any specific questions, and we will assist you.
America has an opportunity to lead in this conflict and reaffirm our commitment to the Israeli people, religious liberty, and the eradication of terrorism. I will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide resources and updates."