On January 31, Drs. Mort and Esther Fridman hosted Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in their home for a NORPAC event. Ros-Lehtinen chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa. Using her leadership position on the committee, she vocally opposed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran last year.

At the event, Ros-Lehtinen reiterated the faults of the JCPOA, including the fact that Iran receives $100 billion up front, which will likely be used to continue to fund terrorism against Israel and other nations abroad. She also outlined three tasks that must be done now to protect Israel against its many threats. The first, regarding the JCPOA, is to ensure Iranian accountability. This includes tightening sanctions against Iran-related terror and ballistic missile testing.

Second, stated Ros-Lehtinen, America must focus on strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship. One aspect of this is for Congress to provide Israel with a qualitative military edge by continuing to appropriate money for military aid and missile defense systems. Last, she stated that we must defend Israel from efforts led by the United Nations and Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to delegitimize the Jewish state.

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen expressed solidarity with the Israeli people during this current wave of violence. In November, she coauthored a bipartisan resolution condemning the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement by the Palestinian Authority. Ros-Lehtinen suggested that the U.S. should hold all assistance to the Palestinian Authority until the terror and incitement end.

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen is running for reelection in 2016.