Senator Scott Slams Reckless Anti-Israel Resolution

Resolution emboldens Iran and its proxies that continue to attack U.S. troops and personnel

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Development and member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, condemned the anti-Israel resolution the Senate voted on this evening. 

“This resolution is an outrageous and shameful stunt that undermines our ally, Israel, and emboldens Iranian-backed terrorists, including Hamas,” said Senator Scott. “The Israeli people have been the victims of countless human rights abuses and unspeakable brutality at the hands of Hamas, and I choose to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters – not terrorists.”

This resolution requires the State Department to deliver a report to Congress on whether Israel has violated human rights standards with U.S.-provided weapons and risks freezing aid to Israel by utilizing Section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. This provision has never been applied to any recipient of U.S. security assistance by vote on the Senate floor.

This unprecedented resolution against Israel comes on the heels of Iranian-backed terror groups’ continued targeting of U.S. troops and personnel in the Middle East.

Yet, despite Iran’s history of using sanctions relief to fund acts of terrorism targeted at the U.S. and its allies, President Biden and Democrats have released $6 billion to Iran as part of a secret negotiation, given Iran access to $10 billion by extending an energy sanctions waiver and failed to develop a coherent strategy to deter Iranian aggression.

In stark contrast, Senator Scott has continued to stand by Israel, especially in light of Iranian-backed Hamas’s October 7th attack, and push back against Iran and its proxies by:

• Championing S. Res. 417, a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel in the wake of the October 7th attack, which passed the Senate with near unanimous support;
• Voting in support of the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included numerous provisions to increase U.S. security cooperation with Israel;
• Introducing the Revoke Iranian Funding Act to permanently freeze the $6 billion released by the Biden administration to Iran and direct the Treasury Secretary to provide an accounting of all high-value Iranian assets around the world that are currently blocked by U.S. sanctions;
• Meeting with victims of Hamas and members of victims’ families, hearing first-hand about the brutality inflicted by Hamas on innocent civilians, including innocent children;
• Pushing for passage of his Solidify Iran Sanctions Act to extend sanctions on funding for Iran’s energy and weapons sectors and curtail the regime’s ability to develop its nuclear program and finance destabilizing activities;
• Before and after the attack, leading dozens of Republican senators in holding the administration to account for its dangerous Iran policy;
• Championing the Israel Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2023, which would provide $14.3 billion of aid to Israel;
• Authoring the Stop Support for Hamas Act to prevent U.S. tax dollars from winding up in the hands of Hamas;
• Introducing the Antisemitism Awareness Act, directing the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when investigating antisemitic acts on campus; and
• Introducing the Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act to defund colleges and universities that enable violent antisemitism on their campuses.