U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch advocate for Israel, stated that if talks with Hamas and efforts to free the hostages fail, Israel would be left with no option but to dismantle the terrorist group.
“I think they should go in and destroy Hamas, just as we destroyed the Germans and the Japanese. There is no future for the Palestinians until Hamas is gone,” he said during an interview with I24NEWS. “No one in Washington has told me that they are restraining Israel’s ability to return to the fight if necessary.”
Graham, who represents South Carolina, headed a group of six bipartisan senators that met with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. One of the key subjects discussed was Iran. “I hope the US will provide Israel with the military capabilities it lacks to ensure it can deliver a knockout blow to Iran’s nuclear program,” he remarked.
He is confident that Israel is now in a position to carry out a decisive strike due to recent military operations. “I believe now is the time to eliminate the threat the world faces from a nuclear-armed Iran.”
Graham expressed skepticism about the success of Trump’s diplomatic efforts regarding Iran’s nuclear program. “I think the likelihood of a successful negotiation in which the Ayatollah [Ali Khamenei] gives up his nuclear ambitions is almost zero,” he said. He further suggested that Trump should establish a deadline for diplomatic efforts and indicated that he plans to write to the president.
“I want to put it on a clock – give them 60 days and clearly outline what a good outcome would look like. In my opinion, it should be exactly like Libya, which completely abolished its nuclear program.”
“I have no interest in owning Gaza. I have no interest in getting Americans involved in Gaza,” Graham emphasized. He is the only prominent Republican openly criticizing the plan. “There’s very little appetite in South Carolina (his home state) for us to ‘own’ Gaza. But as a result of his statement, the Arab states are now engaging in ways they haven’t before, developing their own plans. So in Trump’s world, this is actually working.”
In recent years, Graham has been a leading American figure advocating for a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel. When asked about the possibility of such an agreement, he responded, “I think once you neutralize Iran’s nuclear ambitions and destroy Hamas, the likelihood of normalization is very high—about 80%.”
{Matzav.com}