Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis took a pause from his presidential campaign on Oct. 10 to speak with members of his state’s Jewish community, offering support in the wake of the recent attacks that killed at least 900 Israelis.
Mr. DeSantis reaffirmed his administration’s alliance with Israel as it strikes back at the terrorist group Hamas and announced proposed legislation to punish Iran for its “funding” of the attacks.
“This weekend was one of the worst terrorist attacks in the history of not just Israel but the modern world,” he said, referring to Hamas as “barbarians funded by the Iranian regime, murdering elderly, children, raping women, doing things that are really indescribable.
“It’s important that we say, as Americans and as Floridians, we stand with the people of Israel, and we stand with the state of Israel.”
The proposed legislation, he said, will reinforce and expand Florida’s refusal to “do business with state sponsors of terrorism, like Iran.”
This expansion will include “the prohibition on state investment in Iranian businesses to include the financial construction, manufacturing, textile technology, mining, metals, shipping, shipbuilding and port sectors.
“We’re going to prohibit state and local governments from contracting with any company on this expanded sectors list.”
The sanctions will not be lifted, he declared, until President Joe Biden and the U.S. Congress certify that Iran has stopped trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction and stopped supporting international terrorism.
The congregation erupted in applause as he said that these new sanctions would be “by far the strongest” enacted by any of the country’s 50 states.
Mr. DeSantis highlighted his administration’s previous actions to prohibit state investment in companies that discriminate against Israel and anti-semitism in companies and in the state’s universities.
“In light of the attacks this weekend, I’ve instructed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Florida Highway Patrol to collaborate with Attorney General Ashley Moody to send a memo to law enforcement agencies across the state, reminding them of Florida’s laws that protect our Jewish community, all law enforcement and prosecutors,” he said.
“It’s reminding all law enforcement and prosecutors that any action that harbors terrorists ... [is] not lawful in the state of Florida, and that includes fundraising for Hamas or other terrorist groups.
“If you’re doing that in Florida, you’re going to be held accountable.”
Pro-Hamas rallies were recently reported in Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale, which the Republican governor called “abhorrent.”
The governor’s office did not respond to The Epoch Times’ query into whether or not investigations into these rallies were underway.
Mr. DeSantis criticized the Biden administration’s release of funding for Iran, saying that whenever that nation gets more money, its leadership does not use it to make their people’s lives better. They use it to fund more terrorism in the Middle East and all over the world.
“We should use all available avenues to choke off money going to the Iranian regime,” he said.
He also criticized the administration’s response to the Hamas attacks, calling out the State Department’s retracted request that Israel should not respond and then a call for a ceasefire.
“We all know the truth,” he said. “If Hamas, or if Hezbollah, or if any Palestinian Arab simply laid down their arms tomorrow, that would result in peace.
“If Israel laid down its arms tomorrow that would result in destruction of the state.”
Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez echoed Mr. DeSantis’s remarks. She called out Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua’s refusal to denounce Hamas’ actions, declaring: “We will never do business [with] or prop up terrorists and communists.”
“There are no two sides on this issue,” she said. “There simply can be no willingness to concede there is no two-state solution that we will ever accept. If you are capitulating or providing justification [for Hamas’ attacks], you, too, are part of the problem.”
The governor and lieutenant governor spoke at The Shul of Bal Harbour Synagogue in Surfside, Florida, alongside Israel Consul General Maor Elbaz-Starinsky from the Israeli consulate in Miami and the host Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar.
The term “barbaric” and “inhuman” was used by all speakers to describe Israel’s adversaries in the Gaza Strip and their actions against Israeli citizens.
All speakers highlighted an example of the personal nature of this war on the people of Florida.
Not only does Florida have the second-largest Israeli-American population in the country, according to Mr. DeSantis, but a man from North Miami Beach named Abraham Hagen has already died, killed in battle against Hamas on Oct. 7.
Mr. Elbaz-Starinsky also shared a picture of a family of five related to the mayor of Hollywood, Fla., who were all killed by Hamas. And Rabbi Lipskar recounted a call he had late at night with his grandson, who was reporting to the frontlines.
This is not a political conflict, said the consul general, pointing out that Democrats and Republicans in Florida’s state government stand united in support of Israel.
This is a fight between light and darkness, between good and evil.
Rabbi Lipskar shared that he asked his grandson, “What’s the mood” among the Israeli soldiers?
“The mood has never been stronger,” he reported. “The morale is at the top of the line. There are no divisions. Everybody says ‘victory.’”
“Israel not only has the right to defend itself, Israel has the duty to defend itself,” said Mr. DeSantis. “And to defend itself in a way Hamas networks and terrorists are eradicated from the Earth.”
