BOISE, ID (CBS2) — "Israel is in a fight for their own survival, and quite frankly they're the first line of defense for America in that we have a common enemy in terrorism manifested from Iran," Representative Russ Fulcher, of Idaho's 1st Congressional District said in an interview on Wednesday, July 31. "That is where Hezbollah and Hamas are funded, trained, and Iran is an American enemy and an Israeli enemy. Israel is not just in a fight for themselves, but for America. They have done exactly what you'd expect them to do."
Fulcher attended a speech given by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to congress, saying he thought it was a "very good speech," and said he believed Israel required continued support from the United States to prevent a larger regional conflict.
"They've taken the steps to protect themselves," Fulcher said. "Just very recently there have been strikes to take out leaders, that is their intent to cut the head off the snake. I believe that America's advantaged to support that effort, if they're not in this fight we will be soon."
Pivoting to global economics, Fulcher acknowledged that conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine have disrupted global trade.
"We just have to remember that leadership matters," Fulcher said. "How we trade finances so much of this because America is to a large extent the worlds checkbook. If we conduct trade with Iran or we foster revenue streams that go into Iran, it indirectly finances the terror that is coming back to attack us."
Fulcher said that due to the position the dollar holds as an international standard for currency gives the U.S. unique ability to sanction and punish those acting in bad faith against global economic interests.
"America has a unique ability to sanction because the dollar is the international currency of choice for commerce, by controlling that we can sanction other countries and activities," Fulcher said. "It's not always popular, but it can be necessary to hinder abuse of commerce around the world. All of it is related, leadership matters, the importance of our elections this November, we're going to choose a chief executive making a lot of these decisions -- there's a tremendous amount at stake.
Yesterday, we shared Fulcher's viewson the 2024 election, and how security has changed for politicians in Washington D.C. following the attempted Trump assassination, and earlier this week on Wednesday we shared discussions about his policy agenda, and what he's working on for Idahoans.
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