Sen. Cruz: I stand with Israel to do whatever it takes to defend itself

(A7) US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Saturday night condemned the Iranian attack on Israel which involved drones and missiles launched directly from Israeli territory.

“Iran has encircled Israel and has been attacking our Israeli allies from almost every front for months. They have launched attacks from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, the West Bank, Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon, and of course the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Now they have escalated by launching attacks directly from Iranian territory,” Cruz said in a statement.

“These attacks are enabled and financed by deliberate policy choices made by Joe Biden and Biden officials, who have allowed roughly $100 billion to flow to Iran since 2021. Americans and Israelis have been made catastrophically more vulnerable by these policies,” he added.

“Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Iran has made a huge mistake in attacking America’s closest ally in the Middle East. Israel will emerge from this crisis stronger. As I have always done, I stand with Israel to do whatever it takes to defend itself,” stated Cruz, long known for his staunch support of Israel.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the Iranian strike.

In a statement following the call, Biden wrote, “Earlier today, Iran—and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq—launched an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel. I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms.”

“At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the US military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week. Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” he added.

“I’ve just spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu to reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel. I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks – sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel,” said Biden.