Sen. Ted Cruz accused the congressional “Squad” of acting as “press secretaries for Hamas terrorists” and announced he would introduce a resolution that would force Democrats to put their opinions on the conflict on the record.
“Rep. Omar accused Israel of carrying out acts of terrorism. That is a vicious lie. And to be honest, the Squad is acting more like the press secretaries for Hamas terrorists than they are like United States congressmen,” the Texas Republican said Saturday on Justice with Judge Jeanine.
Members of the Squad, which consists of liberal Democrats in the House, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and Rep. Cori Bush, have spoken out vocally concerning Israel’s conflict with Hamas.
Omar accused Israel of being an “apartheid” state and committing war crimes for its targeting bombing campaign in its response to rocket barrages on Israeli cities.
Tlaib, the first Palestinian American elected to the U.S. Congress, struck a similar tone while claiming that Israelis are conducting a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” and racism.
Liberal Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders have urged the Biden administration to stop military aid to Israel. Sanders introduced a resolution expressing disapproval of the sale of $735 million of joint direct attack munitions and small-diameter bombs to the country.
“At a moment when U.S.-made bombs are devastating Gaza and killing women and children, we cannot simply let another huge arms sale go through without even a congressional debate,” Sanders told the Washington Post. “I believe that the United States must help lead the way to a peaceful and prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians. We need to take a hard look at whether the sale of these weapons is actually helping do that, or whether it is simply fueling conflict.”
Cruz is introducing a resolution of approval on the arms sales, telling Fox News that it would force Democrats to “own” their rhetoric on Israel.
“I’m introducing a resolution to approve the arms sales, and I’m going to fight for a vote because there are a lot of Democrats in the Senate who want to play footsie, who want to say, ‘Well, no. I don’t agree with that antisemitic language from the Squad.’ Well, let’s vote,” Cruz said. “Let’s decide if you’re willing to send weapons to support Israel, or if you’re going to sashay up to the anti-Israel Left, then you need to own it.”
