NC Sen Budd backs Israel’s; says 'Hamas is the impediment to peace'

North Carolina congressional support of Israel in its Middle East war with Hamas was affirmed Monday evening by U.S. Sen. Ted Budd.

The Republican’s position was made clear in a social media post by Rev. Mike Huckabee, the ambassador to Israel for the Trump administration and former governor of Arkansas. They were responding to 25 Western countries – led by Britain, Canada, France, Italy and Australia – and the European Union commissioner issuing a joint statement calling for a ceasefire and assessing blame on both sides.

Budd said on social media, “653 days after October 7th, 50 hostages remain held captive by Hamas in Gaza. What was true on day one is still true today: Hamas is the impediment to peace and must release the hostages immediately.”

Huckabee called the statement “disgusting.” He said putting pressure on Israel “instead of savages of Hamas” and blaming America’s ally was “irrational.”

Israel rejected the statement.

The North Carolina Democratic Party, gathering this coming weekend for its annual convention in Raleigh, has, through its executive committee on June 28, adopted a resolution declaring Israel guilty of apartheid against Palestinians. It also said Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza; and using American weapons in “self-defense” against hospitals, schools, homes, refugee camps, mosques, churches, journalists and humanitarian aid workers.

The Center Square was unsuccessful getting comment, and has otherwise seen silence, on the statement from the governor, former Gov. Roy Cooper, four other Democratic members of the Council of State, and all four North Carolinians in the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, D-N.C., said on Monday, “Trump’s aid plan for Gaza doesn’t work. Starving civilians are being met with gunfire at aid sites – it’s inhumane and unacceptable. I continue to call for a ceasefire to ensure the flow of aid to the region and safe return of the remaining hostages.”

The statement said 800 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid. “The Israeli Government’s denial,” it said, “of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.”

The statement also said, “The hostages cruelly held captive by Hamas since 7 October 2023 continue to suffer terribly. We condemn their continued detention and call for their immediate and unconditional release. A negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families.

“We call on the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and to urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to do their life-saving work safely and effectively.”

The acronyms are for the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations, meaning typically nonprofits.

The statement also said, “The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.”

The countries making the statement, according to Global Affairs Canada, are the foreign ministers of “Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the European Union Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.”