Lindsey Graham: 'He was the one who justified Israel's actions' • FRANCE 24 English

Well, let's bring in France 24's Shirley Sitbonnel from our International Affairs Desk to talk about some of the reactions to Lindsey Graham's death. Shirley, so the immediate reactions came from countries that described the senator as one of their greatest allies, that's Ukraine and Israel. Yes, and clearly he was.

He acted on their behalf, spoke on their behalf to Donald Trump and in the Senate, in Washington. And yes, they were the first to react very quickly. The Israelis saying that he was one of their closest allies.

And we saw that throughout the years. He was the one who justified Israel's actions in recent years, especially after October 7th. And even when there was so much criticism across the world and in Washington, he said that Israel had the right to act in Gaza, even though the number of deaths accumulated there.

Also with Iran, he was the one who said for many years, including even very recently, that the only way to face what he saw as a threat is through fighting through operations actively on the ground. And even when Donald Trump managed to secure a deal, a ceasefire, well, Lindsey Graham said that this won't last, this won't hold, it will now be successful. So yes, until the very last minute, he also blocked legislations.

Sometimes, for example, a majority of Democrats were in favor of stopping weapons shipments, some weapons to Israel, from the U.S. to Israel, because there were certain weapons used that killed many civilians.

Well, Lindsey Graham lobbied against those various legislations. He also wanted to expand the circle of allies of Israel, trying to get Saudi Arabia closer to Israel, saying that any deal with Saudi Arabia should include the fact that it's getting closer to Israel. And when you think about Ukraine, until the very last days, I mean, we talked about it on Friday, trying to secure new bills to toughen sanctions against Russia, to try and help Ukraine in its war with Russia.

He went to Ukraine 10 times since the large-scale invasion from Russia against Ukraine. So yes, Zelenskyy President, Vladimir Zelenskyy, was among the first to react, saying that he was a great ally close to the Ukrainian people, noting that until the very last days he was still pleading. And Lindsey Graham saying that he was against operations on the ground, saying that he thought that Ukraine cannot beat Russia militarily, but he said that more sanctions could help it find a solution, a diplomatic solution.

So yes, those were the first to react, not the only ones, but the first ones. And when you look at the Israeli press also, they looked at how the Iranians were reacting to his death, saying that they were rejoicing, and even on television, repeating this several times, that Lindsey Graham has passed away and that this should be considered as good news, because he acted in favor of the attacks from the U.S. and Israel against Iran.

So President Donald Trump has been leading the tributes for Lindsey Graham. They haven't always seen eye to eye, have they? Exactly.

That's often being said that he, the Lindsey Graham, was a staunch ally, a great ally of Donald Trump, defending his various positions, but, and of course doing so because he also wanted to bring some of his ideas and trying to push and convince the president on key issues. But yes, I'm bringing to you some of the old statements from back at the time when he was running against Donald Trump for the presidency back in 2016. We can listen to Lindsey Graham in those days.

Mr. Trump has said two things that I think are incredibly dangerous. He said that he had banned all Muslims coming to America, which is declaring war on the religion.

He's got it absolutely wrong. We need to partner with people in the religion, which is most, to destroy a radical strain of Islam that threatens them. He also has taken an approach to immigration that I think is killing the Republican Party.

You're not going to grow your vote among Hispanics when you call most illegal immigrants rapists and drug dealers. That's just one of the criticism. He criticized him again, saying that he was not elected last time against Joe Biden, saying that Joe Biden was the winner at the time.

But Donald Trump still said this morning that he was one of the greatest Americans, greatest people, greatest senators, noting that he stood by his side and defended positions very often with Donald Trump. Shirley, thank you. That's Shirley Sipbon from our International Affairs Desk.

Thank you. Thank you.