The recent rocket attacks fired at Israeli citizens shocked and horrified us all.  Indiscriminate attacks on civilians are the very essence of terrorism, and we are at a critical moment in time where Israel, facing existential threats on multiple fronts, desperately needs our support.  We must be clear about this simple fact: Israel has the right to defend itself, especially in the wake of brutal terror attacks.  It pains me to see politicians making excuses for Hamas terrorists and helping perpetuate the cycle of terror too many civilians have become accustomed to in the Middle East.

The only democracy in the Middle East is facing terrorists who want to wage war on its people.  Israel is a strong ally of the United States, and there is no excuse for failing to rush to the support of the people of Israel while they suffer attack after attack from Hamas’s rockets. Those capabilities were supplied by a militant and reckless Iran, a state that has declared itself to be a mortal enemy of the United States and its allies time and again. Horrifyingly, Iran has celebrated the tragic violence against Israelis and bragged about its role in empowering Hamas’s terrorists to attack Israel.

I am outraged to see some of my colleagues in Congress calling for the reduction of military aid to Israel.  The aid we supply Israel helps support the lifesaving Iron Dome, a revolutionary air defense system that has saved countless lives since its inception.  Without a functional Iron Dome, it is likely Hamas would have killed thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Israeli citizens this past month.  Attempts to erode, limit, or end support for U.S. security assistance to Israel serve the interests of terrorists who seek the eradication of the Jewish people and a murderous regime in Iran that is bent on threatening Israel.

The Biden Administration has been shockingly weak when it comes to supporting Israel.  By failing to appoint envoys who are willing to stand up in strong support of our ally, he is sending a clear message to the region that the United States will not protect its partners when they are threatened.  There is no doubt there will be future threats to Israel, and by supporting our ally now, we send an important message we will be ready and able to act when they are in need.  When members of Joe Biden’s Democratic Party continue to support Hamas and shout anti-Semitic tropes, he should stand strong and condemn them.  Instead, he turns a blind eye to those who think it is okay for Hamas to fire rockets into Israeli cities.  Anyone who attempts to conflate Israel and Hamas are advancing a dangerous, anti-Semitic agenda.  Israel takes the greatest possible care to avoid the death of civilians and warn them ahead of any attacks on military installations while Hamas tries to kill as many innocent civilians as it can.

Unfortunately, rather than standing up to bigotry and racial animus that puts Jewish people in danger, the President chooses to bow down to radical progressives who are worried more about retweets from their elitist friends on Twitter instead of protecting the Israeli citizens who have spent days and weeks in fear of a terrorist group who wants them and their families dead.

Israel is our ally, and it is time Joe Biden acted like it.  Hamas is threatening to reverse the historic progress we have made to build peace in the Middle East through the Abraham Accords, a successful peace and normalization agreement that has fostered greater cooperation in the region.  If the United States can’t even actively defend Israel when rockets are being fired across its border, Biden could throw away all the hard work President Trump put into getting closer to peace in the Middle East.

U.S. Rep Ann Wagner represents Missouri’s second congressional district, which includes suburbs west and south of St. Louis.