'This Week' Transcript 11-26-23: White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Rep. Ro Khanna and Former Governor Chris Christie
Interview
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Well, it's heartbreaking. Her aunt was in my office, and she was not focused on the brutal murder of her family. She was focused on Abigail, getting her out.
Such resilience. Some of the people in my office were in tears. She was not -- she was just focused on the hostages getting out as were other family members. That has to be our highest priority.
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I've not. I'm hopeful, but I trust Jake Sullivan. He's careful, and I appreciate what he and the president have done to help facilitate the hostage release.
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Well, I think we need a ceasefire now. And I came out for that a couple of days ago, and I'll tell you why.
A couple of reasons. First, we need more of the hostages to be released, and we see now that it's working.
Second, there are still Americans in Gaza. We need those Americans and American families to be released.
The third point is this -- Israel has diminished Hamas' military capability. They now have troops to prevent another October 7th attack.
But I just talked to the Saudi ambassador. I talked to the UAE ambassador. Here's a reality on the ground -- there are 40,000 Hamas fighters. 40,000. Israel has killed 2,000. It is unrealistic that they're going to be able to kill 40,000 other Hamas fighters, let alone undermine the political and cultural influence of Hamas.
So, we need a real solution. And that needs to be a Palestinian state with an Israel state.
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Their military capability has been diminished with the bombing in northern Gaza, but their political support, it sometimes actually increases every time you have images of children and women killed. That's why there has to be a diplomatic solution until there is an independent Palestinian state.
There is not going to be peace or security in that region, and America needs to show leadership. I believe our Gulf allies will help us if we bring the diverse Palestinian voices to the table. There needs to be one condition. Any Palestinian voice at that table needs to recognize the state of Israel, and then we need to work towards an independent Palestinian state.
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Yes, Hamas is absolutely a terrorist organization.
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They should not. They should not. But there need to be Palestinian voices that recognize the state of Israel. And the question is this, what happens to actually end the threat. What is Israel's plan? Are they going to try to kill 40,000 fighters? You know, we -- there 14 -- 13 -- 12,000 Palestinians who have died on 2,000 fighters.
If you do the math of 40,000 fighters, are you going to have hundreds of thousands of Palestinians killed? That's not a realistic solution. We need to listen to our regional allies, figure out how we diminish Hamas' military capabilities so October 7th never happens again, and then work towards a two-state solution, a real solution, not lip service where we actually have a Palestinian state.
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A lasting ceasefire.
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Yes, but -- which the president, by the way, has said that he hopes for. I mean he's --
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What I believe is that we have to enforce the Leahy Law, that is the U.S. policy, that any aid to the United States needs to be consistent with human rights law. I support the aid for the Iron Dome and defensive equipment for Israel, for equipment Israel may need to deter Iran, but we need to make sure, and our State Department needs to make sure, that any of our aid isn't used in a way that violates human rights. That's not just for Israel, that's around the world.
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Self-defense and any aid needs to be consistent with the Leahy Law that the State Department needs to enforce, which is that nothing should violate international human rights law. That is the current law. It's for the State Department to enforce it.
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Thank you. Appreciate it.
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