“Of course none of us want to see death or suffering,” he said. “We want to see the violence end. The way to resolve this humanitarian crisis and achieve a ceasefire is for Hamas leaders to immediately release all hostages. And they surrender. , should be held responsible.”
He pledged to “fight for our closest and most important ally” and praised retiring Jewish Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) for his decades of staunch support for Israel. did. “If I had the honor of being your next senator, that’s exactly what I would be, just as I was for eight years as governor,” Hogan said.
Hogan said he launched a last-minute campaign to fill open seats in heavily Democratic states after seeing his immigration bill fail in the Senate. He contrasted his own position with that of Maryland’s other senator, Chris Van Hollen (D). Van Hollen signed a letter this week asking President Biden to withhold offensive military aid to Israel until humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is authorized.
More than 31,500 people have been killed and more than 73,500 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. In a report released this month, a UN team of experts found “reasonable grounds to believe” that the October 7 attack involved sexual assault, including rape and gang rape. That’s what it means.
Hamas denied that its forces sexually abused the approximately 250 Israelis and hostages killed that day. About 120 hostages were released during a brief ceasefire in November. Israel has said it is focused on bringing back the holdovers, at least some of whom are feared dead.
Hogan detailed pro-Israel actions he took during his two terms as governor, including holding trade missions in the state and signing an executive order banning the state from doing business with companies involved in boycotting Israel. .
Hogan’s pro-Israel comments echo those of Senate Republicans and come as Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are increasingly willing to criticize the actions of Israel’s far-right government.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D.N.Y.) delivered a scathing speech on the Senate floor Thursday, saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have disrupted peace and threatened Israel with an “excessive” military response. He accused the government of pushing the government into a predicament. Gaza is on the path to becoming an international pariah.
“We should not be forced into a position where we explicitly support the actions of the Israeli government, including bigots who reject the idea of a Palestinian state,” Schumer said, calling on Israel to choose a new path and hold elections. I asked for it.
The speech was a sharp U.S. Jewish official and staunch ally of Israel, Schumer, whose party’s more progressive members have been criticizing Israel’s actions in the Gaza war for months. I was starting to.
Israeli officials denounced Schumer’s speech as “counterproductive.”
Republicans have slammed growing Democratic criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu and cast the push for humanitarian aid in Gaza as an effective olive branch to Hamas, threatening to undermine the United States’ close Middle East ally. would be helpful. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called Schumer’s speech “grotesque” and said Democrats believe Israel is not an ally but “a colony of the United States whose leaders are in Washington. “I am serving the wishes of the political party in power.” .
The conflict in Gaza has permeated Maryland politics for months.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted at least two campaign events for Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Allbrooks and U.S. Rep. David Tron, two prominent Democrats running for U.S. Senate. .
Both sides have called for a broad ceasefire, with Tron saying billions of dollars in aid are needed and Alsobrooks saying Israel needs a two-state solution and that someone other than Netanyahu will provide it. said it is necessary to do so.
In January, 20 state legislators formed the Jewish Caucus and called on families of Israeli hostages to share their harrowing stories in Annapolis. In response to concerns about rising anti-Semitism, the Maryland State Senate has announced an order by Sen. Benjamin F. Cramer (D-N.C.) to strengthen education about the Holocaust and implement an anti-hate curriculum in Maryland schools by 2025. Montgomery) passed the bill.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Friday expressed support for both the state of Israel and the Palestinian people, calling for the return of hostages to their families, humanitarian aid and an end to military violence.
“We need a ceasefire now,” Moore said publicly for the first time in an interview on WAMU Radio’s “Kojo Nnamdi’s Politics Hour.”
Hogan on Friday drew parallels with Cardin, calling him “the kind of leadership you’ll continue to expect from me,” and calling Van Hollen “one of the most hostile voices against Israel in the entire U.S. Senate.” I called it.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Van Hollen called the Israeli government’s “deliberate food withholding” in the Gaza Strip, which aid groups say is causing mass hunger and starvation, “a textbook war.” It was called a crime.
More than 70 Maryland rabbis sent a letter to Mr. Van Hollen this week calling his claims false and urging the senator to change his rhetoric, adding that they hope it will “create deeper divisions.” “and further isolated Israel and the Jewish community.”
“We are appalled by your claims of war crimes and your portrayal of Israel as an aggressor,” the rabbis wrote.
“Since October 7, I have repeatedly and unreservedly spoken out about the horror of Hamas terrorist attacks,” Van Hollen said in a statement Friday. He said he supported Israel’s right to self-defense and called for the immediate release of the hostages, but said he was “deeply concerned” by the Netanyahu government’s actions.
“A just war must be fought justly,” he said. “I don’t believe that most Marylanders support the position of giving Prime Minister Netanyahu a blank check to his policies.”
Hogan drew applause Friday when he cited his withdrawal from two Harvard University fellowships for failing to “immediately and forcefully denounce” a statement by Harvard’s Palestine Solidarity Committee. Hogan characterized it at the time as an “anti-Semitic rant.”
“The fight to support Israel and combat the spread of anti-Semitism in our society has sadly only just begun.”
