Terrorists in the Middle East do not despise America only because the U.S. supports Israel, but because America is a Western society, according to Simcha Rothman, a member of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
“But people that attack us, they are after the U.S. just the same,” Rothman says.
“The chant in Iran—‘Death to America, Death to Israel’—it’s not a typo that America comes first,” Rothman asserts, adding that terrorists in the Middle East view Israel “as part of Western society that is stuck in the middle of the Middle East.”
Because Western ideals threaten the radical ideology Islamic terrorists hold, this makes Israel, and America, an enemy, according to the Knesset member.
Within the Knesset, Rothman serves as the chairman of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee and as a co-chairman of the “Land of Israel” caucus. He often travels to America and warns that the Oct. 7 attack Hamas carried out on Israel taught Israel and America an important lesson; namely, “that you should never turn a blind eye to terror.”
“You should never turn a blind eye to terror,” warns Simcha Rothman, a member of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, seen here chairing a committee hearing on March 20, 2023. (Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images)
“We have to admit it,” Rothman says. “We did turn a blind eye. [Israel] let Hamas become stronger and stronger.”
He added: “We ran away from terror, and we thought, because people promised that—including the U.S., sadly—that it will be OK. It wasn’t.”
Rothman joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss what is driving the anti-Israel protests on America’s college campuses, where the hostage negotiations stand between Israel and Hamas, and how Israel should navigate the ongoing war with Hamas to ensure there is not another Oct. 7-style attack.
Listen to the podcast below:
