Washington Senator Lindsey Graham’s Unwavering Support for Israel Amid Regional Turmoil

Despite growing domestic waning of support for Israel due to the conflicts in Gaza and Iran, Senator Lindsey Graham continued to be one of the United States’ most steadfast proponents of the nation.

Mr. Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina who passed away on Saturday, had been a leading advocate in Washington for the coordinated U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, which commenced in late February.

In recent years, Graham’s activist foreign‑policy stance unsettled certain factions of the Republican Party, which increasingly questioned deep American involvement abroad. Nonetheless, his positions earned him acclaim in Israel, where he was hailed as a reliable ally amid the nation’s growing diplomatic isolation.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Graham as a “great friend of Israel” who “recognized that Israel’s security and America’s are inseparable.” In the weeks preceding the conflict with Iran, Graham made at least two trips to Israel to meet with Netanyahu and discuss the issue.

“Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,” Netanyahu stated.

Several of Netanyahu’s political opponents — including those contesting him in upcoming parliamentary elections — joined in expressing mourning for the senator.

Gadi Eisenkot, a former Israeli military chief of staff who has risen as the leading challenger to Netanyahu in the upcoming election, described Graham as “one of the greatest friends Israel and the Jewish people have ever known.”

“His tireless work strengthened the U.S.-Israel alliance, made the Middle East safer, and contributed to global security,” Eisenkot said.

As a U.S. senator, Graham maintained an unusually intense focus on the Middle East, regularly traveling to the region to meet with leaders such as Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el‑Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

One of Graham’s primary foreign‑policy objectives was to broker a U.S.-backed agreement that would normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a goal he pursued by shuttling between Riyadh and Jerusalem.

Prior to the Hamas‑led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the Gaza war, President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s administration had spent months seeking normalization. One incentive for Saudi Arabia was a potential U.S. defense treaty.

The treaty would have required Senate approval. Graham sought to persuade Republican senators to endorse the agreement, even though it would have represented a diplomatic win for the Democratic administration, according to Mike Herzog, who served as Israel’s ambassador to Washington during the Biden presidency.

“The concept was that Biden would rally Democrats while Lindsey would rally Republicans,” Herzog explained, noting his deep commitment to the Israeli‑Saudi initiative, which he believed would also serve U.S. interests.

U.S. and Israeli expectations for a Saudi agreement diminished following Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, which has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths and drawn international condemnation.

“Israel’s image is deteriorating across the United States, among both Republicans and Democrats. Yet Lindsey remained a steadfast advocate, one of the most vocal proponents of the U.S.-Israeli alliance,” Herzog said.

Some Iranian state‑linked media outlets appeared to celebrate Graham’s death. Tasnim, a channel close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, described him as “food for snakes and ants,” while the Islamic Republic continued to endure.

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