During his appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina expressed his strong disagreement with the conditions imposed by the Biden administration for Israel to receive U.S. aid. The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas was the main topic of discussion, with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont also appearing on the show and advocating for the suspension of U.S. aid to Israel.
As Senator Graham shared his thoughts on potential solutions for Israel and criticized Senator Sanders’ remarks, host Kristen Welker brought up the example of President Ronald Reagan withholding military aid to Israel in the 1980s. This prompted Senator Graham to push back against the comparison.
“Here’s what I would say — there is some hope we can get over this,” Graham said. “Non-negotiable: the destruction of Hamas. Nobody in Israel will allow Hamas to be standing militarily or politically when this is over — how we get there is subject to negotiation. My problem is not with the weapons that Israel is using, my problem is with the tactics that Hamas is using and the idea that America would not send a nickel of aid, echoed by [a] United States senator [Bernie Sanders], when all of the Jews are trying to [avoid] be[ing] killed by radical Islamic groups tells us where we’re at as a nation. The Republican Party is with Israel without apology.”
“Well, historians would say, ‘Why is it okay for Reagan to do it and not President Biden?” but let me ask you about the big deal —” Welker began.
“Well, why is it okay — can I say this?” Graham jumped in. “Why is it okay for America to drop two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end their existential threat war? Why was it okay for us to do that? I thought it was okay. To Israel — do whatever you have to do to survive as a Jewish state. Whatever you have to do.”
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