Norcross joins first congressional delegation to Israel following Hamas attack

New Jersey Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden) joined a small delegation of U.S. lawmakers in Israel yesterday, the first congressional delegation to visit the Middle Eastern nation since it was attacked by the Palestinian militant group Hamas over the weekend. He returned to the United States last night.

Norcross, alongside Senator Jodi Ernst (R-Iowa) and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) and Jimmy Panetta (D-California), met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to discuss the Hamas attack and how the United States can lend its assistance to Israel.

“It’s so important to show our unity with not only the citizens [of Israel], but the entire world, against Hamas and the untold violence against citizens: women, elderly, babies,” Norcross said in remarks delivered in Israel. “Unbelievable. Our unwavering support [is with] Israel, because our values are one. We stand together.”

The trip, which was planned before the attacks occurred, previously included stops with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Bahrain to discuss the Abraham Accords and the promotion of peace in the Middle East. Hamas’s attack, which began on Saturday and has already claimed thousands of lives in both Israel and Palestine (including at least 14 American citizens), forced a change of plans for the delegation.

President Joe Biden has pledged to bolster the American military’s presence in the region and send military aid, though the House of Representatives’ lack of a speaker could complicate those plans. Regardless, Norcross said that the United States is fully ready to stand behind Israel.

“On behalf of the residents of my district, but more importantly of the United States and quite frankly the entire world, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder today, tomorrow, and forever with the citizens of Israel to fight evil,” Norcross said.