Since Hamas’ brutal attack against Israel on October 7, there has been a concerning amount of anti-Israel protests across the United States. Possibly more disheartening has been the anti-Israel rhetoric that has been spewed in the Halls of Congress. It is important to note almost all anti-Israel rhetoric is coming from a very small number of liberal Representatives, not Senators. However, it is alarming that we have Members of Congress who can so brazenly share their support of an internationally recognized terrorist organization. Although these voices exist, it is a fringe minority. The reality is most Members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, support Israel, even some you might not suspect.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) is one of those you might not think about in this space, but he has been a stalwart for Israel over the past month, even recently waving an Israel flag while passing a group of Hamas supporters. The Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) team caught wind of his support and visited his office where he has displayed photos of many of the current hostages of Hamas and shared that he would not take them down until they were returned safely home. As we walked through the halls of the Senate, we were a bit taken aback when we realized only four other Senators had public displays of support: Sens. Rick Scott (R-Florida), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), and Marco Rubio (R-Florida). We have seen a majority of senators vocally support Israel, and we wanted this reality to be reflected in the halls of Congress.

In the past month and a half there have been hundreds of anti-Israel protestors that have swarmed the Capitol complex. They have yelled in the midst of congressional hearings, filled the Cannon House Office Building rotunda while yelling “From the River to the Sea,” and have even sat in offices with red-painted hands calling for a ceasefire. This persistent behavior coupled with the lack of public display prompted us to join with Members of Congress to provide public displays of support for their offices. We started by emailing offices to see if they would be interested in committing to hanging a poster outside of their office to show their support for Israel. Thus far, CWALAC has provided over 30 different Members of Congress posters that show the faces of current hostages of Hamas and demand their return home. Our team has personally dropped off these posters to offices which has provided the opportunity for us to share with Chiefs of Staff, Legislative Directors, and other staff, further stories of American-Israeli families with whom we have been able to work. We have been able to share the story of Abigail and the Bibas family, (Read more about their family here— warning for language) who are all current hostages of Hamas, including nine-month old Kfir.

CWALAC will continue to partner with Members of Congress and share the stories of these families as we believe it is crucial to support our great ally, Israel.