Remark | Remarks | THE NEWSROOM | Republican LeaderSkip to primary navigation Skip to content×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER McCONNELL×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER McCONNELLxxsearchxMENUFacebookTwitterInstagramFacebookTwitterInstagramVisit Senator McConnell's site here THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER McCONNELLxxsearchxMENUHomeTHE NEWSROOMRemarks11.06.23Moral Equivalency In America Makes Israel’s Job Harder‘I would remind our colleagues that Israel had negotiated a ceasefire with Hamas over the summer. And we all saw where that led on October 7th. Returning to any such arrangement right now would be amnesty for the butchers of innocent Israelis and Gazans, alike. Once again, let’s remember who the aggressor is.’ WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Israel’s fight against Hamas terrorists:“As Israel continues to root out the Hamas terrorists who savaged innocent civilians on October 7th, the political left here in America appears to be engaged in a loud, public debate with itself over how exactly to differentiate indiscriminate slaughter and lawful self-defense.“Last week, an especially radical House Democrat repeated to her followers a call to eliminate the Jewish state, ‘from the river to the sea’.“Then, she attempted to explain away the undeniably genocidal connotation of this long-standing anti-Israel slogan as a call for, ‘peaceful coexistence’.“Apparently, Jews can live in peace with Palestinians… as long as they vacate Israel.“Unfortunately, the shameful moral equivalence that has been creeping across elite and influential corners of the left has now been embraced by a former Commander-in-Chief.“Just a few days ago, President Obama used the same breath to express his horror at both Hamas violence and a supposed Israeli ‘occupation’ of Gaza. In reality, the only force that has occupied Gaza since 2007 is Hamas. Not Israel.“The former President also said, ‘all of us are complicit to some degree.’ That is simply false. Responsibility lies with the terrorists.“So, Madam President, perhaps President Obama has forgotten the bloody campaign to defeat ISIS over which he presided. Or the destruction of cities like Mosul and Raqqa in pursuit of medieval Islamic tyrants who terrorized innocent civilians.“I don’t recall President Obama doubting the righteousness of American efforts to support local partners in rooting out terrorists in Iraq and Syria. Where is that moral clarity in the face of Hamas?“Unfortunately, that brings me to the growing number of our Senate colleagues who have called for a ceasefire in today’s terrorist war.“I would remind our colleagues that Israel had negotiated a ceasefire with Hamas over the summer. And we all saw where that led on October 7th. Returning to any such arrangement right now would be amnesty for the butchers of innocent Israelis and Gazans, alike.“Once again, let’s remember who the aggressor is.“Hamas is blocking citizens from leaving Gaza city. Hamas has intentionally put its weapons caches inside schools, hospitals, and mosques, and its firing positions in the middle of civilian populations. Hamas has poured countless billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance into its terror tunnels.“These people are not freedom fighters. They do not want ‘peaceful coexistence’. They are savages, cut from the same cloth as ISIS and al-Qaeda.“There is no room for moral equivalency. The distinction between good and evil here is blindingly obvious.“Fortunately, some do recognize this. The Vice Chancellor of Germany, a member of his country’s Green Party, didn’t have any trouble finding the moral clarity this moment requires. In an address to the nation last week, he said, ‘Hamas does not want reconciliation with Israel, but the extermination of Israel. And this is why it is pivotal to make it clear that Israel’s right to exist must not be relativized. Israel’s security is our obligation.’“American politicians who cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the same should be ashamed.“This weekend marked 44 years since Iranian revolutionaries overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 66 Americans hostage. Today, Americans are once again being held hostage by forces aligned with Iranian tyranny.“Many more Israelis are being held alongside them. And Israel deserves the time, space, and support it needs to bring their terrorist captors to justice.“In the days immediately following October 7th, I warned that President Biden would be pressured to withhold this support, and that familiar and morally bankrupt calls for ceasefire would threaten Israel’s ability to see its defensive operations through.“But here we are, nearly a month later, watching the movement to grant Hamas amnesty reach the highest levels of our government.“War is a bloody business. That is the reality Israel faces. We should be careful before second-guessing their efforts to get innocent Israelis – and Americans – home safely, and to destroy Hamas’ ability to wage war.”###Related Issues: Iran, IsraelPrintEmailTweetPreviousTHE NEWSROOMSENATE RESOURCESABOUT LEADER McCONNELLFacebookTwitterInstagram
