Israel and Hamas have come to a cease-fire. Peace, albeit unstable, has been achieved for the region.
And with that newly found peace, brought on only due to terrors and devastation both sides were facing, comes the obligation to build bridges and find ways to ensure that the same kind of rocket volleyball doesn’t happen again anytime soon.
For several Republican senators, that means supply Israel with the funding they need to restock their defense system.
If you haven’t heard of Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, it is one of a kind mobile all-weather air defense system that is designed to intercept incoming missiles and artillery shells and destroy them before they hit their intended target, Israel.
In the past few weeks, thousands of Hamas-fired rockets have threatened to hit Israel and her people. And thanks to the Iron Dome system, only a small number of those have hit their mark.
In fact, according to the New York Post and Israel Defense Forces spokesman Captain Ben Rosner, “More than 1,050 rockets have been fired towards Israel and the Iron dome has had an 85 to 90 percent interception rate despite the Hamas terrorist organization attempting to overwhelm the system.”
Needless to say, it’s saved countless Israeli lives.
But now that the firing has ceased, much of the system’s arsenal has been used up and is, therefore, in need of replenishing.
As Florida Senator Marco Rubio said in a Friday statement, “Israel’s Iron Dome has saved countless lives, and we should ensure that it is fully funded and Israel has what it needs to continue to defend itself.”
Rubio, along with Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, has proposed a way to help Israel, one of our only Middle Eastern allies, get this done.
The bill would essentially take funds meant for Hamas-controlled Palestine and give it to Israel. After all, we shouldn’t exactly be rewarding the terrorist group with billions in funding for trying to take out one of our allies, should we?
Of course, pro-Palestinian, and therefore, anti-Semitic, leaders say this isn’t fair. After all, it’s been made perfectly clear that Hamas has done nearly as much damage to their own people living in Gaza as they have done to Israel.
And as Israel-hating Ilhan Omar points out, it’s not like the innocent in Gaza have an Iron Dome to defend them.
She recently tweeted, “Israel air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism. Palestinians deserve protection. Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, don’t exist to protect Palestinian civilians.”
Now, I certainly wouldn’t agree that Israel defending itself and fighting fire with fire is “an act of terrorism.” However, I do agree that the innocent in Gaza don’t deserve death and destruction.
Luckily, the GOP senators’ plan fills both needs.
In April, it was reported that Biden would begin funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency to help Palestinians. The administration planned to give some $235 billion in the upcoming years.
According to The New York Times, $150 billion of that has already been given, thanks to the last stimulus package, which some would argue did little for actual Americans.
Hagerty, who proposed the bill, and his colleagues suggest that the rest of the funding should be given to Israel instead.
Hagerty said of the bill, “My legislation requires the Biden Administration to halt U.S. foreign assistance from going to Gaza and other Hamas-dominated areas and instead to redirect these resources to help Israel resupply its life-saving Iron Dome interceptors. The United States should unequivocally support the right of Israel to defend itself from terrorists.”
And he’s not wrong.
Even liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can’t deny that. As she said about the recent cease-fire, “America remains committed to supporting the security of Israel, our friend and ally. We believe it is critical for the security of Israel for Israelis and Palestinians to both be able to live in peace.”
But as it’s nearly impossible to maintain lasting peace with a terrorist organization hell-bent on the destruction of Israel, we need to make sure “our friend and ally” is well prepared when the fighting begins again.