Georgia State Senator Russ Goodman (R-Cogdell) was in Israel with his mother last week, when Hamas fighters launched a horrific surprise attack on the country, and told The Georgia Star News he was thankful for Israelis for “protecting Americans” caught in the conflict.
In a statement released Thursday, Goodman relayed his first-hand experiences “being in Israel while Hamas terrorists launched a sickening attack that killed hundreds of innocent Israelis” and described “hearing the rockets fired from the Iron Dome to automatic weapon fire heard near our hotel,” as his “ex-military Israeli guide” refused to leave his family “even as rockets landed within 200 yards of his home with his wife and children there.” The senator said he witnessed “the very best of the Israeli people,” and the experience left him convinced of “the bond that our freedom-loving countries share.”
“The reality is Hamas terrorists are killing Americans along with Israelis,” said Goodman, “and the people of Israel are protecting Americans.”
Goodman relayed his tiresome experience leaving Israel in a phone call with The Star News, explaining that bombs seemed to follow his group of travelers as they maneuvered through the country.
“The war sort of just followed us really, because after we left Galilee, they started dropping rockets there,” said Goodman. “Then we got to Jerusalem, that was when we had rockets that hit a mile and a half from my hotel. I could walk outside my hotel room and hear the Iron Dome rockets going off and hear automatic machine gun fire.”
Goodman, who repeatedly described himself to The Star News as a “rural, South Georgia State Senator and farmer,” said he did not originally consider himself a “high value target” for Hamas until he received support from the government of Israel.
He told The Star News that Israel contacted him “within a day” once he learned he was in the country. Still, Goodman said he “didn’t know, to start with, it was going to be as bad as it was going to be,” explaining that “it took a little bit for it to set in, just the magnitude of it.”
Goodman said Governor Brian Kemp (R) and his office were able to put him in contact with Delta Security Services, but unfortunately, all flights leaving Israel for the United States were canceled until October 31.
The senator then contacted the offices of U.S. Representatives Austin Scott (R-GA-08) and Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) and told The Star News that the travelers “even discussed getting on a boat and going over to Cyprus” before eventually deciding Jordan was “the safest way to get out.”
“We took the bus to Jordan, that morning there was 50 buses in line, trying to leave Israel,” said Goodman, adding that he “spent about seven hours in the Middle Eastern heat, outside” waiting to be processed through Jordanian customs. “During that time I actually lost my mother for a little bit at the Jordanian border.” Goodman added, “that took five years off my life.”
Fortunately, the senator told The Star News his mother was “tired” but “fine,” and credited his mother’s wherewithal to her “very strong faith” as a Christian. “She said the good Lord was going to get us through, and He did,” said Goodman. The senator reflected, “I think it bothered me more than her.”
Goodman described the drive through Jordan as a culture shock and said the countryside seemed “as poor as the poorest country in Africa,” but the capital, Amman, “looked like the Taj Mahal.”
“Nothing against the country of Jordan or their people, but I felt more safe in Israel with the rockets going off than I did when I was in Jordan,” said Goodman, after explaining he was “thankful to have been in a country where there’s plenty of Israelis that have dual citizenship in the United States.”
Goodman recollected seeing news reports about Americans protesting in favor of Hamas during the immediate aftermath of the attacks while still in Israel, and was sure to tell his Israeli travel guide, a Christian veteran of Israel’s military, “That’s just a very small, loud minority, and it’s not the way most Americans feel.”
“I had Israelis that were protecting me and protecting my mother and assuring our safety, and then I see reports on the news of Americans holding rallies in support of Hamas,” Goodman told The Star News. “Hamas was killing Americans and Israelis were protecting Americans, and that really bothered me.”
He stressed, “I’m not a foreign policy expert; I’m a South Georgia dirt farmer. However, I will tell you this: one side is decapitating children, abducting grandmothers, and killing Americans. The other side is protecting Americans, even in the case of my guide, when his own home had rockets landing next to it.” Goodman added, “it’s not hard to figure out which side I’m on.”
In his statement, Goodman expressed thanks to a number of Georgia state officials for supporting him while he was in Israel, including Governor Brian Kemp (R), Lt. Governor Burt Jones (R), his colleagues in the Georgia Senate, Georgia State Representatives Lauren McDonald (R-Cumming) and Brent Cox (R-Dawsonville), as well as the Israeli Government, Delta Airlines, and the World Jewish Congress.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Russ Goodman” by Russ Goodman.
