Israel

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the brutal terrorist attacks of October 7 poured gasoline on the flames of anti-Semitic hatred around the world. Take the alarming reports this weekend out of Russia, a country with a long, troubled history of anti-Semitism. After weeks of pro- Hamas propaganda spewed from the Kremlin, an angry mob overran a provincial airport and surrounded a plane that had just arrived from Israel. Chillingly, the mob went person to person, checking passports and asking if they were Muslim or Jew--a modern-day pogrom in Southern Russia.

Vladimir Putin is usually quick to accuse other countries of imagined atrocities, but he has issued no such condemnation of Hamas for the very real savagery inflicted on innocent Israelis. In fact, as this latest despicable episode of anti-Semitism unfolded on Russian soil, Putin's regime welcomed a delegation of Hamas terrorists to the Kremlin.

The Russian Government's policy is to demand that Israel agree to a cease-fire--a de facto amnesty for the terrorist aggressors who slaughtered children in their homes a few weeks ago. In that regard, street protestors across the West have found common cause with a Russian dictator.

No major power has done more to turbocharge Iran's terrorist network in the Middle East than Putin's Russia. The Kremlin's intervention in Syria allowed Tehran to establish a massive corridor of resources to terrorist proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas. So it should surprise no one that Iran has happily provided Russia with a kamikaze drone to fire at Ukrainian cities.

Russia, Iran, and China do not share an ideology, but they do share interests. They see themselves in conflict with the West and especially with America. Russia would love to see Iranian-backed terrorists in the Middle East weaken America and our allies. Iran would love to see a Russian victory against Ukraine that divides the West and deepens its own defense cooperation with Moscow. China, for its part, would love to see America's resolve to stand with European and Israeli allies and reestablish actual deterrence against Russia and Iran crumble.

So at the risk of repeating myself, the threats facing America and our allies are serious, and they are intertwined. If we ignore that fact, we do so at our own peril.

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