As Rep. Peter King is doing in the House today, Sen. John Cornyn is not meekly accepting Obama’s stance on the terrorist flotilla. He announces a resolution:

In recognition of the State of Israel as a strong and steadfast ally to the United States, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) today introduced a resolution to express the sense of the Senate that Israel has an undeniable right to self-defense and to condemn the recent destabilizing actions by terrorist operatives and extremists aboard the Mavi Marmara. …

Senator Cornyn’s resolution places these events in their historical and strategic context.  Since 2001, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations have fired more than 10,000 rockets and mortars from Gaza into Israel, which killed at least 18 Israelis and wounded dozens more. Currently, approximately 860,000 Israeli civilians—more than 12 percent of Israel’s total population resides within range of the rockets fired from Gaza. In 2007, Israel put in place a legitimate and justified blockade of Gaza out of concern for the safety of its citizens, which has been effective in reducing the firing of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel.

Senator Cornyn’s resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that Israel has an undeniable right to defend itself against any threat to its security. Senator Cornyn’s resolution also makes clear that recent criticism of Israel at the United Nations undermines Israel’s inherent right to self-defense, compromises its sovereignty, and helps legitimize Hamas.

As with UN sanctions, it’s time for elected officials and candidates to make a clear choice: follow Obama’s determination to let an international body skewer Israel, use the flotilla incident as a tool to bludgeon Israel into more concessions, avert our eyes from Turkey’s complicity — or protect Israel from the international jackals. You can’t do both.