'This Week' Transcript 12-10-23: Secretary of State Antony Blinken & Former Rep. Liz Cheney
Interview
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It remains imperative that Israel put premium on civilian protection.
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Martha, first, we're trying to do everything we can to ensure that civilians are protected, that humanitarian assistance gets in to people who need it in Gaza. We are deeply, deeply aware of the terrible human toll that this conflict is taking on innocent men, women and children. And we're working to minimize that to the greatest extent possible.
When it comes to the weapons that we transfer, there are rules that go along with them. Those rules apply to Israel, as they do to any other country, including the way they're used and the need -- the imperative of respecting international humanitarian law.
In the case of these particular weapons that you -- that you mentioned, Israel is in combat right now with Hamas, a group that viciously attacked it on October 7th, that has said that, given the opportunity, it will repeat October 7th again and again and again, that continues to launch rockets against Israeli civilians. And we want to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas.
A small portion of what has been requested is going through on an emergency basis; that is, moving -- moving quickly so that Israel can have what it needs in hand. But virtually everything else is going through the regular order, through Congress. It's very important that Congress's voice be heard in this.
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We are in almost constant discussions with the Israelis about -- to ensure that they understand what their obligations are, to make sure that we understand how they're using whatever arms we're providing to them, as well as more -- more broadly. I can't evaluate a specific instance in the moment, but I can tell you we're looking at everything.
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Martha, we're focused on two things. We're focused on what -- what is their intent, and do they have in place -- are they taking necessary measures to make sure that they're acting in adherence with international humanitarian law international law, but then also, what are the results?
And as I've said before, there's a gap between...
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... the intent -- yeah, there's a gap between the intent and the -- and the results. And that's the gap that we're trying to make sure is closed.
Look, this could be over tomorrow. This could be over tomorrow. If Hamas got out of the way of civilians, instead of hiding behind them, if it put down its weapons, if it surrendered. And what there ought to be as well is a call on part -- on behalf of the entire world for Hamas to do just that. That would stop this tomorrow.
But in the absence of that, Israel has to take steps not only to defend itself against the ongoing attacks from Hamas, but against Hamas's stated intent, to repeat October 7th again and again if given the opportunity.
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I bet any country faced with that would have to deal with it.
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We have been a strong proponent of humanitarian pauses. In fact, because of our advocacy, because of the work we did, we got pauses. We got pauses on a daily basis, to make sure that people could get out of the way, that humanitarian supplies could get in. We helped negotiate the longer pause that resulted in the release of more than 110 hostages and that also allowed a doubling of humanitarian assistance that was getting into Gaza.
But when it comes to a ceasefire in this moment, with Hamas still alive, still intact, and again, with the stated intent of repeating October 7th again and again and again, that would simply perpetuate the problem. And so our focus is on trying to make sure that civilians are protected to the maximum extent possible, that humanitarian assistance gets in to the maximum extent possible.
And again, if Hamas were to put down its weapons tomorrow, surrender tomorrow, this would be over tomorrow.
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Well, there are a number of things. First, what we've seen coming from the Houthis directed at ships in that area is a threat not just to Israel, not just to us, but to dozens of countries that are engaged in shipping, that depend on this corridor for goods moving about every single day. And this has actually implicated the interests directly of well over a dozen -- a dozen countries, with crews from all sorts of different places, ships registered and insured in different places.
So, this should be and is an international concern. We are bringing together a group that we've already formed, and we're trying to strengthen its work to, on a maritime basis, help protect shipping. We've obviously taken action, including sanctions just this week, against those who are trying to finance the -- the Houthis in their efforts. And we'll talk whatever other actions are necessary to protect our personnel, to protect our people, as well as to protect shipping.
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Yeah, we will and we are looking at everything.
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Very concerned. We need to see this supplemental budget request go through as quickly as possible.
Ukraine has done an extraordinary job in defending against this Russian aggression. Over the past year, it's taking back more than 50 percent of its territory. It's engaged in a ferocious battle right now along the eastern and southern fronts. We are running out of resources already in the bank to continue to assist them, and we need them.
I would point out, as well, that about 90 percent of the security assistance that we provided to Ukraine actually is invested right here in the United States, in terms of the production of materials and munitions and weapons that go to Ukrainians. It's right here, in America, with good jobs.
We have extraordinary burden-sharing that I haven't seen before in my own experience, where, for everything that we've been providing to the Ukrainians to help them, our European partners and other allies around the world have provided more, military, economic, humanitarian assistance.
So the choice is very clear. If we do this and help Ukraine sustain the achievements that it's made, help ensure that Russia continues to suffer a strategic failure in Ukraine, that's one route to go. The other route to go is to do something that the only people who are rooting for it are in Moscow and maybe in Tehran and Beijing, which is not to provide this assistance.
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Thanks, Martha.
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