Senate Passes Cruz Bill to Pursue Justice for US Teen Murdered in Israel
Sen. Cruz: We will not rest until justice is served
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today released the following statement regarding the Senate passage of his bipartisan rewards bill for information related to capturing the Hamas terrorists who kidnapped and murdered Naftali Fraenkel, an Israeli-U.S. citizen, on June 12, 2014. Two Israeli teens, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach, were also murdered in the attack.
“The Senate has sent a unified message to the world: we will not rest until the Hamas terrorists responsible for the horrific murder of Naftali Fraenkel are found and justice is served. We cannot bring our bright young Israeli-American boy back to his family, but we can take action to ensure every terrorist knows that when they harm an American citizen, they unleash the force of the strongest nation in the world and that we will do everything within our power to punish the perpetrators.
“I commend my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for recognizing that this is a critical moment to stand with Israel in the fight against radical Islamic terrorists who want to destroy the freedom inherent to the American and Israeli way of life. Israel is currently on the front lines of this fight, but as Naftali’s case illustrates, the terrorists do not distinguish between our two nations. This is our fight too and we need to support Israel in the hunt for the murderers of all three boys. I hope that the House will pass this legislation this week and send it to the President so that not another day goes by when the United States is not joining the effort to bring the terrorists who attack our citizens to justice.”
This legislation is sponsored by Sen. Cruz, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-NJ, and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL.
Earlier this month, Sen. Cruz introduced the reward bill that offers up to $5 million for information on the murder of Naftali Fraenkel, a dual United States-Israeli citizen. Rep. Doug Lamborn, CO-05, filed bipartisan companion legislation in the House, co-sponsored by Rep. Brad Sherman, CA-30, lead Democrat on the bill. The text of the bill may be found here.
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