NOON IN ISRAEL
Israel Loses Its Greatest Friend on Capitol Hill
Amit Segal
July 12, 2026
It’s Sunday, July 12, and this morning the office of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham announced that he passed away Saturday evening after a sudden and brief illness—two days after turning 71. He had returned from Kyiv on Friday, where he met Volodymyr Zelensky, and was booked on Meet the Press for this very morning. Israel has lost its greatest friend on Capitol Hill. That isn’t an exaggeration; it’s the consensus of the Israeli opposition and coalition, who rose in unison this morning to eulogize the beloved senator. Born and raised in his beloved South Carolina, Graham grew up living in a cramped room behind his parents’ combined pool hall, bar and liquor store. Later becoming a lawyer and enlisting in the U.S. military, he entered Congress in 1995, becoming the first Republican to represent South Carolina’s 3rd District since Reconstruction. In 2003, he moved up to the Senate, where he and John McCain became a trio with Joe Lieberman—dubbed the “Three Amigos” by Gen. David Petraeus on one of their endless trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. Hawks, travelers and crossers of aisles for wars worth fighting. Especially Israel’s. READ
NEW YORK POST Lindsey Graham had among the lowest wealth in Congress despite a lifetime at the center of power The late Sen. Lindsey Graham ranked among the bottom half of Congress’ big earners despite more than three decades in office and a top role leading the GOP. Graham, 71, died Saturday night with a net worth of nearly $1.5 million, leaving the senator, who had a modest upbringing in South Carolina, ranked at 294th in wealth among the 535 voting members of Congress, according to data from the Quiver Quantitative tracker. As a point of contrast, Graham’s personal wealth is a drop compared to Congress’ wealthiest member, fellow Sen. James Justice (R-WV), whose net worth is estimated at more than $664 million, according to Quiver Quantitative.
THE HILL FBI visits Graham’s DC home FBI personnel visited late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) home in Washington, D.C., on Monday, less than 48 hours after he died of an aortic dissection. At least six men and two women in FBI gear were at Graham’s row house in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of D.C., according to footage shot by Nexstar’s Vinay Simlot. At one point, an FBI agent entered the home after a man wearing a U.S. Marshals Service jacket exited it. Later on, two agents wearing blue and yellow FBI windbreakers entered the home. While agents went into and out of the home, a man wearing an FBI jacket stood watch outside near a large black container — at one point, another man wearing bureau gear retrieved a manila folder from the container.