Of the leading 2020 Democratic candidates, not one of them posted on Twitter about the barrage of nearly 700 rockets fired by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad from the Gaza Strip against Israel, a review of their accounts shows.
A ceasefire on May 6 was agreed upon after two days of rocket blasts and air-raid sirens. The dawn deal restored relative calm after the barrage that marked the most serious outbreak of violence between Palestinian terrorists and Israel for months. Four Israelis were killed amid the onslaught.
Hamas has been designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997, according to the State Department. It is an Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist organization that “seeks the destruction of Israel,” according to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Hamas controls the Gaza strip where they launch their attacks against Israel.
As the rockets were unleashed over the weekend, all the major Democratic candidates remained silent on the situation. The Epoch Times reviewed the Twitter profiles of the leading 2020 candidates based on an average of polling data aggregated by Real Clear Politics, including former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, and more.
Palestinians gather around a building hit by an Israeli air strike, in the southern Gaza Strip on May 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Former New York state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Democrat, first brought up the absence of comments. In a post on Twitter, he lambasted the field of Democratic contenders, saying they should feel ashamed for their silence.
“After more than FIVE HUNDRED rockets were fired by Hamas terrorists at Israel, KILLING 4, not a single Democratic candidate for president has issued a statement or said a word on it,” he said on May 5. “Shame on @thedemocrats! The whole lot of them!”
Breitbart reported that none of the more than 20 candidates had mentioned the Gaza attacks.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and his administration provided a stark contrast to the Democrats in their rhetoric. On May 5, the president offered full support to Israel and their military defense actions.
“Once again, Israel faces a barrage of deadly rocket attacks by terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We support Israel 100% in its defense of its citizens,” he wrote on Twitter.
He also made a plea to the people of Gaza, warning that the terrorists’ continued attacks against Israel will bring nothing but suffering.
“To the Gazan people—these terrorist acts against Israel will bring you nothing but more misery. END the violence and work towards peace - it can happen!” he said in a subsequent post.
Smoke rises during an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 5, 2019. Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
The Hamas terrorist group seized control of Gaza in 2007, two years after Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of the small Palestinian coastal enclave. Since then, the two sides have waged three wars and engaged in repeated tit-for-tat barrages.
Between the period of May to November 2018, Palestinian terrorists fired some 1,100 rockets and missiles from Gaza into Israel, according to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
The United States has said it may soon review its relationships with countries it deems anti-Israel, according to Elan Carr, the State Department’s special envoy for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism.
“The United States is willing to review its relationship with any country, and certainly anti-Semitism on the part of a country with whom we have relations is a deep concern,” Carr told Reuters on May 5 during a visit to Israel.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Bowen Xiao
Reporter
Bowen Xiao was a New York-based reporter at The Epoch Times. He covers national security, human trafficking and U.S. politics.
