Republican Sens. Mike Lee, Lindsey Graham, Dean Heller and Ted Cruz on Monday applauded President Donald Trump's action in moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, saying the measure recognizes Israel's alliance and friendship with the United States.
"I voted for this in 1995 when I was a freshman member of Congress," Graham, R-SC, told Fox News' Harris Faulkner, who interviewed the four senators just after the embassy's opening ceremonies. "Why does it matter? There is nobody who tells us more about Iran than Israel, so Israel makes us safer, and the least we can do is recognize their capital."
Graham added that people who have a problem with recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital can "take it up with God."
Lee, of Utah, said the event marks a "big day, an important day," as the United States is "recognizing something that was already the case. Jerusalem is and was Israel's capital. Today we acknowledged that by putting our embassy here."
Heller, meanwhile, told Faulkner that the only reason the embassy has been moved is because Trump kept his promise.
"We've had numerous presidents who said this day would come," said Heller, R-Nevada. "The four of us are celebrating with the Israeli people for the last couple days, enjoying it and participating in this celebration. [It is] a game changer for this nation and our nation."
There is a serious continuing problem with the border on the Gaza Strip and with the use of human shields, including dozens of deaths as clashes broke out over the Jerusalem embassy.
"Some months ago, I joined with [New York Democratic] Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to introduce a resolution that both houses of Congress passed condemning the use of human shields as a war crime," said Heller. "The violence we've seen in response to what happened today is sad because this is simply recognizing an undeniable truth, that Jerusalem is the undivided and eternal capital of Israel."
That has been true since the modern state of Israel was created 70 years ago, Heller, said, just as it was true 3,000 years ago.
"The fact that President Trump demonstrated the courage to keep his promise, that's a message heard by our friends and heard by our enemies that America keeps her words and we stand with the nation of Israel," he concluded.
Cruz, of Texas, also discussed the president's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear bill, a measure that, in addition to the embassy move, has angered many Palestinians
"I think his actions speak for themselves," said Cruz. "I join in applauding President Trump for this decision and for the decision to pull out of the Iran deal. It was a really bad deal for the United States, bad for the Middle East and the world, and I applaud him for pulling out of that."
Such decisive action, he added, means worldwide, people will "come to respect the United States of America that much more and recognize we're a force to be reckoned with."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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