Lindsey Graham, a Republican Senator from South Carolina and a great friend of Israel, passed away on Sunday morning, July 11, due to cardiac arrest.
During his time in office, Graham demonstrated strong support for the State of Israel and the Jewish community worldwide.
He made numerous wartime visits to the region, both to Israel and its neighbors, advocating on Israel's behalf.
Graham also cosponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act and the Combating BDS Act of 2017, both of which aim to combat discriminatory boycotts targeting Israel.
He criticized the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which claimed that Israel’s settlements in the West Bank have no legal validity, and cosponsored legislation that objected to the resolution.
Graham with the Jerusalem Post
Most recently, Graham spoke with the Post in February on the war with the October 7 massacre, the Iranian regime, and Israel's past three years of war.
“Without the October 7 massacre happening, I don’t believe Iran would be on the verge of regime collapse,” he said.
“The determination of the Israeli people to make sure ‘Never Again’ has meaning has weakened Iran and their proxies, unlike any time since the founding of the religious-Nazi state in 1979,” Graham said, linking the current vulnerability of the ayatollahs to Israel’s military response.
“The sacrifice of the people who have died in droves for their freedom in Iran and the determination of Israel to strike back after the massacre... those two things have led to this historic moment,” he added.
Graham also spoke to the Post about his personal views on the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the question of a two-state solution.
“There is no other alternative,” Graham told the Post in an interview on Friday during the Republican Jewish Coalition summit in Las Vegas last year.
“A one-state solution would either end Israel as a Jewish state or leave millions without rights, which the world will not accept. To be pro-Israel, you need to be honest with Israel.”
Anything else, he warned at the time, would either end Israel’s Jewish character or leave millions permanently disenfranchised and isolate the country.
“Being pro-Israel means telling hard truths,” Graham said. “The only path that keeps Israel Jewish and democratic is a two-state framework, when the conditions are real."
"That is the reality friends should say out loud.”