Ashkenazi says he’s ‘shocked’ by assault on US Capitol, the ‘global bulwark of democracy’

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi says he is “shocked” by the attack on the US Capitol Building by supporters of US President Donald Trump, adding that the incident should be widely denounced.

“I was shocked to see the attack on the American Congress, a global bulwark of democracy, and this must be roundly condemned from sunup to sundown. United States, our great and strong friend, is a lighthouse for democracy and for values of freedom, justice and independence,” Ashkenazi says in a statement, nearly 12 hours after the assault on the Capitol.

“I am confident that the American people and their representatives will know how to rebuff this attack and to continue to defend the important values on which the United States was founded,” he says.