{"id":547163,"date":"2021-05-31T15:34:28","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T19:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=547163"},"modified":"2021-05-31T16:05:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T20:05:30","slug":"us-sen-cruz-biden-showed-weakness-emboldened-hamas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-sen-cruz-biden-showed-weakness-emboldened-hamas\/","title":{"rendered":"US Sen Cruz: Biden Showed &#039;Weakness,&#039; Emboldened Hamas"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fus-sen-cruz-biden-showed-weakness-emboldened-hamas%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=547163&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GetFile-643.aspx\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday accused President Joe Biden of being soft on Israel&#8217;s foes and inviting further violence during a deadly 11-day war that left Israelis rattled and turned parts of the Gaza Strip to rubble.<\/p>\n<p>One of four prominent Republicans in Israel in the conflict&#8217;s aftermath, Cruz told The Associated Press in an interview that the Democratic president&#8217;s policies, including a call for Israel to wind down the war, had \u201cemboldened\u201d Hamas&#8217; militant rulers. He said the U.S. owes Palestinians no humanitarian aid as long as there&#8217;s a danger of that money flowing to Hamas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe longer Joe Biden shows weakness to Hamas or Hezbollah or Iran, the more you\u2019re going to see terrorist attacks escalating,\u201d Cruz said after a day of touring Israel\u2019s Iron Dome rocket-defense system and and viewing damage in Ashkelon.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz also refused to rule out another run for president in 2024, keeping alive the prospect of a new Republican brawl for the party&#8217;s presidential nomination \u2014 and perhaps a rematch with former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The fighting erupted May 10 when Hamas launched a barrage of rockets at Jerusalem after weeks of protests and clashes over Israel\u2019s policing of a flashpoint holy site.<\/p>\n<p>Before the cease-fire took effect May 21, Hamas had fired over 4,000 rockets toward Israeli cities, while Israeli warplanes struck some 1,000 targets in Gaza. More than 250 people were killed, the vast majority of them Palestinians living in the seaside enclave ruled by Hamas. Israel blames Hamas for the heavy civilian casualties because Hamas launches attacks from residential areas.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the fighting, Biden and many other world leaders maintained that Israel has a right to defend itself even as concern \u2014 and protests in places like Turkey, Pakistan and Britain \u2014 mounted over the crippling use of force leveled at Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz&#8217;s remarks were a stark departure from a once-customary practice of refraining from talking domestic politics while overseas, particularly about the sitting U.S. commander in chief.<\/p>\n<p>At least two of the four American Republicans visiting Israel this week have apparent presidential ambitions \u2014 and all are in hot pursuit of support from pro-Israel evangelical voters that form a core part of the GOP&#8217;s base.<\/p>\n<p>Besides Cruz, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who also served as Trump&#8217;s CIA director, tweeted Sunday that he was in Tel Aviv attending the retirement party of Mossad chief Yossi Cohen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGreat to be with good friends in Tel Aviv!\u201d Pompeo tweeted.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Lindsay Graham was also touring damage caused by rocket fire and meeting with Israeli leaders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one has done more for Israel than you, Sen. Lindsey Graham,\u201d Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday. Graham, standing next to him, held up a sign that said, \u201cMore for Israel.\u201d In a tweet later, he explained, to \u201chelp protect and defend from Hamas rocket attacks.\u201d On Tuesday, Graham will tour rocket damage in Israel, he said in a press release.<\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu enjoyed warm relations with Trump, alienating many segments of the Democratic Party. His relations with Biden have been cordial, but cooler.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz and Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., toured the rubble in Ashkelon where a Hamas-fired rocket hit an apartment and killed the caregiver of an older woman. Cruz tweeted photos.<\/p>\n<p>Hagerty, who was Trump&#8217;s ambassador to Japan, also criticized the various steps taken by Biden to reverse Trump&#8217;s policies. Biden, for instance, has pledged some $360 million in aid to the Palestinians, including money to help repair war damage in Gaza. Trump cut off nearly all U.S. aid to the Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny monies that go to the Gaza Strip that are quote, intended for infrastructure, can be easily diverted by Hamas,\u201d Hagerty, seated next to Cruz, said.<\/p>\n<p>Where Hagerty was diplomatic, Cruz was blunt. \u201cAppeasing terrorists doesn&#8217;t produce peace,&#8221; he said of Biden.<\/p>\n<p>The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether he&#8217;d rule out running for president, Cruz demurred, replying that the 2016 campaign was \u201cthe most fun I&#8217;ve ever had in my life.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday accused President Joe Biden of being soft on Israel&#8217;s foes and inviting further violence during a deadly 11-day war that left Israelis rattled and turned &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2278692,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GetFile-643.aspx","fifu_image_alt":"US Sen Cruz: Biden Showed &#039;Weakness,&#039; Emboldened Hamas","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-547163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GetFile-643.aspx","fifu_image_alt":"US Sen Cruz: Biden Showed &#039;Weakness,&#039; Emboldened Hamas","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2278692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}