Washington, DC – Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries delivered the following remarks at the March for Israel:

JEFFRIES: “Shalom. What an honor and a blessing to stand with you in solidarity during this very difficult moment for the Jewish people and for Israel. Hamas brutally attacked Israel on October 7th because Hamas wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. So let me be clear, we will never let that happen. Congress will continue to support, in a bipartisan way, the state of Israel and Israel’s unequivocal right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state, always and forever. Always and forever. Always and forever. From the very beginning of this conflict, President Joe Biden has strongly supported the state of Israel, and I strongly support President Biden’s supplemental funding request for Israel, for Ukraine and for humanitarian assistance. We must also decisively address the cancer of antisemitism with the fierce urgency of now. An attack on any of us is an attack on all of us, and we are going to do everything possible to stop the antisemitic attacks against our Jewish brothers and sisters.

The United States and Israel have a special relationship. Our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad. And let me be clear, Israel has an absolute right to defend itself against Hamas terror.

There’s a question on the minds of many of us, where do we go from here? We must stand with Israel in its effort to decisively defeat Hamas and make sure that this brutal terrorist regime can never rise again. We must make sure that every single hostage is returned home safely. And then we must stand together to secure a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people. The special relationship between the United States and Israel is, yes, rooted in our shared values and our shared strategic interests, but the moral case for Israel is anchored in the painful history of the Jewish people.

For centuries, Jews have been persecuted, brutalized by antisemitism and violently thrown out of country after country. The Jewish people were violently expelled from Jerusalem by the Roman Empire. The Jewish people were violently expelled from Alexandria. The Jewish people were violently expelled from France. The Jewish people were violently expelled from England. The Jewish people were violently expelled from Spain. The Jewish people were violently expelled from Switzerland. The Jewish people were violently expelled from Portugal. The Jewish people were violently expelled from countries all throughout Europe. The Jewish people were violently expelled from the Middle East. The Jewish people were systematically murdered by the Nazi regime. The Jewish people were violently attacked by Hamas on October 7th, resulting in the largest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust. So we are here, more than 100,000 people strong to unequivocally declare never again. Never again. Never again.

The state of Israel must always exist as a safe haven for the Jewish people. And so, we stand together with the Jewish community in Israel. We stand together with the Jewish community in America. We stand together with the Jewish community all throughout the world. We stand together in the effort to crush antisemitism. We stand together in the effort to crush anti-Jewish hate. We stand together in the effort to bring home the hostages. We stand together in the effort to make sure that America will always be a safe space for the Jewish community in every single zip code.

God bless the hostages. God bless Israel. God bless the United States of America.”

Full remarks can be watched here. 

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