Hardline supporter of Israel, US Senator Lindsey Graham, passed away on Saturday evening after a brief and sudden illness, the communications director for his office said in a post on Twitter/X early on Sunday.
“Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” the statement read.
Emergency personnel responded to a call for “cardiac arrest” at Graham’s home on Saturday night, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC News.
Photographs reviewed by NBC News showed that paramedics carried a person on a stretcher from Graham’s home to an awaiting ambulance. Police cars and fire trucks were also on site, NBC reported.
Israeli politicians took to social media to mourn Graham after his sudden death was announced on social media on Sunday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, mourned Graham in a statement on Sunday.
“Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable. He devoted his life to defending America, strengthening our alliance and standing up for the free world,” Netanyahu said in his statement.
“Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,” he continued. “Our hearts are with Lindsey’s family and with the American people at this difficult time. May his values and initiatives continue to guide us toward victory and peace, and may his memory forever be a blessing.”
PM considers attending funeral
Netanyahu is also considering flying to the US for Graham’s funeral, an Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post, adding that should the prime minister do so, he is likely to meet with US President Donald Trump.
“I am shocked and heartbroken to learn of the sudden passing of the great American patriot, a great friend of Israel, and my dear friend, US Senator Lindsey Graham,” President Isaac Herzog said on X/Twitter on Sunday morning.
Herzog called Graham a “beacon of moral clarity and a true leader of the US-Israel partnership.”
“We will never forget how he stood by the people of Israel in our most difficult moments, and we will remain eternally grateful for his sense of justice, truth, and loyalty,” he wrote.
“The people of Israel mourn his loss, and I will miss my great friend very dearly.”
On Friday, Graham said China could play a decisive role in pressuring Russia toward peace talks, helping end its war in Ukraine. Graham, a frequent visitor to Ukraine, met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. They discussed Ukraine’s air defense needs and a Russian sanctions bill, Zelensky said.
Graham said bolstering Ukraine’s military capabilities and aligning sanctions with a diplomatic push could force Moscow into talks.
“The road to ending this war, the road to peace, passes through Beijing more than it does [through] Washington, Kyiv, or Moscow,” Graham told reporters at Kyiv’s Mykhailivska Square.
“China has an oversized influence. I’d like them to use their influence for the good of the world.
“I don’t believe [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is there yet, but it wouldn’t take much to get him there.”
Graham's early life, career, and entrance into politics
Graham, 71, was a prominent Republican senator from South Carolina. Earlier in his career, he was a vocal critic of Trump before becoming one of his most loyal allies on Capitol Hill.
Graham was born in 1955 in Central, South Carolina, where his parents ran a restaurant and a pool hall, according to Graham’s official website. He was the first member of his family to earn an undergraduate degree.
At the time of his death, he was not married and lived in Seneca, South Carolina.
A former Air Force lawyer and member of the South Carolina Air National Guard, Graham was elected to the Senate in 2002.
Before that, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 for South Carolina’s 3rd congressional district, according to his website.
Graham was re-elected to the Senate in 2008, 2014, and 2020.
Iranian television celebrates Graham's death
Iranian television hosts on the country’s Student News Network celebrated Graham’s death upon the announcement, according to Channel 12.
“The news is so good that I want to read it to you again,” one host said.
“Lindsey Graham, an anti-Iranian senator, has gone to hell. Senator Graham was one of the most anti-Iranian figures in the US Congress and supported Trump’s attacks on Iran.”
An additional host congratulated Iran on the senator’s death, saying that “the anti-Iranian warmongering American senator has gone to hell.”