State Department Spokesperson Grilled On U.S. Priorities In The Middle East

3 months ago

On Thursday, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller answered reporter questions on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

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Transcript

00:00Keep on the Lebanon border issue.

00:05Is it fair to say that this has now become like a greater focus of your diplomacy, like

00:08in the meetings this afternoon, than the situation in Gaza?

00:12This seems to have really heightened in terms of the rhetoric coming from both sides.

00:17Do you see this as a sort of – the priority is now avoiding a broader conflict in the

00:23north?

00:24No, they continue to be equally important priorities, and they have been from the beginning.

00:29We have been incredibly focused on the situation in Gaza since right after October 7th, but

00:35if you go back and look at what the Secretary said in his first visit to the region and

00:40what we said in really every trip, keeping the conflict from escalating has been one

00:44of our overriding strategic goals.

00:46And there have been times when it looked like there was more of a chance of the conflict

00:51escalating than others.

00:52Obviously, we had the time when there was direct fire against the State of Israel from

00:56inside Iran.

00:57We've seen the pace of attacks across the Lebanese border kind of rise and fall over

01:03time.

01:04But that overriding strategic objective has been there from the beginning for us.

01:09We continue to focus on both.

01:12This is not what you were saying, but I would just say that the – I wouldn't – the

01:16number of questions we get about any one topic is not always indicative of the actual work

01:21that's going on inside the government.

01:22We continue to work to pursue a ceasefire.

01:25Conversations going on between our government and the Government of Israel – Governments

01:28of Israel, Egypt, and Qatar about how best to achieve that ceasefire in a way that protects

01:33Israel's security interests, gets the hostages home, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian

01:38people.

01:39But no, I wouldn't rank them in any kind of order.

01:41And also on the relationship with the Israeli Government, there's been this fallout from

01:48the video that Prime Minister Netanyahu made talking about what Secretary Blinken said

01:52to him in their meeting.

01:57There's obviously – the administration has spoken about this and said some parts

02:03of it are not true.

02:04I just wanted to get your response, because there's a latest comment from the prime

02:06minister.

02:07He's saying he's willing to absorb personal attacks – he calls them personal attacks,

02:11apparently in a reference to the way that the administration has responded to this video

02:16– in order to get the weapons that Israel needs for its survival.

02:19So yeah, how do you respond to this kind of – there seems to be a continuing discord

02:26between the way you're talking about this and specifically on the issue of whether you're

02:31providing Israel with everything it needs.

02:33So I'm not exactly sure what the prime minister is talking about or what he was trying to

02:38accomplish.

02:39All I can tell you is what the Secretary told the prime minister directly in his meeting

02:44in Israel last week, which is that our commitment to Israel's security is sacrosanct.

02:50We have proved that not just with words but with deeds, and I don't think it's productive

02:55to engage in an intense public back-and-forth about this.

02:59So we will just let our actions continue to speak for themselves, as they have since October

03:047th.

03:05Yeah.

03:06Yeah.

03:07Staying on Lebanon, you and other U.S. officials have made clear that you don't want a second

03:10front to open, but how likely at this stage do you believe that a new confrontation between

03:15Hezbollah and Lebanon and Israel –

03:17I'm not going to give you any kind of assessment of likelihood.

03:20I will say it is an intense concern of ours, has been for some time.

03:25As I said, there are times where we have been more concerned about it, as it has never gone

03:28away as a concern.

03:29But whenever you see an increase in strikes across the border, that magnifies our concern

03:34at any given moment.

03:35So of course, we have intense concerns about it right now, which is why we are pursuing

03:41diplomacy to try to achieve a resolution.

03:43A U.S. official told us today that Israel hasn't come close to achieving their stated

03:47objective of destroying Hamas in Gaza.

03:50Its defense minister made similar comments publicly.

03:53Does the U.S. believe that Israel is militarily capable of succeeding militarily against Hezbollah

04:00with or without American support?

04:02Against Hezbollah?

04:03Yeah.

04:04I just don't want to offer any kind of an assessment about a conflict that we hope never

04:09happens in the first place.

04:11Well, you may be more persuasive if you point out that it's not one that Israel can do.

04:15We will have – we have conversations about that sort of thing behind closed doors, but

04:18I don't think it's helpful for me to offer that kind of assessment publicly.

04:20Okay.

04:21And then just because so much of this has also been predicated or has been accompanied

04:24by the U.S. diplomatic push to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, where do those talks stand?

04:29Have mediators engaged, re-engaged with Hamas to get a read on what their – what the bridgeable

04:35gaps are at this stage?

04:37We are engaging in conversations, as I said a moment ago, with governments of Egypt, Israel,

04:41and Qatar about how to move forward, responding to the proposal that Hamas made last week

04:49to try to come to a resolution that is consistent with what the United Nations Security Council

04:53endorsed and what countries across the world have signed up to.

04:57But I don't think at this point it's helpful for me to talk about those conversations

05:01in detail.

05:02Just to – but there's been no re-engagement with Hamas, either their political –

05:05I just – I don't want to get into that publicly right now.

05:08I have one more on Ukraine, then I'll –

05:09Okay.

05:10We'll come back.

05:11Go ahead.

05:12Yeah.

05:13While we're on Hizballah, can I just –

05:14Okay.

05:15I have one more on Ukraine, then I'll –

05:16Okay.

05:17We'll come back.

05:18While we're on Hizballah, can I just –

05:19Okay.

05:20I have one more on Ukraine, then I'll –

05:21Okay.

05:22We'll come back.

05:23While we're on Hizballah, can I just –

05:24Okay.

05:25I have one more on Ukraine, then I'll –

05:26Okay.

05:27I have one more on Ukraine, then I'll –

05:28Okay.

05:29We'll come back.

05:30While we're on Hizballah, can I just –

05:31Okay.

State Department Spokesperson Grilled On U.S. Priorities In The Middle East

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