"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake, I will not remain quiet." -Isaiah 62:1
We thank God that the April 13th missile and drone attack on Israel, by the Islamic Republic of Iran, failed. Many of the 300 missiles and drones were destroyed by Israel's Iron Dome defense system or by U.S. and Israeli jets. But the failure of the attack does not erase its significance. For the first time, Iran has launched an attack directly from its own territory on Israel, instead of using its proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
We are pleased that, despite growing criticism and pressure on Israel by the Biden administration, the White House stood by our ally and cooperated with the Israeli military. But only hours later, President Biden displayed his true colors, calling Israel's prime minister and pressuring Israel not to respond militarily to Iran's act of war. The contents of the conversation were leaked to the media, further encouraging Israel's enemies.
We strongly urge the Biden administration to stand with our ally and stop its appeasement of Iran. The Islamic Republic is a declared enemy of the United States. Their government has the blood of U.S. soldiers on their hands. Weapons produced by Iran were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan to inflict as many casualties as possible on U.S. troops.
We also are deeply troubled by the fact that there is growing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hatred here in the United States. One poll over the weekend showed that one-third of Democrats want President Biden to be tougher—against Israel. A coalition of left-wing activists, including members of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, met in Chicago this weekend. When they were told that Iran had launched a major attack on Israel, the crowd burst into cheers. Recently, a speaker in Dearborn, Michigan, led a crowd chanting, "Death to America, Death to Israel." Multiple elected officials in Michigan have refused to condemn these calls for genocide against Israel and America.
JDFI urges prayer for the "peace of Jerusalem." We implore our elected officials to stand with Israel and to support efforts to root out anti-Semitism in academia and wherever else it thrives in America.