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elections in israel. this is 20 minutes. >> mr. president, to discuss the situation in the middle east in the war between israel and hamas. brutally attacked israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 240 hamas militants terrorized the israeli people committed unspeakable acts of mutilation against innocent, men, women and children. this tragedy was the single deadliest day in israel's 75-year history. and the deadliest day for the jewish people since the holocaust. the wake of these horrific attacks, the united states has stood by its democratic friend and ally, israel, as the very b harry truman stood up in the first world leader to recognize

the state of israel. i personally traveled with the bipartisan group of my colleagues two weeks after the attacks to mourn with the people of and support the defense of israel, to ensure that they knew that the ith them. in my meetings in israel and with jewish leaders from rhode island, it is clear to me that attack has had a profound impact on israelis and jewish people everywhere. this attack has touched the deepest nerve, reopened the wounds of the past, and left many wondering, not how, but if jews will ever be safe from persecution who they are. as i have continued to make clear, israel can and mustf aga military of hamas. any nation that is attacked in this manner has the inherent

right toself-defense. the united states will continue to support israel as it works to degrade and defeat hamas, but i must also say, i have deep reservations about how this war is being allies, good friends, stand together and we stand with israel, but great■úr willing to speak hard truths and hold each other to the highest standards, especially around the conduct and issues of national security. i want to echo the majority leader, the senior senator from israel champion who is spiritually and emotionally connected to unlike very few of us, if any, in this chamber who had been a friend

to israeli leaders across the politil spectrum and who is unafraid to speak truth to power. it is clear to me, now five months into this israel's strategy to defeat hamas is in peril. while the idf hasade ■÷ important progress in rooting out hamas and gaza, i do not see a clear end game or metrics for success coming from this there is no plan for after the fighting stops. that more tha gazans are dead. the millions of gazans that survived and forced tolee towards rafah and the crossing there with egypt. they have little access to food, water, shelter or■) medicl care. those remaining in the north are facing dire humanitarian conditions. more nan two million gazans are

or famine. enormous portions of the gaza strip have been completely destroyed and left uninhabitable and the west bank is teetering on the bank of chaos. there are regular exchanges of fire in the north with hezbollah who are esconced in lebanon. this forced nearly 100,000 israelis to move from their homes to escape these attacksrñ from lebanon. and lebanese noncombatants are caught in the cross-fire between idf hezbollah. the region stands at the restpist of being war. today, as chairman. armed services committee in the united states senate, as a friend and long time■

of the israeli people, it is my duty to say clearly that this war has veered off course. there fundamental course correction for the national security interests of israel, america, and our allies and partners throughout the world. i do not come to this conclusion lightly. there are two factors that we must understand and come to terms with. first, israel should learn from the united states strategic and tactical lessons from iraq and afghanistan and second, as leader schumer courageously argued here on the senate floor last week, israel and its allies must acknowledge that prime minister's netanyahu's failed policies and desperate pursuit of power created much of the tragic situation we are witnessing

today. there are actionable steps israel can take to address these issues. we should start by recognizing lessons from america's war in iraq. we, too, suffered a national tragedy on september 11th,■ñ th defend ourselves. we launched our campaign to degrade and defeat al-qaeda in afghanistan and t that war showed early military success. but the anguish of 9/11 affected our ability to make clear strategic decisions and we, despite my opposition, mistakenly invaded another country, iraq, which had no role on that horrific day of september 11th. fury can cloud the thinking ever even the shrewdish

tacticians. i worry that the mistakes of the war in iraq are being made by israel in gaza. similar to the power vacuum that the u.s. when it dismantled saddam hussein's iraq, gaza in 2005 contributed to the extremist violence we see today, rise of has, whose stated goal the destruction of israel and israeli people assumed control of the gaza strip, but instead of using that opportunity to build lifelines for the people of gaza, hamas built a 500 mile tunneletwork to terrorize israel. instead of providing education and health care and basic services for palestinians, pile thousands of rockets against israel through the course of the years. now, in the wake of october

7th, israel's stated goal is to destroy a terror group capable 6 guerilla style war fare with the aid of a massive tum system. this mission would be daunting for even the most highl trained and advanced military. as it pursues its goal, israel should consider lessons from the united states tactical experience in iraq, in particular the battle of fallujah in 2004 case study in insurgency warfare in anent. after a blinding fight in that city the u.s. significantly failed to achieve the objectives of clearing the territory of insurgents as the modern war in west point assessed senior political leaders should not react

emotionally in war and direct immediate action against the densely populated urban area when conditions for success are not present. in contrast, operations in gaza may be more successful by following the model of the battle of mozzel in the coalition forces in iraq, to arrest the biggest city back from isis militants. i had the opportunity on the ground for leading forces against isis. the operation was with patience and precision and isis was successfully eliminated in

mosul. >> the mission to clear the city of jihadi militants was ultimately successful, but the fighting wasntense longer than t 10,000 civilians dead, and killed more coalition soldiers than expected. ■< in prosecuting its current war, israel must do a better job of following the lessons of successful counterterrorism campaign. at times, israeli forces have conducted heavy bombing cagns using weapons with large payloads rather than targeted operations that yield more successful albeit slower results. the idf willingness to bomb populated areas to pursue hamas leaders changed both protecting the civilian population is a strategic imperative in counterterrorism erations world war.

you want to separate the insurgents from the population population to continue to successfully conduct your operation against an increasingly terrorist group. but simply put, israel's current strategy risk creating more terrorists than it is li can you think of a 15-year-old who has lost his youngest sibling, his grandparents. where will his rage and fury and■9 directed? it's a question i think we should all contemplate. the second issue we have to understand the broken political environment that badly weakened israel's national security

before october 7th. prime minister netanyahu returned to and narrow political collation is the most far right conservative government in israeli history. he has continued to make clear that he will never■4 support a two-state solution. in a desperate attempt to stay in power, netanyahu has enboldenedhe most far right members of his coalition. he has not only allowed extreme positions to be the stated goal of his administration, he mass his coalition with ministries by which they can enact their agendas. finance has fought his entire career to expand settler control in the west bank and now has control over restarting payments to the palestinian authority. his minister of national

security has been convicted on at least eight charges, including supporting a terrorist organization and in facing his own criminal charges, netanyahu worked to significantly weaken the israeli j for his own benefit. he did this despite hundreds of thousands of israelis protesting in the streets and w protests were going on last february. and he did this over the israeli military reservists at that point said they would refuse to report for duty in 17y protest. and he did this in spite that the idf would be weakened as a result. adding to this toxic and destabilizing mix, netanyahu's strategy for dealing with hamas. for years he purposely propped up hamas as aure

that a two-state solution would never come to fruition. as far back as netanyahu told israeli press that, i quote, it was important to keep hamas strong pass a counter weighto authority in the west bank. it was not just a weight, he knew having hamas in gaza a ne be possible. and allowing hamas to receive south cases full of cash coming other places and former defense minister of netanyahu blamed this tactic as one that directly 7th attacks. netanyahu's long, relentless pursuit of political survival and power are now fueling his

strategy for war in gaza and it strikes me that it is his future, not israel's future that is theforemost factor at play. and these are harsh truths, one leader to another, just as schumer leader did last week with courage and principle. most importantly, israel can't use military force alone to reclaim peace and security for its people, military force is used as a means to a political end. military force itself will never provide the final answer. will take hard bargaining and diplomatic negotiations, working with the united states, egypt and other allies and partners. the israelis must reach a temporary cease-fire that hostages, expansion of urn of

humanitarian assistance and capacity to safely deliver assistance to the people of gaza. the ongoing air drop and seaport are a step in direction, but israel must assure that the desperately needed supplies reach thegaza. there must be a realistic plan for day after operations in gaza. there needs to be a return to a framework for a two-state solution where israel and a demilitarized palestinian state exists side by side in peace and seri this plan will require buy-in from all. israel, the palestinian people, the world communit neighbors. israel should not and will not find the long-term security and peace it wants by indefinitely

reoccupying the gaza strip. finally, while it is a decision that will ultimately be made by the israel and schumer, i believe it's time for new leadership for both the palestinians and the israelis. years in what was supposed to be a four-year presidential term. and finding a the palestinian authority is long overdue. a new palestinian leader must recognize that the■: oy path to peace, security, and prosperity, is to renounce terror, to work with israel, to work with the regional partners for a path to statehood, which is stable and peaceful. leadership, as i indicated, also includes prime minister netanyahu. polling indicates more than 75% of israelis agree you should

step down and that netanyahu -- and traveled there in the early '90s and periodically and more importantly, the united states has been israel's closest ally for 75 years. in 1948 when the israelis declared their independence, the world was not particularly united states where to his immense credit president harry truman stood up and said we will recognize and support the state of israel and that profound bond exists today a vil always exist and we can't have anyone break that great allies must hold each

other to the highest standards, share hard truths when they need it and the u.s.-israeli alliance is no different. so i urge israel to change course in gaza immediately. to work with all of us to establish ultimately and enduringly, we hope, a secure and peaceful and the protection of its people as well as a just, secure, and people of that region can live safely. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. ♪♪ >> since 1979 in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has prod coverage of the halls of congress, from the house and senate floors, to congressional hearings, party briefings and committee meetings.

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for new jersey and northern california. later today, senators are expected to attend their weekly hear remotely from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. nd intelligence officials are all on capitol hill today to brief all senators on tik tok and national security concerns. and now live to the floor senat c-span2. the presiding officer: the ... presiding officer: the senate will come to orde the chaplain will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. me enlighten our lawmakers with a shin