Moulton Statement on the Attacks Against Israel
WASHINGTON, DC — Today Congressman Moulton issued the following statement in response to Hamas's terrorist attacks on Israel:
"I’ll never forget sitting in a family’s yard in southern Israel, thinking about my own two little girls and what it must be like to live in a place where Hamas sends booby-trapped balloons disguised as toys to kill innocent Israeli children. To now think of some of those same kids murdered or kidnapped by these evil terrorists, I can barely imagine what it must be like as an Israeli parent today.
I stand firmly with Israel and unequivocally affirm its right to defend itself and its people. I am confident President Biden will act with purpose to assist the Israeli government, and I urge the Administration to move quickly. In the House of Representatives, I urge the GOP to expedite their nomination process so that we can elect a Speaker and act as a Congress united to provide Israel any additional aid they need. This is likely to get worse before it gets better.
As a Marine veteran of Iraq, I know firsthand how challenging it is to conduct effective counterinsurgency operations, acting swiftly and decisively to neutralize immediate threats while consciously avoiding levels of escalation that will simply recruit more terrorists to the cause in the future. This is among the hardest of challenges for any military, but the Israeli Defense Forces have proven their ability to act with both power and discretion in the past, and we should provide any intelligence and logistical support we can to assist in prosecuting this unprecedented threat.
The world must figure out how to empower the peacemakers in this generations-long conflict. Hamas’ actions to define the conflict today are evil, their tactics are criminal, and the future they paint is dark. I return to those Israeli kids near Gaza, as well as Palestinian kids I've met at schools in the West Bank. They all need leaders who will deliver peace, and all of us should contribute to that effort."