Seven things Congress can do to help Israel
Timothy Head
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The world witnessed a barbaric attack on the Jewish homeland in Israel last month. On that brutal October day, Hamas terrorists deliberately targeted innocent men, women, children, and the elderly with violence and hate on an unfathomable scale that continues to shock our consciences and weigh heavily on our hearts.
In the wake of these horrors, the Faith and Freedom Coalition organized a trip to Israel to witness the tragedy and demonstrate our solidarity with the Jewish people. The experience confirmed that now more than ever, our Jewish brothers and sisters need us to stand with them against terror and antisemitism not just through words but through action.
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Our group arrived at an eerily empty Ben Gurion Airport with posters of the more than 200 Israeli hostages lining the terminals. In Tel Aviv, the delegation visited the families of these hostages, their loved ones having been ripped from their arms by jihadist terrorists on that horrible day. There and at the Western Wall, we prayed for the safe return of all hostages and the survival of the state of Israel.
In Kfar Aza, where dozens of residents were murdered, our group donned body armor, walked the ruins of Hamas’s murderous rampage, and stood in the rubble of a house where a family of five was trapped and burned alive. Outside, artillery and mortars could be heard as the Israel Defense Forces worked to destroy the monsters who had committed these horrific crimes.
Our group also spent time with psychologists and social workers bringing comfort to families. We met with senior IDF leadership and top diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The visit allowed us to see firsthand the everlasting connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel that so many seek to destroy.
Israeli families repeatedly told us they had always considered Americans friends. After our visit, however, they said they considered us family. As brothers and sisters to our Jewish neighbors, we must not only speak out against the evils of antisemitism and terrorism but also take action to demonstrate this solidarity and protect Jewish lives.
In this spirit, following the trip, the Faith and Freedom Coalition assembled more than a dozen of the nation’s most prominent Christian and Jewish leaders and wrote a joint letter to the leaders of both houses of Congress. Our letter, delivered Monday, calls for unwavering support for the Jewish people in America and around the world with “one united voice, to defend our shared humanity against barbarism and terror.”
We ask Congress to focus its action on seven areas.
First, Congress must support legislation that funds Israel’s defenses. We cannot play politics while our ally is in a fight for its survival against terrorist forces that threaten us all.
Second, Congress should pass the Countering Hate Against Israel by Federal Contractors Act, bipartisan legislation that prevents U.S. tax dollars from being used to subsidize antisemitic efforts to boycott Israel out of existence.
Third, leaders in Washington must pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act, bipartisan legislation to revoke the tax-exempt status of universities that fail to fight antisemitism and to direct the Biden administration to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance antisemitism definition while it investigates hate crimes.
Fourth, Congress should pass the Maximum Pressure Act to ensure that any deal with Iran is ratified by the Senate and to limit the president’s ability to provide financial relief to Iran.
Fifth, Congress should pass the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act, which would permanently freeze the $6 billion windfall released to the Iranian regime as part of President Joe Biden’s hostage deal in advance of the Oct. 7 attack.
Sixth, Congress must exert vigorous oversight to ensure that the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and all relevant agencies prevent, prosecute, and punish antisemitic hate crimes in the United States.
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Finally, we ask Congress to support measures enforcing a broader strategy that degrades Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, bolsters Iron Dome defenses, expands normalization agreements among Israel and Arab nations, diminishes Iran’s ability to support terrorist proxies, and forces Qatar to choose between supporting terrorism and remaining a major non-NATO ally.
These measures will ensure that our friends in Israel, mourning unspeakable devastation and loss, know that America’s support for the Jewish people is not only expressed clearly through words and prayers but also through deeds and actions. We ask Congress to take these steps without delay to fight against the scourge of antisemitism and support Israel in its existential war for survival.
Timothy R. Head is executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition.