Before President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House on Monday to discuss Trump’s plan to end the Israel-Hamas war, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made plain what many in the conservative movement already believe: Israel must be allowed to finish the job against terrorist forces that seek its annihilation.
Responding on X to an Axios report that President Trump planned to “squeeze” Netanyahu into a Gaza peace deal, Graham cut straight to the point: “When it comes to terrorist threats, Israel must be allowed to defend itself and finish the job. While I strongly support trying to end major military operations in Gaza and moving toward a new Middle East, it is imperative that this is accomplished in the right way. I do not support ending major military operations if it means that Hamas is not eliminated forever and does not ensure that there will never be another October 7. From my point of view, Israel is not the problem; It is Iran and its proxies that are the problem.”
When it comes to terrorist threats, Israel must be allowed to defend itself and finish the job.
While I strongly support trying to end major military operations in Gaza and moving toward a new Middle East, it is imperative that this is accomplished in the right way.
I do not… https://t.co/DU60e6ayTA
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 29, 2025
That X post is more than political chest‑thumping — it’s a manifesto of existential clarity. Graham doesn’t fear negotiation, but a hollow cessation that leaves the terror infrastructure intact. To Graham, tactical pauses that preserve Hamas (or fail to neutralize Iran’s regional networks) amount to strategic failure.
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This stance is consistent with a pattern Graham has long championed. In Congressional hearings, he has blasted U.S. officials for withholding weapons from Israel at a moment of peril, framing the issue in stark historical terms — civilian losses in wartime are tragic, but sometimes unavoidable when destroying a mortal enemy. In April 2024, Graham excoriated Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin over delayed munitions shipments to Israel, arguing that restraining Israel’s ability to remove threats would send the wrong signal to Tehran and its proxies. And after the October 7 massacre, he defended Israel’s right to wage total war on Hamas out of necessity to prevent another slaughter.
Trump, for his part, told reporters he was “very confident” his plan would end the Israel‑Hamas war, but Graham’s X post is the reminder conservatives will keep pressing: peace cannot be bought at the price of security.
For Graham and like-minded allies, the equation is simple: eliminate the terror threat, then build peace. Anything less risks another October 7.