captioning sponsored by cbs >> dickerson: i'm john dickerson in washington, and this week on "face the nation," will that fragile cease-fire in the middle east continue to hold? plus more hopeful signs that we're reaching the end of the pandemic. following 11 days of fighting that left hundreds dead, the militant group hamas and the israeli military have held their fire now for more than 48 hours. the u.s. and regional leaders negotiated a halt to the violence late last week, but there is little hope for a change in the conditions that led to this round of confrontation. >> let's get something straight here: unt tgionays uney they acknowledge the right of israel to exist as an independent jewish state,

there will be no peace. >> dickerson: we'll talk with vermont senator bernie sanders, one of several democrats urging more support for the palestinian people as a part of a more progressive approach to challenges at home and abroad. former defense executive robert gates once took a dim view of then senator biden's foreign policy judgment. what does he think now? we also talked with him about the state of politics in america. >> i worked for eight presidents, five of them were republicans. i don't think any of them would recognize the republican party today. >> dickerson: with new coronavirus cases and deaths at their lowest level in almost a year, we'll check in with former f.d.a. commissioner dr. scott gottlieb. good news comes during college graduation season. we'll talk about what students faced and what they learned with the president of william & mary katherine rowe. plus plans to launch a

commission to investigate the january 6th insurrection appears stalled. army lt. general russel honore is here to talk about his review of the security failures that enabled the deadly assault. it is all ahead on "face th nation." ♪ >> dickerson: good morning. and welcome to "face the nation." a cease-fire between israel and hamas militants appears to be holding as we come on the air. humanitarian aid began rolling into gaza as people in bombed-out neighbors combed through the debris, picking up what is left behind. all of this as hundreds of hamas fighters paraded in the streets ofazt in a s defiance after 11 days of fighting that left 250 people dead. cbs news foreign corns

imtiaz tyab is standing by in jerusalem, but we begin with a report from cbs news foreign correspond holly williams in gaza. >> reporter: hamas celebrated the sea fire with a victory parade through the streets of the gaza strip. they governed gaza strip and is a classed as a terrorist organization by the u.s. their leader they say is a defender of the palestinian course. but this doesn't look like a win for the people of gaza. israeli airstrikes killed more than 240, according to officials here, including 66 children. >> and over here is a reception. >> reporter: this used to be the gaza international hotel, owned by abu jaba and her25ars, untili airstrike targeted the

multi-story building just next door. there was a warning in this neighborhood, and they got out of the hotel in time, but abas' dreams have been shattered. >> i don't want to cry, but when i saw this, i cried in my heart. >> reporter: israel is also claiming victory, saying it killed over 200 militants. but 12 civilians in the country lost their lives to hamas rockets. ben isok is credited with preventing bn dozens of palestinian terrorist attacks. he blames israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu for igniting the clashes as he fights for political survival. >> and the goal is to keep his position. >> reporter: hamas are war criminals, he says, but israel's actions are helping them. >> and i think to myself, what would have happened if i would live in gaza?

i guess that at least i would go to the border and throw stones, maybe become a terrorist, because nobody gives me any hope. nobody gives me any future. >> reporter: political leaders on both sides are scoring points while people in israel and here in gaza are mourning their dead and counting their losses. john? >> dickerson: holly williams reporting from gaza. we turn now to imtiaz tyab. he has been reporting from israel since soon after the current crisis started. i wanted to get your sense of the political attitude in israel now that the cease-fire appears to be holding. >> reporter: john, good to talk to you. i would say that the political mood here in israel is bitter, confrontational, and many of the arrows that are being flung are landing directly on prime minister benjamin netanyahu. political leaders are

accusing him -- and these are their words -- of caving to international pressure, caving to president biden for this cease-fire. people within his own party saying that the fight in gaza was not complete. that more damage needed to be inflicted on hamas, and we didn't see that. on the other side, those who say that mr. netanyahu had potentially put in jeopardy israel's relationship with the u.s., and, indeed, with this new administration. mr. netanyahu, of course, very close with president trump. he has known president biden for a long time, but mr. biden is now president. and the concern was that this growing call for a cessation of hostility coming from the u.s. may have fallen onafars, and that could have hurt this relationship. but i do have to point out that this relationship is rock-solid, and israel's politics are not. >> dickerson: compared that to picture of tussling and acrimony ne, what does it look like inside the palestinian

mood? >> president blinken will be meeting with mahmoud abbas on wednesday. but the reality is for mowemost palestinians, they do not see mr. abbas as representing them. what we've been seeing here is something very unique: we saw jewish and palestinian citizens of israel essentially involved in fighting that we've not seen for many, many years. it was horrific to see. since then, in the last few days, israeli media and israeli social media, there has been a real campaign to try to bring these communities back together, talking about social cohesion. but while the fabric of israeli society felt like it was being torn apart during the war, when it comes to palestinians, whether inside of israel, here in east jerusalem, in the occupied west bank or gaza, they've been talking about something called palestinian national unity.

>> dickerson: fascinating, indeed. imtiaz tyab in jerusalem, thanks so much. we go to bernie sanders who joins us from berlington, vermont. good morning, senator. >> good morning. >> dickerson: i want to start in the middle east. you made the case that how the u.s. government responds in this cease-fire says something about president biden's commitment to human rights more broadly. last sunday you wrote a piece in the "new york times" that says the u.s. must stop being anthropologist for the netanyahu government. since you wrote that, the president has been very supportive of israel. do you think that the administration is being an pop ganapologist for the netanyahu government? >> given the incredible suffering in gaza, where we have a poverty rate of 56%, and 70% of the young people are unemployed, and after the israeli attacks, you have waste water plants destroyed, clinics destroyed, hospitals destroyed, i think the united states has got to

develop an even-handed approach to the israeli-palestinian conflict. we have to be pro-israel, but we have to be pro-palestinian. i hope and believe the president understands that. i was delighted to see he is moving forward to try to rebuild with the international community -- rebuild gaza after all of that destruction. >> dickerson: you mentioned an even-handed approach. when i read a portion of your editorial to prime minister netanyahu, he thought it was pro preposterous, your claim he had created the conditions, that he made peace impossible. because he said, how do you have negotiations with hamas? they are dedicated to the destruction of israel. president biden again said that this week, when he said until the region says unequivocally that theyael's rit to exist, there will be no

peace. how do you have an even-handed approach to those who want to destroy israel? >> you have to understand that over the years, the netanyahu government has become extremely right-wing. and there are people in the israeli government now who are overt racists. you have people being evicted from their homes. tremendous people on people in israel, the arab community, as well as gaza. so you have a very difficult situation. you have hamas, a terrorist group, you have a right-wing israeli government, and the situation is getting worse. and all that i'm saying is that the united states of america has got to be leading the world in bringing people together not simply supplying weapons to kill children in gaza. this last series of attacks killed 64 children and destroyed a large part of the infrastructure of gaza in a community that has already been one of the most uninhabitable

territories in the world. >> dickerson: you have put forward legislation that would delay the sale of military equipment to israel. would you also put the same kind of conditions you'd like to see on that aid to israel on any aid the u.s. gives, through the u.n. or otherwise, to the palestinians, to make sure that hamas doesn't get any of it? >> absolutely. look, hamas is a terrorist, corrupt, authoritarian group of people. we have got to stand up to them. but, once again, our job is not simply to put more and more military support for israel. it is to bring people together. we can't do it alone. we need the international community. but that's what i think we need to be doing. >> dickerson: let me ask you about how this has played out here at home. the anti-defamation league says there were 193 reports of anti-semitic incidents this week, up

from the previous week. in the past, you've said it should be possible to be a critic of israeli policy but not be anti-semitic, but it doesn't seem to be playing out that way with this uptake in -- >> anti-semitism is rising in america and all over the world. that is an outrage and we have to combat anti-semitism. we have to combat the increase in hate crimes in this country against asians, against african-americans, against latinos. so we've got a serious problem of a nation which is being increasingly divided, being led by right-wing extremists in that direction. >> dickerson: there are a number of liberals who use the word "apartheid" about palestinian's treatment. the executive director of cong has sai-jewish

at-- joel rubin has said using that word has increased the amo ihwe shoue down the rhetoric. i think our goal is very simple: it is to understand that what is going on in gaza today is unsustainable. when you have 70% of the young people unemployed, when people cannot leave the community, when hospitals and waste water plants have been destroyed, that is unsustainable. and the job of the united states is to bring people together. and that is what we have got to try to do. >> dickerson: i want to switch to domestic affairs now. the president and republicans have been going back and forth on this question of infrastructure. the president made another bid, shortened the price tag a little bit. but the central question of what infrastructure means, republicans say it is roads and bridges, and democrats say it includes lots of other things, the

evironment and child care and elder care. is that difference so big it can't be fixed through bipartisan negotiations and democrats should just go it alone? >> look, i think most working-class americans under for the last 40 years what the government has done is cater to the needs of the wealthy and large corporations. rich is becoming much richer, and wages for the average worker has gone nowhere. what we've got to do now, john, is start paying attention to the struggling middle class and struggling working class. it means at a time when half of our people are living piycheck to paycheck, we've got to create millions of good-paying jobs. that is rebuilding roads and bridges. we talked about that forever. but it is also having to deal with the existential threat of climate. how do you not deal with climate when the scientists tell us that the very future of the

planet is in peril. and how do we lead the world unless we have in a competitive ti education. we have to expand medicare to cover dental, eye glasses, and hearing aids. >> dickerson: in the 30 second we have left, senator, with ambitions like that, which the senator shares, how do you do it with bipartisanship? do you have to do it with democratic votes? >> that's absolutely right. we would like bipartisanship, but i don't think we have a seriousness on the part of the republican leadership to address the major crises facing this country. if they're not coming forward, we've got to go it alone. >> dickerson: senator bernie sanders, thank you so much for being with us.

and we'll be right we'll be rign one moment. stay with us.

>> dickerson: last year the pandemic kept us from traveling to williamsburg, virginia, for or annual conversation former secretary robert gates. this year we made it, though, and asked him about the prospects for peace between the israelis and palestinians. >> i think there is very little prospect of peace between them at this point. i don't think there has been in quite a long time. and i think, in fact, one of the things that produced the breakthrough with the abraham accords between the israelis and the gulf states and others has been sort of essentially setting aside the palestinian issue and moving on to a region that has changed in some pretty dramatic ways. which basically leaves the palestinians out in the cold. >> dickerson: is it

consistent with u.s. interests and values to leave the palestinians out in the cold? >> i certainly don't think it is consistent with our values. but, you know, john, the truth is almost every ha effort. and so these efforts have been stymied time and time again. i would say there have been israeli prime ministers who were actually interested in a solution, but the palestinians couldn't bring themselves to say yes. >> dickerson: how do you grade president biden's handling of the issue? >> i think that the u.s. not being front and center was probably not a bad thing. i think letting the egyptians and others take the lead allowed us the voices for a cease-fire. they were coming from europe and the united states and not from the arab states, although egypt certainly played a role in negotiating the cease-fire. >> dickerson: you mentioned president biden was not publicly saying a number of things, not

putting public pressure on israel? >> i think sometimes the united states can reach -- can achieve its objectives more affmore affectively by playing a behind-the-scenes role than by being in the front. when the united states is out in front, it automatically creates lots of antibodies in a lot of different places. but when the u.s. is playing a constructive role behind the scenes, it could be much more affective. >> dickerson: there have been reports that israel has been attacking covertly the iron nuclear program. does israel have leverage over the u.s. president because of what it is doing covertly in iran? >> one of the things i worried about when i was secretary was that the israelis would take an action that they regarded as in their national interest that would create enormous problems for the united states.

strategically, comm politically, and militarily. and that they could get themselves into a problem and then turn to us to bail them out. and my worry was always a concern about a unilateral israeli action that then inevitably would require the united states to become involved. >> dickerson: do you think president biden has to keep that in mind when he is putting pressure on prime minister netanyahu, on the israeli-palestinian front, that he has to keep in mind that he also needs israel to not take the kind of action that you're talking about? >> i think that the mood in the united states, particularly among our politicians in washington, is probably somewhat less favorable to israel today than it has been in years past. i think we saw that in some of the democratic

criticism of israel for the actions taken in gaza. but, you know, this is one of the problems of having allies, is that sometimes they do things that you think i really wish that hundrhadn't done that, or you have to worry they will do something. >> dickerson: you were a critic of president biden before he was president, but you said there were a couple of things you agree with in his presidency so far. are you surprised? >> no, not really. the reality is, actually, most of my concerns and criticisms of senator biden really had to do with things he voted on and opposed in the cold war because he basically opposed every single initiative ronald reagan had in terms of the arms race with the soviets and various other things. in the obama administration, in fact, we probably agreed on almost everything accept afghanistan. now, that was a huge

difference. and that was a big deal. we've always had a friendly relationship. i mean, we're both literally and figuratively old school, where you can disagree with people and still respect them and like them. >> dickerson: you're about the same age? >> almost exactly. >> dickerson: could you do the job of being president at this age? >> i'm getting encouraged so far. i didn't think so a year or two ago. but so far, so good. >> dickerson: you mean your encouraged by joe biden's ability to handle the job? >> yeah. >> dickerson: what do you think about his afghanistan policy, withdrawal from afghanistan? >> i probably would have -- first of all, it is an amazingly tough decision. and you have both a republican and democratic president basically saying the american people are done with this. we need to come home. i think what is really critical at this point is that we sustain our economic and military assistance to the afghans

after we're gone. >> dickerson: let me take you back to your t.i.a. days and analyzing other countries. if you were analyzing the political structure of the united states as a c.i.a. analyst, and the minority party believes that the majority of the voters believe that the president was illegitimate, how would you assess the political organization of that country? >> i would have serious concerns about the future. you know, i worked for eight presidents. five of them were republicans. i don't think any of them would recognize the republican party today. >> dickerson: and what do that mean? >> well, i think that in terms of the values and the principles that the republican party stood for under those five presidents are hard to find these days. >> dickerson: when we come back, we'll hear more from secretary robert gates.

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this is the cbs overnight news. >> good evening, america's covid recovery is picking up speed and vaccines are the reason why. tonight, the cdc is reviewing several dozen reports that some vaccinated teenagers and young adults may have suffered heart inflammation. the seven day average of cases is don't 90%. and covid deaths now roughly 500 a day have fallen by 85%.