Former President Donald Trump issued a strident warning to Hamas during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday, promising the terror group would pay “a very big price” if the captives were not freed.
Trump: “We want our hostages back. And they better be back before I assume office, or you will be paying a very big price.”
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) July 19, 2024
Listen to the crowd chant “Bring Them Home” 🎗️ pic.twitter.com/op9qWTThiy
Compare with the Biden Administration
in the light of the upcoming elections, the Biden Administration is highly conscious of the fact Wisconsin and Minnesota are very much in play. All those Muslim votes will vanish if it clings to the historic – and often spoken – commitment to support “our ally in the Middle East”, the only truly democratic country there, Israel. Last night the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, arrived in Washington and was not greeted as a head of state. Biden claims his CoVID kept him away, Kamala is at a Black Sorority event that was “previously scheduled.” Other officials also shied away.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the retiring chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is set to preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech on Wednesday to a joint session of Congress, filling a role traditionally held by Vice President Kamala Harris, a Cardin spokesperson told Jewish Insider.
Harris, whose presidential bid was endorsed on Sunday by President Joe Biden after he announced he would not seek reelection, is set to be traveling on Wednesday, on what her office said was a prearranged trip to Indianapolis. She’ll be meeting with Netanyahu separately this week.
Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D-WA) would ordinarily be next in line after Harris to preside, but she declined to do so and won’t be attending the speech, a spokesperson told JI. Such a situation hasn’t happened in decades.
Murray is also the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and her decision to skip the speech suggests a sizable boycott of Netanyahu’s address among Democrats. She was not among the lawmakers who skipped Netanyahu’s last address to Congress in 2015.
“Securing a lasting, mutual ceasefire is of the utmost importance right now, and I will continue to push for one to be reached as soon as possible,” Murray said in a statement, while expressing her support for Israel’s security. “I hope Prime Minister Netanyahu will use the opportunity to address how he plans to secure a ceasefire — and lasting peace in the region.”