WASHINGTON – Representatives Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Bill Johnson (R-OH) announced the establishment of the Congressional Israel Victory Caucus on Thursday morning. 

“Historically, wars end when one side gives up. Victory remains imposing your will on your enemies. I think that is the essence here,” explained Daniel Pipes, President of the Middle East Forum, who organized the event. “I would like to argue for the need to go back to the historical precedent of winning and signaling to the enemy that he has lost.”

Johnson noted that the main agenda of the new caucus includes opposing the BDS movement, ending Palestinian incitement and opposing one-sided UN resolutions against the Jewish state. The Ohio lawmaker, who is an observant Christian, discussed his 2014 visit to Israel where he zip-lined across the Hebron Valley, in the West Bank. “The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I realized that I was ziplining across the very path that Abraham and Isaac took on their way to the Temple Mount for what would have been Abraham’s obedience to God to sacrifice his son Isaac.” He added that in the Bible, God promised Jacob the land of Israel, and it would be inappropriate for people “to refute the deed that God put in place. I believe that Israel’s homeland is the land that God set aside for her.”

DeSantis discussed his March visit to Jerusalem where he explored the logistics for transferring the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Florida lawmaker emphasized that Trump “promised that he was going to do it (move the Embassy to Jerusalem) and this is a guy that is very interested in keeping his promises. So, we are assuming that it’s going to happen.”

So far no Democrats — even fervent supporters of Israel — have joined the Israel Victory Caucus. The event was also co-sponsored by the ZOA, EMET, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and Americans for a Safe Israel but did not include more centrist pro-Israel organizations such as AIPAC, the AJC or ADL.

Pipes declared, “What I want the US government to do is say to Israel, ‘do what you need to do to win the war to convince the Palestinians that they lost. There is an alternative to this desolate, fruitless, counterproductive peace process.” What exactly that alternative is was not made clear at Thursday morning’s event.