Hamas targeted Jews and Muslims alike during its October 7 massacre, Israel Defense Forces soldier Master Sgt. Ashraf al Bahir said a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted his bravery in an address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress.
"People think that the people of Israel are only Jews. But there are Druze and Bedouins—as they say: One for all and all for one," al Bahir told the Ynet outlet on Thursday. "It was strange for the Americans to see a Muslim Bedouin serving in the army. But the prime minister explained to them."
He continued, "I just want to say thank you to the Israeli people. Israel should look ahead and completely annihilate Hamas."
Al Bahiri said that it was a "great honour" for Israel's Bedouin community that he was able to travel to Washington with Netanyahu, adding that he "didn't expect to end up in this situation.
"I can only thank the army for sending me with the prime minister. This was a great honor for my family and the city of Rahat. People don't stop calling me," the soldier said.
In his speech, Netanyahu praised several guests who served heroically on and after October 7, including IDF soldiers of various backgrounds who were wounded. They and their colleagues deserve respect and admiration, not condemnation for fictitious war crimes, he said.
"This is Master Sgt. Ashraf al Bahiri. Ashraf is a Bedouin soldier from the Israeli Muslim community of Rahat. On October 7, Ashraf too killed many terrorists. First, he defended his comrades in the military base, and he then rushed to defend the neighboring communities, including the devastated community of Kibbutz Be'eri," Netanyahu stated in his address.
"Like Ashraf, the Muslim soldiers of the IDF fought alongside their Jewish, Druze, Christian and other comrades in arms with tremendous bravery," noted the premier.
Netanyahu also praised the strength of the U.S.-Israeli relationship and called for a decisive victory over Hamas. He urged the United States to help defeat the Iranian regime that continues to threaten both the Jewish state and the rest of the world.
The Israeli prime minister surpassed British wartime leader Winston Churchill as the foreign leader who has addressed a joint session of Congress the most times. Netanyahu spoke to that body in 2015 and 2011, and more than a decade earlier, in 1996.
