The sudden passing of Sen. Lindsey Graham leaves a profound void in international diplomacy and a heavy sense of loss across the State of Israel. As one of Israel’s best friends on Capitol Hill, he worked tirelessly to strengthen relations with our nation. Graham understood that the strategic partnership between Israel and the US is built on shared values. He expressed this through the consistent actions of a true friend.
Graham’s devotion was not long-distance; it was deeply personal. He visited Israel dozens of times throughout his career, always eager to stand on the ground, meet with leaders and citizens, and assess our shared security challenges firsthand.
In the foreign policy arena, Lindsey Graham was a man of fierce conviction. This was on full display in March when, amid heavy global pressure, he looked directly into the camera during an interview and declared with clear resolve: “I will be with Israel until our dying day.”
What Lindsey Graham did for the US and Israel
This was much more than rhetoric; it was the central ethos of his career. He consistently translated his moral clarity into historic legislative action that fundamentally strengthened our shared security interests. By authoring the historic Taylor Force Act, he forced financial accountability on the Palestinian Authority, ensuring US aid would stop as long as they continued to reward terrorists.
Graham was a towering, unwavering voice against the Iranian regime and its regional ambitions. He clearly recognized Tehran as the head of the snake, fiercely calling out Iran’s funding of global terror and its systematic destabilization of the Middle East. He was an aggressive champion of crippling sanctions, leading the charge in Congress to isolate the regime and protect America, Israel and shared allies from the Iranian threat.
His commitment also ran deep in the diplomatic arena. He was one of the first and most prominent voices in Congress pushing to enforce the Jerusalem Embassy Act, laying the critical political groundwork for moving the US Embassy to Israel’s eternal capital. More recently, as biased campaigns targeted Israel on the world stage, he fiercely advanced US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other institutions. He drew a clear line against the weaponization of international bodies against Israeli leaders and soldiers.
He also recognized that a strong Israel is the key to regional stability. Graham was a driving force in advancing normalization initiatives between Israel and other countries in the region. He envisioned a new reality of peace and cooperation, built on a foundation of collective strength against shared adversaries.
He saw American support for Israel as much more than an act of charity, promoting it instead as a vital, mutual partnership. He often compared our joint defense initiatives to a “21st-century Manhattan Project” – a critical venture to develop the technologies needed to keep both Americans and Israelis safe from shared threats.
Above all, he always put America first through the lens of an absolute moral clarity – a clarity that allowed him to instantly distinguish right from wrong, aggressor from defender, and ally from enemy. This unwavering conviction is precisely why he championed the freedom-seeking Iranian people, and fiercely defended Israel. He understood completely that the true way to project American strength was to fortify its allies and decisively defeat the forces of destruction that stand against the fundamental values of America.
Washington lost a legislative giant. Israel lost a genuine friend, a massive supporter, and a true partner. We will honor his immense legacy by continuing to strengthen the steadfast US-Israel alliance – an alliance he dedicated his entire life to building.
We in Israel, alongside the people of our region, owe Sen. Lindsey Graham immense gratitude for a dedication to our alliance that was rooted in his mission to protect America. By working to strengthen the United States, his tireless efforts ultimately brought greater peace, security, and stability to our entire region. May his memory be a blessing.
The author serves as Israel’s deputy foreign minister.