(Radio Iowa) – U-S Senator Joni Ernst addressed the tens of thousands who gathered at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the March for Israel. “Israel, the United States will always have your back,” Ernts said, to cheers. Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, was part of a bipartisan group preparing to meet in the Middle East to discuss improved relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia when Hamas attacked Israelis who live near Gaza.

“What Iran-backed Hamas perpetrated on October 7th was pure evil and those monsters deserve nothing short of complete and total destruction,” Ernst said, to cheers. Ernst, who met in Israel with victims of the attack three days later, did not directly mention the timing for an aide package for Israel that has not yet made its way through congress, but she told the crowd Republicans and Democrats in the U-S Senate will stand with Israel. She also denounced antisemitism in the U-S.

House Speaker Johnson, House Minority Leader Jeffries and U.S. Senator Ernst on stage at the March for Israel rally on Nov. 14, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Senator Ernst’s office)

“We will not sit quiet,” Ernst yelled, and the crowd cheered before she finished her sentence with, “as antisemitism is being promulgated in classrooms and campuses around the country.” Rally organizers planned the event as a response to protests that have denounced Israel’s actions in Gaza.