FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2024

First, I want to congratulate all the American Olympians who are competing in Paris. It’s been enjoyable to watch America dominate across the board. I want to especially congratulate superstar, gold medalist swimmer Katie Ledecky, who hails from my home state of Maryland. Way to go Katie! 

Olympics aside, make no mistake. There is a war happening in the Middle East. Iran’s ‘Ring of Fire’ strategy has surrounded Israel, forcing them to defend themselves from every direction. In the last 10 days, we’ve seen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to America, the heightened attacks on Israel at the hands of Iran’s terrorist surrogates, and the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. 

Israel is our ally, and we depend on the intelligence they provide. It is in our national interest to stand with Israel, and ensure it has the right to self-defense. 

I’m asking my followers and supporters to join my Israel Focus Group. My team will review your answer this weekend. Do you have 2 minutes to give me your thoughts on where you stand on Israel?

Driving the Week: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to America last week reflected long-term pluses and minuses for the U.S.-Israel relationship. I wrote an in-depth update about the state of our relationship with Israel for The Hill this week. 

What Netanyahu’s visit showed about the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship
- The Hill

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to America last week reflected long-term pluses and minuses for the U.S.-Israel relationship. The historical relationship between Israel and the Democratic Party hit its lowest point ever, while that between Republicans and Israel has never been stronger. Driving these developments are tectonic shifts of power and demographics among Democrats and, even more importantly, tectonic shifts in Israeli public opinion about how to achieve lasting peace and security.

I joined CNN to discuss Kamala Harris' concerning remarks about Israel. Harry Truman is turning in his grave because the Democratic party's special relationship with Israel is disappearing. Not only is standing by our ally the right thing to do, but it is in our national security interest. 

Critical Context: Ronald Reagan set the framework for getting political prisoners home: we don’t swap prisoner for prisoner. When Gershkovich was kidnapped by the Russians last year, I said we needed to expel the Russian ambassador. Biden could have put immense pressure on Putin to release these Americans, instead he is getting KGB agents and murderers in exchange for innocent civilians. 

My Final Word: Marine veteran Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich are innocent Americans, wrongfully kidnapped by Russia. I'm happy for them and their families. But for foreign policy, this is not a good deal. Swapping innocent Americans for Russian criminals endangers the life of every American. It turns the blue passport we carry into a piece of currency for some terrorists or authoritarian regimes to cash in.

Listen to the full interview here.
 

I joined Kaitlan Collins on CNN’s The Source to discuss JD Vance’s weird attack on voters. 

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