Lauds Pascrell on Israel

As someone who has been a lifetime supporter of the State of Israel and a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, I was surprised by how my dear friend Congressman Bill Pascrell was represented by his political opponent in an Oct. 1 article in this newspaper. For those readers of The Jewish Standard who were confused: Bill Pascrell votes in favor of issues important to the pro-Israel community.

For example, when the Jewish state faced the all too familiar criticism from some members of the international community, after exercising its legitimate right to defend itself against a terrorist-backed flotilla trying to break a lawful Israeli security blockade in May, Bill took action. He sent a personal letter to President Barack Obama, in which he wrote: “The Israeli blockade of Gaza was designed to defend itself by preventing Hamas from resupplying [itself] with weapons and missiles that it has used to terrorize the citizens of Israel repeatedly in the past. Israel unquestionably has the right to defend itself and keep its citizens safe.”

As a senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Bill Pascrell has consistently voted in favor of legislation supporting the Jewish state – such as the billions of dollars in military aid we allocate to Israel every year and sanctions against Iran.

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