Florida Senate - 2014                             (NP)    SR 4-A
       
       
        
       By Senator Diaz de la Portilla
       
       
       
       
       
       40-00002A-14A                                           20144A__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution expressing support for the State of
    3         Israel.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, Hamas is a United States-designated terrorist
    6  organization whose charter calls for the destruction of the
    7  State of Israel, and
    8         WHEREAS, Hamas continues to reject the Quartet Principles,
    9  the set of three requirements laid out by the diplomatic entity
   10  composed of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia, and
   11  the United States, which are to accept previous Israeli
   12  Palestinian agreements, to renounce violence, and to recognize
   13  Israel’s right to exist, and
   14         WHEREAS, innocent civilians are indiscriminately targeted
   15  by Hamas rocket attacks, and Hamas has killed hundreds of
   16  Israelis and dozens of Americans in rocket attacks and suicide
   17  bombings, and
   18         WHEREAS, since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Hamas
   19  and other terrorist groups have fired thousands of rockets at
   20  Israel, and since June 2014, Hamas has fired approximately 3,500
   21  rockets at Israel, and
   22         WHEREAS, Hamas’s weapons arsenal includes approximately
   23  12,000 rockets that vary in range, and
   24         WHEREAS, Hamas has also built a network of tunnels under
   25  Israel’s borders through which the organization has attempted to
   26  carry out terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, and
   27         WHEREAS, Iran has long provided material support to Hamas
   28  and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including assistance that has
   29  enabled these terrorist organizations to produce longer-range
   30  rockets capable of striking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and
   31         WHEREAS, in order to help Israel defend itself, the United
   32  States Congress approved the fiscal year 2014 Consolidated
   33  Appropriations Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama on
   34  January 17, 2014, which provides $235 million to Israel for the
   35  research, development, and production of Iron Dome, and
   36         WHEREAS, during the most recent rocket attacks from Gaza,
   37  Iron Dome has successfully intercepted dozens of rockets that
   38  were launched against Israeli population centers, and
   39         WHEREAS, the United States and Israel have also cooperated
   40  on other missile defense projects, including David’s Sling and
   41  the Arrow Weapon System, which are designed to thwart a diverse
   42  range of threats, including short-range missiles and rockets
   43  fired by non-state actors such as Hamas, and
   44         WHEREAS, 5 million Israelis are currently living under the
   45  threat of rocket attacks from Gaza, NOW, THEREFORE,
   46  
   47  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   48  
   49         That the Florida Senate reaffirms its support for Israel’s
   50  right to defend its citizens and to ensure the survival of the
   51  State of Israel and that the Florida Senate condemns the
   52  unprovoked rocket attacks aimed at Israel and calls on Hamas to
   53  immediately cease all rocket and other attacks against Israel.
   54         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
   55  presented to the Consulate General of Israel to Florida and
   56  Puerto Rico in Miami as a tangible token of the sentiments
   57  expressed in this resolution.