Sen. Tim Scott Fires Back at 'Ludicrous' Washington Post Headline
Sen. Tim Scott criticized The Washington Post on Tuesday for a “ludicrous” headline that blamed the Israeli missile defense system for the recent violence in Gaza.
“It is ludicrous to suggest that Israel’s self defense bears the same responsibility for the ongoing conflict as the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist attacks,” the South Carolina Republican tweeted.
It is ludicrous to suggest that Israel’s self defense bears the same responsibility for the ongoing conflict as the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist attacks. pic.twitter.com/uZIy8fppGC
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) May 18, 2021
Scott included a screen shot of the headline in his tweet, which read “Israel’s Iron Dome defense system protects Israeli lives. It also perpetuates the Israel-Gaza conflict.”
Yagil Levy, a professor of political sociology and public policy at the Open University of Israel, argued that the defense system allows Israel to “act with less concern for civilian casualties” and does not provide an incentive for politicians to work toward a peaceful resolution in The Washington Post’s analysis.
“Here’s the ironic outcome: Even as Iron Dome enables devastating Israeli bombardment from the air, it protects Gazan civilians from potentially devastating outcomes of an Israeli ground offensive, which would be the likely alternative,” Levy wrote.
“The increasing legal scrutiny of Israel’s wars, from the U.N. investigations that followed the earlier operations and the current attention from the International Criminal Court, gives Israel an interest in diminishing global pressure for military restraint and a political resolution.”
The Iron Dome technology, which became operational in 2011, has been credited for saving civilian lives during the conflict, according to CBS News.
Democrats and Republicans have been calling for the Biden administration to take sides in the conflict, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York said that the administration “needs to be strong and unequivocal in supporting Israel’s right to self-defense” in actions and not just words.
“Biden’s weakness and lack of support for Israel is leading to new attacks on our allies,” former President Donald Trump said.
Democrats, on the other hand, have called for stronger support for Palestinians and have criticized President Joe Biden after reports that he approved $735 million worth of precision-guided weapons to be sold to Israel amid the violence, according to The Hill.
“The most important thing that we can do right now is exactly what we’re doing, which is to be engaged across the board, pushing on de-escalation,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week.
Scott recently clashed with The Washington Post when a fact-checker questioned the hardships Scott’s family faced after the Civil War.
The article prompted quick backlash from both sides and Scott referenced it during his rebuttal to Biden’s first address to Congress.
“I’ve also experienced a different kind of intolerance. I get called ‘Uncle Tom’ and the N-word by progressives, by liberals,” he said.
“Just last week, a national newspaper suggested my family’s poverty was actually privilege because a relative owned land generations before my time.”
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