Austin News

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress.

Sen. Cruz stated, "Israel is one of our most critical allies, and it is fighting an existential war being waged against it by Iran and the terrorists Iran controls across the Middle East."

He criticized the Biden-Harris administration's approach towards Israel and Iran: "Biden-Harris officials made a day-one decision to undermine Israel and pour resources toward Iran and its terrorist groups, including Hamas. They poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Hamas-controlled areas, which Hamas seized, and they ultimately allowed $100 billion to flow towards the Ayatollah in Iran, much of which was also funneled toward terrorism. In a very real and direct way, the Biden-Harris administration funded the October 7th terrorist attack, which was the largest one-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust."

Cruz further condemned Congressional Democrats for their stance on U.S.-Israel relations: "Many Congressional Democrats have shamefully followed the lead of the Biden-Harris administration and actively undermined the U.S.-Israel relationship. Shamefully, many of them also boycotted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech today. Make no mistake: all of these actions are being done at the behest of the Democrat Party’s radical antisemitic base."

He affirmed support for Israel's right to self-defense: "The government of Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu have every right and indeed the obligation to defend the people of Israel. The position of the United States should be to unequivocally support Israel in its campaign to utterly eradicate Hamas."

Concluding his statement, Cruz called for Republican unity: "Republicans must have the moral clarity and unity that is sorely lacking in the Democrat Party. We stand united behind our ally, Israel, and we are committed to providing Israel with the military support it needs for as long as it takes to utterly defeat Hamas."

###