Gov. DeSantis expresses support for Israel, proposes increased sanctions on Iran
MIAMI - The war in Israel has entered its fourth day and the death toll is in the thousands.
Most of the fighting is now focused in the Gaza Strip and the surrounding Israeli land.
In Surfside, Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference at the Shul of Bal Harbour to express support for Israel.
"What we witnessed this weekend was one of the worst terrorist attacks, in not just Israel, but in the history of the world. You have barbarians from Hamas funded by the Iranian regime murdering the elderly, children, raping women, doing things that are really indescribable," DeSantis told the gathering.
"It's important that we say as Americans, and as Floridians, we stand with the people of Israel and we stand with the state of Israel in this dark hour," he added.
The governor said that Israel not only has the right to defend itself, it has the duty to defend itself with overwhelming force to eradicate Hamas infrastructures.
"You're going to start hearing, maybe in days and certainly in weeks, you're going to start hearing people say that Israel is now to blame, that Israel is acting disproportionately, the United Nations may even do something. Americans need to stand firm, there is no moral equivalence between Israel defending itself and Hamas terrorists committing atrocities against civilians. You can count on us here in Florida to be very clear about right and about wrong," said DeSantis.
The governor also expressed disappointment in the Biden administration's response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He said that "immediately after the attack the administration had to delete a tweet from one of the State Department bureaus that said there should be no response. And then Blinken sent out a tweet calling for a ceasefire in this situation. What you get a massive terrorist attack and you're just supposed to sit there?"
DeSantis added that this is the time for leadership.
"Now's the time for the President to be out there to be talking about how important it is that we're unified in the fight against terrorism," he said.
DeSantis questioned the administration's decision to send more money to Iran and said that it needs to stop because
"When Iran gets more money they are not using it to make life better for the people of Iran. What they use it for is to fund terrorism throughout the Middle East and the world," he said.
The governor also said Iran was involved in orchestrating the attack against Israel although they deny it. So he's calling for increased sanctions against Iran.
"We are going to roll out in the next legislative session a proposal to increase Florida's sanctions on Iran and to block Iranian business in our state," he said.
The governor said the proposed legislation will reinforce Florida's commitment to not do business with state sponsors of terrorism. He said it would expand the prohibition on state and local government investment in Iranian businesses to include the financial, construction, manufacturing, textile, technology, shipping, and port sectors.
DeSantis was joined by Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez and Israel Consul General Maor Elbaz-Starinsky in making the announcement.
Stand With Israel plan from Florida by Alfred Charles on Scribd
The Israeli Consul General said he welcomes the governor's attempt to choke off money from Iran.
"This is not a political conflict, this is not a territorial dispute, forget about it, this is not opposite values or cultural differences, this is a war between light and darkness," said Elbaz-Starinksy.
