At the end of last week, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., met with Jewish and community leaders and hosted a press conference at the Turnberry Jewish Center & Tauber Academy in Aventura to stand in solidarity with Israel and Florida’s Jewish community following the horrendous attacks from Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists that have taken the lives of more than 1,300 Israelis and at least 27 Americans.
Scott was joined by Consul General of Israel to Florida Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, Rabbi Mark Rosenberg, Rabbi Jonathan Berkun and other Jewish and community leaders.
“This is a very dark time for Jewish families and so many Floridians and Americans who love and stand with Israel and our Jewish neighbors. In Aventura today, I met and prayed with Jewish and community leaders and was again struck by the strength and faith of the Jewish people in the face of unimaginable loss and suffering at the hands of Iran-backed Hamas terrorists. Our message today to Jewish families in Florida, the United States and around the world is this: Florida stands with Israel and the Jewish people. America stands with Israel and the Jewish people. Terrorism will never win,” said Scott.
“The terror and devastation unleashed on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas terrorists have rightly horrified the world. Innocent families were murdered in their homes. Babies were beheaded. Children were burned alive. Teenage girls have been raped and then burned alive. An elderly wheelchair-bound woman, who was later identified as a Holocaust survivor, was brutally dragged through the streets of Gaza and killed. Children who witnessed the murders of their parents have been kidnapped and are now being held hostage by Hamas. More than 250 youths were mowed down while attending a music festival in Southern Israel. At least 27 Americans have been killed. The atrocities are too numerous to fully recount, but the images seen will never leave our memories. Not since the Holocaust has the world witnessed such a brutal attack on the Jewish people. But this will not be the end of Israel or the Jewish people,” he added.
“I am 100 percent committed to making sure that Israel gets the support it needs to defend itself and eliminate Hamas and am leading the effort in the Senate to urge President Biden to immediately reconvene the G7 nations and take coordinated action to further isolate Iran with severe sanctions. We know Iran is behind these brutal attacks and America must lead the world in punishing the evil Iranian regime, which remains the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, and deny its ability to continue supporting the brutality witnessed in Israel from ever occurring again,” Scott continued.
