Texas Gov. Abbott celebrates 75th Anniversary of Israel’s independence; takes aim at Iran, Obama

Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday night celebrated the 75th anniversary of Israel's independence at an event hosted by the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest in Houston.

Israel declared independence and officially became a country on May 14, 1948.

The governor and other dignitaries commemorated Israeli independence as the country was bombarded with 1,000 rockets over a five-day period. Egyptian authorities negotiated a ceasefire among the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group after Israeli Defense Forces killed three PIJ commanders in northern Gaza, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

The violence that occurred last week was a continuation of attacks Israeli endured last month after 34 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon by the Iran-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah, on the first day of Passover.

Giving the keynote address to over 300 attendees, Abbott took aim at former President Barack Obama. While on his first trip to Israel, he said he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “talked about the … threats to freedom in Israel and during that visit we shared our concerns about the deal that then President Obama was making with Iran,” referring to the Obama administration transferring $1.7 billion to Iran reportedly over a dispute dating to the 1970s.

“Let me tell you something,” Abbott said, “it is against our interest to do deals with countries that call for death to America and show hostility to Israel. Actions often speak louder than words. Iran said a lot when it fired two ballistic missiles with Hebrew written on it saying, ‘Israel should be wiped off the earth.’”

“As long as Iran is a threat to Israel, Iran is a threat to Texas,” he said.

“We backed that up when we banned taxpayer-funded investment in Iran,” he continued. “We banned Texas government entities from contracting with companies that do business in Iran. In Texas, we don’t do business with regimes that seek to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, period.”

In 2017, Abbott signed HB 89 into law banning state contracts with and investments in companies that boycott Israel. Within two years of the law going into effect, Texas began divesting $72 million worth of stock held by two state pension funds in a Norwegian financial services firm due to its anti-Israel policies.

Abbott also highlighted several kinds of partnerships and similarities between Israel and Texas, including their “shared entrepreneurial spirit.”

He also touted Texas’ ongoing economic success, noting its top business ranking, it’s top job growth records, its top state for business ranking 19 years in a row, and Texas leading all states for exports for 21 years, including its export and trade relationship with Israel.

Texas exported nearly $1 billion worth of goods to Israel in 2022, according to the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Since 1996, Texas has exported nearly $21 trillion to Israel, it says.

Texas and Israel also have partnered in the areas of agricultural research and development, science and technology, industrial research and development as well as other programs supported by the Texas-Israel Chamber of Commerce, the Texas-Israel Exchange Program, among others.

Abbott said he was committed to advancing Texas’ partnership “with one of the most, if not the most important, global democratic partner than we have in the entire world.”

Consul General of Israel to the Southwest Livia Link-Raviv agreed, saying, “if Israel is the startup nation, Texas is the startup state. In Texas, Houston we find a natural partner in the area of innovation, healthcare, cybersecurity” and others, she said, making Texas Israeli’s largest trading partner in the U.S.

She also thanked the governor and his administration for “all you have done for strengthening Texas-Israel relations. We deeply appreciate your outspoken advocacy for Israel and Israel regards you as a true friend.”

“As we celebrate 75 years of bilateral relations, I’m proud to say that the alliance between Israel and the U.S. is stronger than ever,” she said. “The United States has been there side by side since the beginning. It was the first country to recognize Israel calling our Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to congratulate him only 11 minutes after we declared independence. We have built a relationship that stands the test of time, it goes beyond politics and parties, above our shared values of freedom and democracy.”

She also pointed to the legislatures of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, which all passed resolutions last month “commemorating Israeli’s 75th anniversary and bilateral relations,” which she said was “a real show of friendship.”