WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a Republican presidential candidate, praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Oct. 16 for demonstrating “restraint” after Hamas attacked Israel about a week prior, and pushed back on his party’s front-runner, former President Donald Trump, for his criticism of Netanyahu days after the attack.
During a national security and foreign policy event at Washington’s Georgetown University co-hosted by The Associated Press, Scott said Hamas “targeted the most feeble, the weak, elderly, the children and a democracy.”
“What they did was ignore international norms or law of war,” Scott said of the attack, calling it an “Old Testament, absolute evisceration” with aims of “eliminating Israel or eliminating all the Jews on Earth.”
Scott said Netanyahu demonstrated “patience” and “humanity” in response to the Oct. 7 attack.
“One of the first things that Israel’s done is they waited,” Scott said. He added, “Now how Prime Minister Netanyahu had the kind of restraint to refrain from immediate action, it just talks about the morality and the humanity that we see coming from Netanyahu into Gaza.”
Hamas terrorists conducted an attack on Israel on the morning of Oct. 7, by land, sea and air, killing 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and taking around 200 hostages to Gaza.
Following the attack, Netanyahu declared Israel at war with Hamas, vowing to exact an “unprecedented price” for Hamas’ attack. Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes on Hamas in Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians caught in the devastation of the dense urban enclave. Already, the war has left more than 4,000 dead in both Israel and Gaza, according to the AP.
In remarks in Florida the previous week, Trump said Netanyahu had “let us down” before the U.S. killed a top Iranian general, and referred to Hezbollah, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, as “very smart.”
Following backlash from international allies and Republican rivals, Trump posted “#IStandWithIsrael” and “#IStandWithBibi” on his Truth Social platform.
Scott called Trump’s remarks “terrible and not helpful” as well as “heading in the wrong direction.”
“We should be loyal to our allies while being lethal to our adversaries,” Scott said. “Anything less than that jeopardizes life.”
He added that “America should stand shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back, with no daylight with Israel.”
Earlier the same day, Politico reported that a super PAC supporting Scott’s presidential bid canceled most of its remaining TV advertising spending, and will pivot to other measures, like door-knocking.
While barred from directly working with a presidential campaign, super PACs can fundraise and work on behalf of their preferred candidates.
In a memo to donors obtained by Politico, Trust In the Mission PAC, also known as “TIM PAC,” said it would cancel “all of our fall media inventory.”
“We are doing what would be obvious in the business world but will mystify politicos — we aren’t going to waste our money when the electorate isn’t focused or ready for a Trump alternative,” Rob Collins, co-chair of the super PAC, wrote, adding, the “Never-Trump field” would be “wasting money this fall” due to Trump’s current lead in the GOP primary field.
“This electorate is locked up and money spent on mass media isn’t going to change minds until we get a lot closer to voting,” Collins said.
As of mid-October, only Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley have thus far qualified for their party’s upcoming third debate, scheduled for Nov. 8 in Miami. Trump has declined to participate in previous debates.
The Jesuit-run Georgetown University has invited each Republican candidate who has qualified for debates to participate in events discussing national security and foreign policy.
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