DeSantis Sends Military Hardware, Weapons To Israel As War Against Hamas Rages

 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Thursday that he arranged to have military hardware sent to Israel after being contacted by Israeli officials about urgent needs the country had following the Palestinian Islamic terrorist attacks that they suffered earlier this month.

The aid from the state of Florida comes after Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented surprise attack three weeks ago that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 people with 5,000+ more injured, and well over 200 hostages taken.

“At the request of the Israeli Consul General in Miami, cargo planes contracted by Florida were used to transport healthcare and hospital supplies, drones, body armor, and helmets that first responders can use,” Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for the governor’s office, said in a statement.

Redfern added that the Republican presidential candidate also worked with the Israeli consul general to “help get weapons and ammunition to Israel through private parties.”

Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, the consul general, said that other Israeli officials were the ones who reached out and worked with DeSantis to secure the shipments.

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, said that he was not aware of any communications between the White House and DeSantis’ office about securing the military supplies for Israel.

“It is not illegal for the governor of a state to offer a measure of foreign assistance to another country,” said Kirby. “There are laws and regulations which govern how the export process is handled and that’s all done through Commerce.”

 

The governor had ordered flights to help evacuate not just Floridians, but other Americans left behind by the Biden administration, who were looking to get out of the region for safety concerns. The DeSantis administration also sent two cargo planes to Israel with 85 pallets of additional supplies for the Israelis.

DeSantis also clamped down on pro-Palestinian student groups that expressed support for Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Flood terrorist attacks.

The governor directed Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the State University System of Florida, to send notices to the University of Florida and the University of South Florida notifying them that they must deactivate their chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) because they allegedly broke Florida laws about terrorism.

“During a holy Jewish holiday, the recognized terrorist organization, Hamas, launched an unprovoked attack on Israel – among those killed were babies, women, and elderly,” Rodrigues said in a letter to the presidents of Florida’s public universities. “To date, approximately 1,400 Israelis have been killed, including 31 American citizens. Governor DeSantis, our State University System and the Florida College System have condemned these attacks.”

In response to the Palestinian Islamic terrorist attacks, “National Students for Justice in Palestine (National SJP) released a ‘toolkit’ which refers to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood as ‘the resistance’ and unequivocally states: ‘Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement,'” the letter said.

The letter noted that under Florida law, it is a felony to “knowingly provide material support . . . to a designated foreign terrorist organization. . .” Hamas is designated by the Untied States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

“Here, National SJP has affirmatively identified it is part of the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood—a terrorist led attack,” the letter continued, later adding: “Based on the National SJP’s support of terrorism, in consultation with Governor DeSantis, the student chapters must be deactivated.”