The Jewish state has no truer friend than Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the visiting U.S. lawmaker during a tête-à-tête at his office in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
“We have no better friend, and I mean it, than Senator Lindsey Graham,” Netanyahu said, according to a Prime Minister’s Office readout.
According to the PMO, Netanyahu thanked Graham for his unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism, as well as his “strong stand against the scandalous accusations against Israel by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”
The South Carolina Republican touched down at Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday for his fifth visit since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.
Graham told Netanyahu that the past seven-plus months have been “one of the most challenging times for the State of Israel since its founding. There are so many problems and challenges to overcome, but one of the problems you never have to worry about is America.
“I promise you that we will do all we can, Mr. Prime Minister, to hold the ICC account for this outrage against the people of Israel,” he vowed.
Meanwhile, Graham described the International Court of Justice, which last week ordered the Israel Defense Forces to limit the scope of its operation in the Gaza Hamas stronghold of Rafah, as a “joke.”
“The head judge of the ICJ is a raving antisemite,” he said of Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese diplomat who presides over the world court.
Following his arrival on Tuesday, Graham joined Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana to see some of the ballistic missiles that the Iranian regime fired into Israel last month and visit the site of Hamas attacks.
“This rocket behind us is just the latest example of how the Ayatollah’s terror regime threatens world peace & destabilizes the Middle East,” tweeted Ohana, adding that with Tehran racing towards anuclear bombs, “the free world is fortunate to have champions” like Graham.
A dauntless defender of Israel & a dear friend, Senator Lindsey Graham joined me today to see the missiles launched by Iran into Israel & bear witness at the scenes of October 7th.
This rocket behind us is just the latest example of how the Ayatollah's terror regime threatens… pic.twitter.com/1o6xzq4ym5
— Amir Ohana – אמיר אוחנה (@AmirOhana) May 28, 2024
The senator on Tuesday also met in Tel Aviv with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who thanked the American for his “unwavering support for Israel as we fight to bring home 125 hostages, destroy the Hamas terrorist organization and defend Israel’s northern border.”
During a previous visit in March, Graham expressed support for destroying the remaining Hamas battalions in Gaza, including in Rafah.
“If these battalions are still standing when this is over, it would be the biggest mistake, maybe in history,” the he said. “I’ll say it again. If these battalions are still standing after the murder of the Jewish people, it would be the biggest mistake in history. Iran would celebrate.”