The Biden administration's "strategy of weakness and appeasement" over the past few years has led to entities like Hamas being emboldened to launch attacks, and now, the United States must stand behind Israel and ensure it has what it needs to defend itself, Rep. Mike Lawler said on Newsmax Sunday.
"There needs to be severe consequences," the New York Republican told Newsmax's "Sunday Report." "I stand with Israel and their right to defend themselves, and the United States needs to take action to ensure, much like what was done 50 years ago by Richard Nixon, that they have the military equipment and the resources needed to defend themselves and win this war, including increasing funding for the Iron Dome."
As far as the Biden administration's actions, "when they withdrew from Afghanistan, I don't think there's any question that it emboldened Russia when it came to the invasion of Ukraine," Lawler said.
The devastating attack on Israel came on the heels of the Biden administration releasing $6 billion in sanctioned Iranian funds to Iran, "and money is fungible," Lawler added.
"We had a hearing two weeks ago on this very matter as connection with 'pay to slay' and what the [Palestinian Authority] does to pay terrorists to go kill Israelis," said Lawler. "The fact is that this administration has been extremely weak when it comes to taking on Iran, the largest state sponsor of terror."
The administration, he added, has tried to force Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians as part of any peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, "and I think it has been destructive."
Lawler said he's gotten a bill passed to create a special envoy for the Abraham Accords, the process reached under former President Donald Trump for normalized relations between Middle Eastern countries and Israel, because that process is "critical to maintaining peace in the Middle East."
But the assault on Israel by Hamas, "in engaging in one of the worst terror attacks in history, is devastating towards peace in the Middle East," said Lawler.
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.