US President Donald Trump eulogized Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Tuesday as a fixture of national politics and unflinching foreign policy hawk, as the leaders of Israel and Ukraine joined Washington’s most powerful at his funeral.

Earlier in the day, lawmakers paid tribute at the Capitol Rotunda, remembering one of the last prominent Republicans to advocate for muscular US military power abroad as gregarious, funny and persuasive.

“He was extremely hawkish — he never saw a war that he didn’t like,” Trump said. “Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it.”

Graham denounced Trump early in his political career before becoming a staunch supporter, and Trump mourned his fellow Republican as both a favorite golfing buddy and an essential confidant in navigating partisan politics in Washington.

Graham, a South Carolina Republican who died suddenly from a heart ailment on July 11 at age 71, regularly called for an interventionist US role on the world stage. He strongly backed both Israel and Ukraine, and both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Washington to pay tribute on Tuesday.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity, in his remarks, said Graham would have been moved that both Netanyahu and Zelensky made the long journeys to attend.

“He [Graham] loved you, he loved the State of Israel, he loved the people of Israel,” Hannity said, addressing Netanyahu. “Under your leadership, Israel has been one of America’s most consistent and loyal allies. He was never shy to say it, to the day he passed.”

“Just as President Trump has been Israel’s strongest friend in the history of the White House… Lindsey was that friend to Israel in the United States Senate,” added Hannity.

At the Capitol ceremony, Vice President JD Vance recalled Graham as a compelling figure in the Senate whose risque jokes could make him laugh to the point of abdominal........

© The Times of Israel