Monmouth County Congressman Smith: 'Israel Needs Our Full Support'

MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ — Rep. Chris Smith, the Republican congressman who represents southern Monmouth County and Ocean County, continued to express his "full support" for Israel in the Israel-Hamas war.

"Israel needs our full support to eradicate Hamas, which is a genocide terrorist organization," said Smith Friday, May 17 in this interview with Fox Business.

"They've been doing it for decades. I've read the Hamas charter; it makes clear that every Jew should be killed and Israel should be wiped off the face of the Earth. It's right in their Hamas charter and they're living it every day."

Smith then referenced something he was told at the pro-Palestine tent camp that was up at Rutgers for four days earlier this May:

"When you talk about Israel committing genocide and all these other smears — that's a Hamas talking point, that's what they say every single day. They're the ones doing it," continued Smith. "I was just on the campus of Rutgers when they had the encampment and a couple of — maybe students, but they were certainly Hamas agitators — were in my face equating the state of Israel with the Nazis. That is the worst possible smear one could utter and I guess they believe it. It's a big lie. That's what it is."

Smith also continued his ongoing criticism of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA), which he said was initially started to help the people of Gaza but has now turned into "an incubator of hatred and a child-soldier factory."

Weapons owned by Hamas were found being kept in an UNWRA storage facility in central Gaza. UNWRA also argues that Hamas tunnels in Gaza should be kept open, as UNWRA says they are one of the few ways to get aid into Gaza.

Smith called on Biden to stop funding UNWRA. He said President Trump chose not to fund UNWRA during his time in office, but Biden restored funding.

"It's been a dramatic wake-up call for a lot of people to the reality that UNRWA is one of the chief drivers of conflict between Palestinians and Israelis," Smith also testified before Congress Friday (not in the Fox interview).

Watch his interview last Friday:

Middletown is actually split between two Congressional districts: Republican Smith represents southern Middletown, including Lincroft, Red Hill and Fairview. North Middletown, including Belford, Leonardo and Port Monmouth, is represented in Congress by Democrat Frank Pallone.