Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the former House speaker, listed a five-point plan on Oct. 9 that he says President Joe Biden should undertake in response to the Hamas attacks on Israel.
One is to find out how many Americans have been taken hostage and bring them back to the United States, he told reporters. The Biden administration must “make clear that harming any American will result in the wrath of the United States.”
Additionally, he said, the United States should say it doesn’t negotiate with terrorists but that no American will be left stranded.
Mr. McCarthy called for an end to what he said was President Biden’s appeasement in order to secure the return of hostages. That includes the $6 billion in Iranian assets that the United States unfroze last month in order to secure the release of five U.S. citizens who had been wrongly detained by the regime.
Moreover, President Biden should demand the extradition of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh from Qatar, where he resides, Mr. McCarthy said.
He didn’t specify where he should be extradited to.
The second part of the plan is for the United States to stand strongly with Israel, including by providing more assistance, such as for its Iron Dome missile defense systems.
Combating the ‘Evil Axis’
The plan’s third part is confronting Iran, which supports Hamas. This, Mr. McCarthy said, means combating a new axis of power.“It’s an evil axis of Iran, Russia, and China,” he said.
The United States must form coalitions across the Middle East, he said, and expand the Abraham Accords, through which Israel normalized ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco in 2020.
The Iranian threat requires the United States to resume its “maximum pressure” campaign, Mr. McCarthy said. The Trump administration withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, reimposing sanctions that the deal had lifted and adding new ones.
Mr. McCarthy called for refreezing the $6 billion in Iranian assets released by the United States in the prisoner exchange with Iran. However, he said, that is “only the start.”
He also called for sanctioning Iranian oil, which he says has generated increased revenue because of the Biden administration’s relaxing sanctions or not enforcing them. He called for American energy to replace oil from Tehran.
“Let us be energy independent to supply our allies,” he said. “It will also be better for the environment.”
In addition to enforcing “harsher sanctions,” the United States should not make any nuclear deal with Iran, he said.
Secure U.S. Border, Battle Antisemitism
The fourth part of the plan is for the United States to focus on its own security, including securing its borders.Finally, the fifth part of the plan is to combat anti-Semitism in the United States. In a message to college and university presidents, Mr. McCarthy told them not to be on the sidelines.
“Confront it and deny it,” he said. “Condemn it.”
Mr. McCarthy called for confronting anti-Semitism inside Congress.
“Saying ‘no comment’ is not leadership,” he said. “Allowing elected members of [the House] to speak antisemitism and not condemn it is wrong. To avoid it is wrong.”
Mr. McCarthy referred to when, as speaker, he prevented Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) from hosting an anti-Israel event in the Capitol Visitors Center—it was eventually hosted on the Senate side.
Under his leadership, the House voted to kick Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) off the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Mr. McCarthy emphatically remarked on the severity and consequences of the conflict.
“Weakening America strengthens our enemies,” he said. “These five actions must be taken now.”
