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Congressional Democrats and Republicans declare support for aid to Israel as fault lines appear
(JTA) — The flow of American aid in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel is continuing, as Sen. Ben Cardin said he would advance legislation to relay defense assistance to Israel, including to replenish its Iron Dome missile defense system.
“In these coming days and weeks, it is incumbent upon the United States government, and the Congress, to offer the kind of assistance that has formed the bedrock of the U.S.-Israel relationship since its founding,” Cardin, the Jewish Democrat from Maryland who recently assumed the chairmanship of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.
The Biden administration has already deployed troops and military supplies to the region as a means of deterring major attacks by Hamas’s backers including Iran, Israel’s most significant adversary. That includes moving an aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean, a step that, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, Israel’s and the United States’ shared enemies “understand very well.”
There were signs of cross-partisan unity on the Hill regarding Israel, with the two top members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, chairman Michael McCaul of Texas and ranking member Gregory Meeks of New York, joining in a soliciting support for a resolution backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that would declare that the United States “stands ready to assist Israel with emergency resupply and other security, diplomatic, and intelligence support.”
Two lawmakers, both Democrats, were in Israel as the attack broke out: New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and New York Rep. Dan Goldman. Both are unharmed. “After this experience, more than ever, I am committed to working with my colleagues in the Senate to continue supporting Israel’s security and ensuring stability in the region — and I hope one day soon, a long-term and just peace in the region,” Booker said in a statement on Sunday.
The vast majority of members of the House and Senate have expressed support for Israel, with only a handful of holdouts. Those include Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American Michigan Democrat, and Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat, who expressed sympathies for victims on both sides, but lay the blame on Israeli actions and the support Israel draws from the United States.
The signals of bipartisan commitment to funding came as Israeli officials reportedly are concerned that disarray in Congress — including the absence of a speaker of the House following Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s ouster — could scupper funding.
Nonetheless, fault lines are emerging among Democrats, with progressives like Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York adding pleas for a ceasefire to their messages of sympathy for Israel, while others, including party leaders Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer, both of New York, expressing unalloyed support of Israel.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a moderate Massachusetts Jewish Democrat, directly contradicted Markey at a pro-Israel rally in Boston on Monday after Markey called for deescalation. America did not deescalate after the Sept. 11 attacks, said Auchincloss, a military veteran. “De-escalation is not possible when they are taking hostages,” he said.
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Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians
US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the midst of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state,” before correcting himself.
While the Saudi statement mentioned Netanyahu’s name, it did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.
Egypt and Jordan also condemned the Israeli suggestions, with Cairo deeming the idea as a “direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty.”
The kingdom said it valued “brotherly” states’ rejection of Netanyahu’s remarks.
“This occupying extremist mindset does not comprehend what the Palestinian territory means for the brotherly people of Palestine and its conscientious, historical and legal association with that land,” it said.
Discussions of the fate of Palestinians in Gaza has been upended by Tuesday’s shock proposal from President Donald Trump that the U.S. would “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
Arab states have roundly condemned Trump’s comments, which came during a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza war that Israel has been waging against the terrorist group Hamas, which controls the narrow strip.
Trump has said Saudi Arabia was not demanding a Palestinian state as a condition for normalizing ties with Israel. But Riyadh rebuffed his statements, saying it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
The post Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it described as “serious” developments for Palestinians, according to a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday.
The summit comes amid regional and global condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
The post Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home
Relatives hug a released Thai hostage, who was kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and held in Gaza, as the hostages arrive in Thailand following their release, at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samut Prakan, Thailand, February 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
When Surasak Rumnao, 31, left his home in Thailand’s rural Udon Thani province three years ago to go across the world to the southern Israeli town of Yesha for agriculture work, his family never imagined they would lose touch with him for over a year when he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in October 2023.
He and four others were reunited with their families this weekend after their release from captivity in Gaza.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists abducted more than 250 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, in their October 2023 attack on Israel.
During the attack, Hamas terrorists killed more than 40 Thais and kidnapped 31 Thai laborers, some of whom died in captivity, according to the Thai government. Later that year, the first group of Thai hostages was returned.
Surasak’s mother, Khammee Rumnao, was relieved that her son was not mistreated and has returned to his home, about 620 km(385 miles) northeast of the capital, Bangkok.
“He mainly got to eat bread, he was looked after well and was fed all three meals (each day). He got to shower, he was looked after well,” Khammee said, and that he ate whatever his captors had.
Her son does not plan to go back and wants to use the knowledge he gained in his agricultural work in Israel at their home, she said.
His grandparents and other relatives came to their home to welcome him home.
His stepfather, Janda Prachanan, was elated.
“I couldn’t find the words to describe how happy I am, that my son is safe and finally home,” he said.
Earlier on Sunday, the other returnees, dressed in winter jackets, were met with tears of joy from their families who were waiting for their arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
“We are all deeply touched to come back to our birthplace … to be standing here,” said Pongsak Thaenna, one of the returnees said. “I don’t know what else to say, we are all truly thankful.”
Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who met the hostages in Israel after their release last week, expressed relief.
“This is emotional … to come back to the embrace of their families,” he said. “We never gave up and this was the fruit of that.”
Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country. Nearly 9,000 Thais were repatriated following the October 7 attacks.
The workers primarily come from Thailand’s northeastern region, an area comprising villages and farming communities that is among the poorest in the country.
Thailand’s foreign ministry said a Thai national is still believed to be held captive by Hamas.
“We still have hope and continue to work to bring them back,” Maris said, adding that this includes the bodies of two deceased Thai nationals.
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