Indian American presidential candidates back Israel, slam Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Hamas and its Iranian backers were chanting 'Death to Israel, death to America.' Other Indian American Republican candidate Ramaswamy said the key lesson for America is to learn from the attack on Israel.

Washington : Noted Indian Americans, including two Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, have rallied behind Israel following unprecedented attacks on it by the Hamas militant group that has left hundreds dead.

Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a barrage of rocket attacks in southern Israel on Saturday, killing over 600 people, including soldiers, and wounding more than 1,900. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple airstrikes targeting Hamas' key infrastructure. About 1,000 people have been confirmed dead in Israel and Gaza in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides.

Hamas and the backers who support them, the Iranian regime, were chanting 'Death to Israel, death to America.' That's what we have to remember. We are united with Israel because Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Iranian backers hate us," Republican presidential candidate Haley told NBC News on Sunday.

"We have to remember that what happened to Israel could happen here in America. And I hope that we all unite and stand with Israel because they really need us right now, she said. In a post on X, Haley told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to finish them (Hamas).

Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist militant group which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. The Gaza Strip is home to about 2.3 million people. It ia a 41km-long and 10km-wide territory surrounded by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. Haley said she had introduced a resolution denouncing Hamas when she was the US ambassador to the UN.

America was the only member of the Security Council to vote for it. This is what Israel is up against a world that denies the evil in front of them. We did not bow to world pressure then we won't now, she said. Other Indian American Republican candidate Ramaswamy said the key lesson for America to learn from the attack on Israel was that it cannot be complacent about defending its own borders.

"If it can happen there, it can happen here. Our own border is near-completely porous right now. The Southern Border is a disaster and I visited the Northern Border yesterday which is wide open for invasion. Hamas picked a moment when Israel is deeply divided over domestic politics, as we are now here at home, he said.

Our own foreign policy establishment has focused on distant foreign priorities while leaving us badly vulnerable on border defence, cyber and super-EMP defence, nuclear missile defence, and space-based defences. We can't lose sight of that and should use the attacks on Israel as a wake-up call here at home, Ramaswamy said on Sunday.

Mukesh Aghi, president and CEO of US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) posted on social media platform X on Sunday: I stand with Israel with the flag of India in the backdrop. Bharat Barai, Indian Indian-American community leader, said Hamas and Hezbollah are the most barbaric terrorist organisations in the world.