He was a true friend of Israel and a proud American patriot. Those few words capture Senator Lindsey Graham, who passed away at the age of 71. He belonged to a generation that has almost disappeared from American politics.
“I’ll stand with Israel until the day I die. It is our greatest ally,” he told me in an interview just a few months ago. His support for Israel was unwavering.
When I asked him about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end US military aid to Israel, Graham called it “a serious mistake,” at a time when nearly everyone around him, including many of his fellow Republicans, supported the idea.
Graham was a hawk on Iran. He repeatedly called for the regime’s overthrow and described its leaders as “Nazis.”
He was among those urging US President Donald Trump to go all the way and was the first to propose, before Operation Rising Lion, giving the Iranian regime a 60-day ultimatum to dismantle its nuclear program.
'I'm asking Israel to be open-minded about ending the conflict'
Trump adopted the idea, and Israel launched its operation on the 61st day.
During Israel’s war against Hamas, Graham never minced his words. “There needs to be a surrender like Japan’s and Germany’s in World War II. An unconditional surrender,” he told me in another interview.
He believed that when Israel goes to war, it must see the fight through to the end against the forces of evil – but at the same time, it should do everything possible to advance regional normalization.
For years, Graham shuttled between Riyadh and Jerusalem in an effort to broker peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Even after October 7, and despite all the obstacles, he never gave up on the belief that a normalization agreement was still achievable.
At the same time, he never hid what he believed Israel needed to do to make that happen.
“[Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is not going to recognize Israel until he gets a better outcome for the Palestinians, or he’ll get killed. That’s the truth. There won’t be normalization if the Palestinians are thrown under the bus,” he told me during the Jerusalem Post Annual New York Conference.
“I’m not asking Israel to reward terrorism. I’m asking Israel to be open-minded about ending the conflict in a way that guarantees Israel’s security and allows MBS to move his region forward.”
Graham was a true friend – someone Israel could always rely on to raise his voice in its defense. Even when he criticized Israel or believed it should take a different course, he always did so out of genuine friendship and concern.
At a time when many voices were calling on the United States to retreat from the Middle East, Graham remained steadfast in arguing that the forces of evil must be confronted, not ignored.
It was a clear, principled voice – one that has now fallen silent at precisely the moment we need it most.