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Johnson lays out lessons learned since Oct. 7 terror attacks 

'The first lesson is that we can never let our guard down. We cannot take antisemitism and terrorism lightly,’ the House speaker said at a virtual event organized by the Republican Jewish Coalition

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WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 8: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks at the Hudson Institute on July 8, 2024 in Washington, DC. Speaker Johnson laid out his plan for a "peace through strength" U.S. foreign policy agenda, calling for spending reform, beefing up defense needs, and strengthening allies while singling out Beijing as the country's number one foreign threat.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Monday that the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks serve as a cautionary tale against appeasing Iran and other U.S. adversaries funding terrorism. 

Johnson made the comments while offering his reflections on the one-year anniversary of the attacks and the lessons he had since learned during a virtual event organized by the Republican Jewish Coalition. The discussion came ahead of Johnson’s appearance at an RJC event in Las Vegas, Nev., to commemorate the anniversary. 

“The first lesson is that we can never let our guard down. We cannot take antisemitism and terrorism lightly. We know that there are barbarians who will do terrible things, and they have to be met with an appropriate level of force because we have to defend what is good and right,” Johnson told RJC CEO Matt Brooks and former Sen. Norm Coleman, who serves on the board of directors. 

The House speaker pointed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments in the immediate aftermath of the attack that Israel’s multi-front war is a battle of “civilization versus barbarism.” “I’ll never forget that because he was exactly right,” Johnson said. 

“The other thing we’ve learned is that we know that our enemies will exploit weakness by America. This is the problem, you cannot appease terrorist regimes. You cannot play this halfway as some of the leaders have been doing here over the last year. You have to call a spade a spade. You have to speak with moral clarity, conviction, and consistency about this because we have to stamp this out,” he continued. “That’s a really important lesson to remember.”

Johnson added, “We are on the right side here and that the greatest adversaries of America, Russia and China are in coordination with this. They’re supporting Iran. They’re supporting Hezbollah. They were supporting Hamas, the terrorist regimes and their proxies. And if we don’t win, then the enemies of freedom prevail.”

“This is not just about Israel, it’s about America as well. It’s about freedom around the world and what happens in this conflict will dictate that,” he said. 

Asked what Republicans would do to deal with the threats posed by Iran if the GOP were to retake the House, Senate and White House in November, Johnson argued that former President Donald Trump’s return to power would in itself spark fear amongst U.S. adversaries. 

“You could say a lot of things about Donald J. Trump, but what no one can say is that he’s predictable, right? There’s real value in having a commander-in-chief at a dangerous time like this. Having someone that our adversaries see as unpredictable, that he may indeed be willing to use the appropriate measure of force, that has a great deterring effect,” Johnson said. 

“That’s what happened, of course. This isn’t theory. That’s what Donald Trump achieved in his first term. We didn’t have hot wars around the globe,” he added. “So returning President Trump to the White House, I think will have an immediate effect on these conflicts around the globe, and he will have the necessary backup that he needs in the Congress for us to assert our strength again.”

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