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By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News AssociationPhoto: Iranian missiles over Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, courtesy of Mehr News Service under a Creative Commons 4.0 license.
April 14, 2024 (San Diego) -- Iran’s drone and missile attack against Israel that began Saturday evening in the Mideast was quickly condemned by the governor, San Diego lawmakers and Jewish community leaders.
“My heart goes out to the Israeli people who are suffering attacks from Iran,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs, a Democrat who represents central San Diego County. “I have family in Tel Aviv so I know how painful and personal this feels, especially as Jews in Israel and around the world are still reeling from the horrific attack on October 7th.”
She urged leaders on both sides to “exercise restraint and de-escalate tensions immediately.”
The fundamentalist Islamic state, which finances and supplies anti-Israel militias in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria, launched nearly 200 explosive-carrying drones and over 100 ballistic and cruise missiles.
The weapons were similar to the ones Iran supplies to Russia for use against Ukraine, and most were shot down by Israeli defenses, with help from U.S., British and Jordanian forces.
Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted that “California stands with Israel against these unprecedented attacks from Iran.”
Rep. Mike Levin, a Democrat who represents parts of North County and southern Orange County, also tweeted, saying, in part, that “Congress supports the people of Israel in this critical time and we must vote immediately on the national security supplemental.”
The Jewish Federation of San Diego issued a statement saying, “We are grateful that the IDF and the Israeli air defense with, as President Biden stated, “the ironclad support” of the U.S., was able to prevent significant damage or casualties from the attack.”
But Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican who represents East County, expressed support for Israel while also saying that President Biden shared responsibility for the aggressive attack.
“Tehran must be countered and Biden hasn’t done it yet,” he tweeted.
Iran had vowed retaliation for what it called an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate on April 1 that killed seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.
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Iran said it would slap Israel's face for destroying