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WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) joined Special Report with Bret Baier on Fox News to discuss his recent bipartisan trip to the Middle East, which included a visit to Israel. Thune highlighted the grave stakes for Israel in this conflict and stressed that a message must be sent to Iran for its role in supporting terrorism around the world.
On the stakes in Israel:
“This is existential for Israel. And the videos that we saw, the images that we saw, just reinforced how important it is that not only the United States, but hopefully partners in the region and beyond, band together and support Israel in its efforts to eliminate Hamas.
“Israel cannot exist side-by-side with a terrorist organization whose main mission is to kill Jews and to wipe Israel off the map. It's as simple as that.
“And you can understand why there is so much frustration and angst in the country right now. They see what's happening on their border. In the last 15 years, they've been attacked five times. But this time, it just – it has to be dealt with.
“And I hope that the United States will do everything that it can to stand with our ally and our friend, Israel, ensure that they have everything they need to defend themselves, and to go after this vicious terrorist regime, enabled by Iran, and destroy it if that's what has to happen. And we also need to lay down some markers and some red lines with respect to Iran, and we've made that very clear as well.”
On sending a message to Iran:
“We obviously need to be, as Israel needs to be, strategic about this, Bret, but not responding is not an option either.
“I mean, you have the – the animating force behind the evil in that region is Iran. They are, all these entities, these terrorist organizations, are Iranian proxies. And Iran needs to understand that they cannot continue to engage with and support these terrorist activities in the region, and particularly now with their attacks on American troops. That is a whole new level of escalation and the message is going to have to be sent.
“I mean, I don't think you can – we can't afford not to act. Not acting is, in my view, is even worse long term for that region and for the world.”