Sen. Ted Cruz Speaks of the Compassion of Israeli Military toward Syrians

Sen. Ted Cruz Speaks of the Compassion of Israeli Military toward Syrians

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) witnessed first-hand the compassion of the Israeli military toward the victims of the tragic on-going civil war in Syria. Senator Cruz is concluding a fact-finding tour of Israel, Ukraine, and Poland, where he met with these nations’ leaders to discuss their security needs, as well as potential economic trade development.

On a conference call attended by Breitbart Texas, Cruz spoke for approximately forty-five minutes with reporters about his trip. Toward the end of the call, he related a story about his visit to a military hospital where Israelis care for Syrians who have been injured in the war. Cruz said, “I had the opportunity to travel to the north, to the Golan Heights, and to visit a hospital where Israeli doctors are treating Syrians who have been gravely injured in the grotesque civil war that is raging in Syria.”

Cruz said that since the civil war began, Israel has treated over one thousand Syrians, free of charge, in its hospital. “I had the opportunity to visit with several Syrians who were there–one young boy who had lost both legs and part of an arm.”

The Senator had a difficult time, emotionally, describing what he had witnessed at the hospital. “Having the opportunity to visit with these Syrians who were grievously wounded,” Cruz said, “and to see Israel’s provision of medical care to them, free of charge, was, I think, a powerful demonstration of the values behind the nation of Israel, of this humanitarian commitment.”

Cruz continued:

And one of the most striking things was visiting with the social workers at the hospital who would describe, particularly young Syrian children, who would have been at their homes when a bomb came in or a mortar or a shell exploded, and they awakened to find themselves, number one, grievously injured. But, number two, to find themselves in an Israeli hospital being treated by Jewish physicians and Jewish nurses.

“These children are, at first, terrified,” he elaborated, “because their entire lives, they have been taught Israel is the enemy, that it is the little Satan. I heard story after story about the astonishment as Israeli doctors and nurses worked to save their lives, to repair their limbs, to repair the injury.”

One story Cruz relayed from a physician was about a Syrian woman who said, “My entire life, the army that I was told was there to protect me, I now saw attacking me and my family and inflicting grievous, grievous harm.” She continued, “And my entire life, the army that I had been told was my mortal enemy, who wanted to kill me, is in fact, the only one helping me and helping my family.”

Cruz went on to explain how the Syrians come across the border to the Israeli military where the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) takes these wounded Syrians to a military hospital and provides them with care. “I met with soldiers with a military ambulance right on the border,” Cruz stated, “who care for and provide emergency care for wounded Syrians.”

An obviously moved Cruz added, “It was a powerful story and one I would encourage you to tell.” He explained that it was illustrative of the values that define the nation of Israel.

Cruz also discussed his meetings with government and opposition party leaders in Israel about Israel’s security needs and their feelings about the importance of Iran not obtaining the ability to make and/or deliver nuclear weapons. He met on the first two days of his trip with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and opposition Labor Party’s Knesset leader Isaac Herzog.

Cruz said the leaders with whom he met viewed “the prospect of Iran gaining nuclear weapons capability as the gravest national security threat facing Israel and facing the United States.”

“Number two,” Cruz continued, “every single leader across the political spectrum viewed the current deal being negotiated in Geneva as, in the words of Prime Minister Netanyahu, a very, very bad deal and a historic mistake.”

After strongly criticizing President Obama for alienating our allies while simultaneously appeasing our potential enemies, such as Iran and North Korea, Cruz asserted, “The U.S. needs to stand with Israel. No one wants to see peace more than Israel. But consistently, the Obama administration has criticized and attacked the leadership of Israel.”

Cruz explained how over the last five years, America has been receding from leadership in the world, and Russia, Iran, and China have stepped into that vacuum and made the world a more dangerous place. Cruz said the peace negotiations between Israel and Palestinians will continue to fail until the Palestinians agree that Israel has the right to exist as a nation and until they denounce terrorism.

The junior Senator from Texas spoke about the current negotiations underway with Iran about its potential development of nuclear weapons and strategic ballistic missiles. “I believe we are repeating the same mistakes of the Clinton administration in the 1990s regarding North Korea,” Cruz firmly stated. “Even in the best case scenario, this deal would leave Iran on the threshold of a nuclear breakout.” As for the strategic ballistic missiles, Cruz warned, “They are being developed for one purpose only–to project force to the United States and Europe.”

He went on to explain that the current negotiations in Geneva would allow Iran to complete the development of these ballistic missiles, “which is profoundly bad for Israel’s security and for America’s.”

Cruz explained that he supports the bill sponsored by Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), which would establish triggers for re-imposing sanctions on Iran. Cruz blamed Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for blocking the bill which, Cruz explained, has strong bipartisan support in the Senate. He said Reid is standing with the Obama administration and blocking a vote on the bill.

Bob Price is a staff writer and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.

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