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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., agreed on the condemnation of antisemitism in a rare moment of shared ideology and praise during an interview Tuesday on “Hannity.”
“I just want to commend John Fetterman for the courage he’s served… he’s shown extraordinary courage calling out antisemitism in his own party. And he’s done so at considerable cost to himself,” Sen. Cruz told host Sean Hannity.
The senators’ bipartisan discussion comes in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 Bondi Beach mass shooting that claimed 15 lives.
Authorities say the shooting broke out as roughly 1,000 people gathered at Australia’s most popular beach to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah.
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“What we saw on Bondi Beach was the latest manifestation of this evil, and this evil is spreading. This hatred of Israel. This hatred of Jews,” Cruz said.
“They [Jews] can’t even celebrate, you know, one of their holidays without getting gunned down and mowed and targeted,” Fetterman added.
What Fetterman called a “horrific massacre” also left 42 hospitalized, including two police officers.
One of the deceased victims was a Holocaust survivor, according to reports.
The Democratic lawmaker stressed that antisemitism is an issue his party must “confront,” and Cruz agreed, sharing fierce criticisms of the deadly Bondi attack.
“It is grotesque, it is evil, and it is dangerous, and we need to stand up and front it,” the Texas senator said.
New South Wales police say the two suspects, a father and son, were taken into custody. The father, 50, has died; his 24-year-old son remains hospitalized with injuries.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed the attack was motivated by “Islamic State ideology.”
Sen. Cruz condemned the “radical” Islamic state.
“Radical Islamic terrorism, they are at war with us,” he told Fox News. “This is their objective. There’s evidence that this father-son duo of murderers were [sic] affiliated with ISIS.”
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Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old Muslim man, is credited with disarming one of the two gunmen. The heroic act was captured in a viral video showing him wrestle the firearm out of the attacker’s hands.
Ahmed has received an outpouring of praise for his life-saving actions. Albanese called him an “Australian hero.”
Israeli officials have sharply chastised the Australian government for failing to safeguard Jewish communities amid what they deem as a surge in antisemitic incidents.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responding to the shooting on X, revealed he wrote a letter to Albanese four months ago.
“I told him: ‘Your policy encourages terrorism. It encourages antisemitism,’” Netanyahu wrote to X.
As their conversation broadened beyond the Bondi attack, Cruz and Fetterman also expressed agreement with President Donald Trump’s destruction of Iranian nuclear sites.
“The single most important foreign policy decision President Trump has made in the second term was the decision to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities,” Cruz argued.
“When the Ayatollah chants death to America, I believe him,” the Republican senator added. “The president as commander-in-chief has an obligation to keep the American people safe and allowing the Ayatollah to acquire a nuclear weapon that he could use to murder thousands or even millions of Americans was an unacceptable risk.”
Sen. Fetterman called President Trump’s bombing an “absolutely” appropriate move.
“I believe I was the only Democrat that was actually calling for and fully supported bombing the Iranian nuclear facility,” Fetterman added.
The discussion turned to domestic concerns, including rising antisemitic incidents in the United States.
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Fetterman criticized former President Joe Biden’s border policies as a “disaster,” calling for increased vetting of immigrants.
“It’s also reasonable to bring in people that have the kinds of values that are compatible with our values,” Fetterman explained. “That is not about free speech. That’s about bringing on the people that want to assimilate, and they want to build their lives in our country, not becoming part of a destructive force in our nation.”