As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, I have a very close and personal relationship with Israel. A safe and secure Israel, the United States’ strongest ally in the Middle East, is crucial to achieving peace and stability in the Middle East. After 60 years of prosperity, Israel has become the most free and democratic nation in the Middle East. Despite its many successes I will not take Israel’s independence or existence for granted. I will continue working to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship and defend it from organizations and countries that seek to undermine and destroy it.

In this regard, I believe unequivocally in Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas and Hezbollah rocket attacks. I support continued military assistance to Israel to ensure that it has the ability to defend itself from this villainous terrorism and aggression. Ultimately, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians must be settled at the negotiating table, but we must not arbitrarily impose deadlines that would force a poorly designed agreement. In recent years, the growing threat and bellicose rhetoric from Iran has grown increasingly worrisome. I support the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act, which would strengthen our ability to stop Iran’s nuclear program and the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act, which authorizes state and local governments to divest from companies that do business with Iran’s petroleum and natural gas sectors. I will continue to put all options on the table when dealing with Iran, but push for a diplomatic solution.

I am also active in many other efforts on Israel’s behalf. I’ve pushed the Administration to remove Israel from a trade watch list that negatively impacts its ability to conduct business with the United States. I have also contacted ambassadors of countries that are friendly to the United States but don’t always vote with our country at the United Nations on Israel-related resolutions and urged them to reexamine their actions.