Rep. Celeste Maloy visits Jerusalem, reaffirms assist for ally amid Israel-Hamas conflict

SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, reaffirmed assist for Israel after visiting Jerusalem final week and listening to from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who mentioned “victory is inside attain,” within the nation’s monthslong navy marketing campaign within the Gaza Strip.

Maloy, who was first elected in a particular election final fall, traveled to the shut ally of the U.S. with a contingent of 15 freshman Republican lawmakers organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the nation’s prime pro-Israel group. The congresswoman appeared in a video posted by the group on social media, calling it “an honor to be right here to point out assist and solidarity to our Israeli allies and to study firsthand about a number of the issues they are going via.”

By way of a spokeswoman, Maloy advised KSL.com the group visited the Gaza Envelope — the populated areas in southern Israel close to the Gaza border — and northern Israeli provinces evacuated as a result of risk of Hezbollah, the militant wing of the Lebanese Shiite Muslim celebration.

Maloy mentioned she “noticed firsthand the destruction left behind by the horrific assaults of (Oct. 7, 2023),” by which Hamas militants killed no less than 1,200 Israelis and took some 250 hostages.

“The journey underlined the should be clear in our overseas coverage,” Maloy mentioned. “Israel is seeing allies begin to distance themselves, and we should be clear that America stands with Israel. The identical forces threatening Israel hate the USA. Their struggle right this moment shall be our struggle tomorrow if we do not assist our most essential ally within the Center East.”

A @HouseGOP delegation is in Israel this week with the American Israel Training Basis.@RepMaloyUtah shared this message from Jerusalem, after visiting communities in southern Israel that have been decimated on October 7.

🇺🇸🇮🇱🎗️#StandWithIsraelhttps://t.co/hpC4yCX7e5pic.twitter.com/CkaBaFiFEd

— AIPAC (@AIPAC) April 5, 2024

The U.S. has lengthy been the closest ally and largest supplier of navy support to Israel, however tensions have risen between the 2 nations following the continuing bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, throughout which some 33,000 Palestinians have been killed. Israel got here below additional world scrutiny after seven support employees for the World Central Kitchen have been killed by an Israeli airstrike final week.

Netanyahu has confronted rising stress at residence for his failure to safe the discharge of all Israeli hostages taken in the course of the Oct. 7 raids. Whereas 105 folks have been launched throughout a short lived truce final 12 months, no less than 130 who have been kidnapped are both lifeless or nonetheless being held by Hamas and different teams.

The prime minister advised the U.S. lawmakers the Israel-Hamas conflict “is a battle between not solely Israel and Hamas, however I’d say the axis of Iran, the phobia axis of Iran that seeks to place the Center East again into the Darkish Ages and to power a horrible barbarism on us all,” in keeping with the Jewish Press.

“I’ve three message for you,” Netanyahu mentioned. “The primary is we’ll win. Completely. Victory is inside attain. It’s totally shut, and there’s no substitute for victory.”

He additionally paraphrased former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in asking for added support from the U.S., saying, “Give us the instruments and we’ll do the job.”

Lastly, Netanyahu mentioned Israel opposes makes an attempt to “power, ram down our throats a Palestinian state, which shall be one other terror haven.” He referenced a February vote of the Knesset, Israel’s legislative physique, rejecting a “unilateral” institution of a Palestinian state with out direct negotiations between the 2 sides.

Maloy is not the primary Utah lawmaker to go to Israel since October. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, joined a bipartisan delegation to Tel Aviv within the days after the Oct. 7 assaults, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, spent Thanksgiving in Israel.