to stop doing it and we ought to be doing more for the capacity of air and missile defenses as well as the long range weapons that can credibly threaten what iran and other advisories hold dear. this isn't new criticism. and it isn't a new problem. an emboldened iran, an unchecked network of proxies and brazen balance against israel, america and the global economy, the president choices magnifies these threats. he's united them with retreat, with hesitation, and with appeasement. today, the united states has effectively allowed itself to be deterred by second rate

terrorist power. and the world is taking note. our credibility is not divisible. and our failure compounds the others we face. but the bath-- the path forward-- rebuild our military power, stand with our allies, deter our adversaries and do it today. >> i want to speak on president biden's recent decision to withhold certain offensive u.s. weapons from israel that might be used in a assault on rafah. i support president biden. it is not as some have characterized a failure to support israel in a dangerous region, after genuinely

horrific attack from hamas. it's a warning from one of the pro-israel president as to an ally, that it could add to a catastrophic humanitarian efforts in the region. and the use of forces, a dramatic defense of israel against an iranian assault. anyone who doubts joe biden's commitment to israel is misguided, but reached his limit with president netanyahu and his response in gaza and focused on his own political survival more than anything else. his blunders protecting civilians and allowing the flow of aid were noted in the national security memo reported to congress last week. let me elaborate. last week many of us yet with

king jordan abdula, a key ally to the united states and made peace with israel. he, like middle east expert tom freedman, argued that simply levelling gaza and furthering the humanitarian crisis without a long-term strategy for peace is no strategy at all for israel. a path forward can only happen with the support of arab nations in the region. president biden is urging presidentnet to offer this broader vision, with unthat likely includes normalization with saudi arabia and eventually peace with the palestinian state with a massive assault on rafah. as tom freedman posed to netanyahu in a recent column, what do you want more rafah or riyadh. do you want a full scale invasion of rafah from hamas, and without any exit strategy

from gaza or political two-state solutions. shortly after the horrific attack on october 7th, i warned our israeli friends of our mistakes, after september 11th. you do not want to an ill thought out gaza to be your fallujah. and the local civilian population to help counter terrorist groups. we were speculating recently how many innocent civilians have been killed in gaza in an effort to eliminate hamas, the number is staggering. this is another reason president biden reached his limit with netanyahu. the devastating humanitarian is a strategic failure. more than 40 years ago, an american president was furious about the israeli shelling.

and then called then president biegun and dressed him down and said the assault had to end. over the course of this terms, he used the power of u.s. weapons sales delaying or withholding arms to influence israeli war policies and as well as at the u.n. security council. that president was ronald reagan. he wrote about the difficult call, i was angry and i told him it had to stop or our entire future relationship was in danger. so i urge those who are resistant and vocal about president biden's actions to reflect on ronald reagan's similar moves to help our israeli allies from making a strategic, tragic mistake four decades ago. or reflect on the words of former mosad chief biegun,