Vocal supporters of Israel in Congress told Jewish Insider they want President Joe Biden to place a heavy emphasis on the United States’ commitment to supporting Israel and deterring Iran in his final address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. 

Biden and his orbit have largely remained mum on what to expect from the address, though one senior administration official told reporters on Monday that the president has “a story to tell” about his work supporting Ukraine, upholding the principles of the U.N. charter and “what we’re doing to deal with the ongoing and serious conflicts in our world, in places like Gaza, where the president has worked tirelessly to get a hostage/cease-fire deal, and conflicts like Sudan.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told JI that Biden needs to focus his entire address on the threats posed by Tehran.

“Condemn Iran, go to the source of evil, quit playing games,” Graham said. “It’s Iran. Iran, Iran, Iran. If he doesn’t label Iran the worst actor on the planet, it will be a failed speech.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) called on Biden to offer strong backing for Israel’s defense, including its recent attacks on Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon.

“I do want to hear him make a very clear statement that Israel is trying to defend itself, still, and that [it has] tens of thousands of rockets and missiles coming at [it] from Gaza, the Houthis and from Hezbollah,” Lankford said. “I would hope that he would say we as Americans would never put up with that and we understand why our ally Israel is trying to make it stop.”

Lankford says he also wants Biden to express support for Israel killing terrorists: “When Israel takes out terrorists that are on our most-wanted list … we don’t protest that. We instead say that’s the right thing to respond for the sake of the world.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said he hopes Biden “will state in no uncertain terms his commitment to Ukraine and to continuing the effort toward peace, supporting Israel but seeking a path for peace.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told JI that the president “needs to acknowledge that this is the most dangerous time in the world and for our national security in at least 50 years. I’m concerned that he will downplay the threats to our country and our allies, but I hope to be proven wrong.”

“It seems to me that President Biden is not acknowledging the existential threat to Israel, and the fact that it was not Israel that started this war, it was Hamas,” Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, added. “I hope he will give a strong defense of Israel, and also make very clear that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s aggression in Ukraine hurts America, because Putin has been very clear that he will not stop with Ukraine. If we want to avoid a land war in Europe, what we must do is help the Ukrainians.”

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) urged the president to consider “condemning Iran for funding all these terrorist proxies, let’s start there.”

“Let’s hear him condemn Iran. Let’s hear him give support for Israel, give support for Ukraine, and that we are going to support our friends and allies against all of these authoritarian regimes and terrorist proxies. If he just starts there, we’ll be off to a good U.N. conference,” the Iowa senator said. 

Ernst added that she wished Biden “would’ve never allowed the president of Iran on U.S. soil; someone who is calling for death to Americans and death to Israel should not be allowed to attend and live the high life while he’s in the United States.”

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said of Biden that, “It’d be nice if he could actually talk about getting something done with regard to the international issues that are out there, but his approach has been wrong.”