in the conversation live on wednesday morning on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile app, or online at c-span.org. >> the chair of the senate armed services committee jack reed expressed reservations about how the war between israel and hamma -- israel and hamas was being handled. the democratic lawmaker agreed that israelis had the right to defend themselves but said he does not see a clear end game of su his comments on the senate floor came less than a week after majority leader shuck schumer called for new elections in israel. this is 20 minutes. mr. president, rise today to discuss the situation in the middle east and between israel and hamas. five months ago, hamas brutally attacked israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 240

hostages. hamas militants terrorized peop unspeakable acts of torture and mutilation against innocent men, wo this tragedy was the single deadliest day in israel's 75-year history, and the deadliest day for the jewish people since the holocaust. in the wake of these horrific attacks, the united states has stoodts democratic friend and ally israel as it has since the very beginning when harry truman stood up and the first state leader to recognize israel. i traveled with my colleagues two weeks after the attacks to mourn with the people of israel and support the defense of israel, to ensure that they knew that the united states was with

them. in my meetings in israeleaders rhode island, it is clear to me that this attack has had a profound impact on israelis and jewish peopleeverywhere. this attack has touched the deepest nerve, reopened the wounds of the past, and left many wondering now how but if jews will ever be safe from persecution because of who they are. as i have continued to make clear, israel can and must defend itself against the military threat from hamas. any nation that is attacked in this manner has the inherent right to self-defense. the united states will continue to support israel as it works to degrade and defeat hamas. ut i also say i have deep reservations about how this war is being conducted.

i believe good allies, good friends stand together and we stand with israel. but great allies, great friends are willing to speak hard truths and hold each oer the highest standards, especially around the conduct of war and issues of national security. i want to echo the majority leader, the senior senator from new york, a truly devoted pro-israel champion who is spiritually and emotionally connected to israel unlike very few of us, if any in this chamber, who has■7 been a frien to israeli leaders across the political spectrum and who is unafraid to speak truth to power. it's clear to me now five months into this war that israel's strategy to defeat hamas is in peril. while the idf has made important progress in rooting out hamas in

gaza, i do not see a clear end game or metrics for success coming from this israeli government. there is no plan for the day after the fightg stops. we know that more than 30,000 gazians are dead. theñ millions of gazians that have survived have largely been forced to flee south towards rafah and the crossing there with ejicht. they have little access to food, water, shelter, or medicare. those remaining in the north are facing dire humanitarian conditions. more than two million gazians are at risk of starvation or famine. enormous portions of the gaza strip have been completely destroyed and left uninhabitable. and the west bank is teetering on the brink of chaos. there are regular exchanges of

fire in the north with hezbollah who are kofshed in lebanon. this has forced many to leave their homes and escape from lebanon. and they are caught in the cross fire between idf forces and hezbollah. the region stands at the precipic of being engulfed in an all-out war. today as chairman of the armed united states senate, as a friend and long-time supporter of the israeli people, it is my duty to say clearly that this war has veered off course. there must be a fundamental course correction for the national security interest of israel, america, and our allies and partners throughout the world.

i do not come to this lightly. there are two factors that we must understand and come to terms with. learn from the united states hard-earned strategic and tactical lesstons from iraq and afghanistan. and second, as leader schumer courageously argued on the senate floor last week, israel and its allies acknowledge that prime minister netanyahu's failed policies and desperate pursuit of power created much of the tragic situation we are witnessing today. there are actual 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 11, 2001, and immediately sought to defend

ourselves. we launched our campaign to degrade and defeat al qaeda in afghanistan and the result of 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 has no role in the attacks on that horrific day of september 11. national grief and political fury can cloud the thinking of even the shrewdest military tacticians. i worry the mistakes of america's war in iraq are being made again by israel in gaza. similar to the power vacuum that the u.s. created when it dismantled saddam hussein's government in withdrawal from gaza strip in 2005 contributed to the

extremist violence we see today. the rise of hamas, a terrorist group, whose stated goal is the destruction of israel and the israeli people assumed control of the gaza strip. but instead of using that opportunity to build lifelines for the people hamas built a 500-mile tunnel network to terrorize israel, instead of providing education and health care and basic services for palestinians, hamas stockpiled and unleashed thousands of rockets against israel throu th. now in the wake of october 7, israel's stated goal is to destroy a terro g capable of gorilla-style warfare in a large urban territory with the aid of a massive underground tunnel system. this mission would be daunting for even the most highly trained and advanced milita. pursues it

should consider lessons from the united states tactical experience in iraq. in particular t fallujah in 2004 provides a painful case study encountering warfare in an urban environment. after a violent, grinding fight through that city, the u.s. objective, of clearing the e territory from insurgents. as the modern war institute at west point assessed, senior political leaders should not react emotionally in war and direct immediate action against a decemberly when conditions fos are not present. in contrast, prangss in- operations in gaza may be more successful by following a model of the battle of mosul inn the

worked with coalition forces in iraq to rest iraq's third largest cit back from isis militants. i had an opportunity to visit on the ground our forces leading in a coalition iraq forbeses against isis. the operation was conducted with patience and precision, and isis was successfully eliminated in mosul. even then success was arduous andhe financial times characterized it, the mission to clear the city of gentleman haddie militants was -- jihadi militants was successful but the fighting was intense, took three times longer than planned, left 10,000 civilians dead and killed more coalition soldiers than expected. in prosecuting its current war,

israel must7o a better job of following the lessons of successful counterterrorism campaigns. at times israeli forces have gq conducted heavy bombing campaigns using weapons with large pay loads rather than more targeted operations that yield more successful albeit slower results. the idf's willingness to bomb heavily populated civilian areas to pursue ham changed both the perceptions and the realities of this war. protecting the civilian imper tiff in -- imperative in counterterrorism operations and the law of war. you want to separate the insurgents from the population and gain the trust of the population to continue successfully conduct your operation against an increasingly isolated terrorist group. but simply put, israel's current

strategy risk creating more terrorists than it is eliminating. can you think of a 15-year-old who has lost his youngest sibling, his mother, his father, his grandparents, his rage and fury and profound sadness be directed? it's a question i think we should all contemplate. the second issue we have to understand is the broken politicized political environment that badly weake israel's national security before october 7. prime minister netanyahu returned to power in 2022 facing charges of corruption and a criminal trial looming. his narrow political coalition is the most far-right conservative government in israeli history. he has continued to make clear that he will never support a two-state solution.

in a desperate attempt to stay in power, netanyahu has emboldened the most far-right members of his coalition. he has not onlyo be the stated of his administration, he has provided far-right members of his coalition with■ ministries y which they can enact their agendas. his minister of finance has fought his ente career to expand federal control on the west bank and now has control over restarting payments to the palestin his minister of national security has been convicted on at least eight;z■n charges, including supporting a terrorist organization and incitement to racism. in facing his own criminal charges, netanyahu worked to significantly weaken the israeli judicial system for his own

despite hundreds of thousands of israelis protesting in the streets and we were there when those protests were goi on last february, and he did this over the objection of his israeli military reservists who at that point said they would refuse to report to duty in protest. and he did this despite warnings from defense minister gallant that the idf would be weakened as a result. adding to this mix was netanyahu's strategy for dea with hamas. for years he purposely propped up hamas as a means to ensure that a two-state solution would never come to fruition. as far back as 2012, netanyahu told israeli press quote, it was important to keep hamas strong as a counterweight to the palestinian authority in the west bank.

it was not just a counterweight. he knew that having hamas in power in gaza meant that a two-state solution would never be possible. this strategy to prop up hamas also included allowing hamas to receive full of cash coming from qatar and other places. a former defense of netanyahu blamed this tactic as one that directly paved the way for the october 7 attacks. rele pursuit of political survival and power are now fuelling his strategy for war in it strikes me that it is his strategy, not israel's strategy, his future, not israel's future that is the foremos and these factors add up to several hard truths that must be spoken from one ally to another just as leader 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 a final answer. a political solution will take hard bargaining and gip mattic -- diplomatic negotiations working with the united states, qatar, egypt and other allies and partners. the israelis mus reach a temporary cease-fire that allows for the safe return of hostages, expansion humanitarian assistance and a pathway to safely deliver assistance to the people of gaza. the ongoing airdrop campaign and seaport efforts areht direction must do more to ensure that the increased supply of food and other desperately needed supplies caneach people of

gaza. there must be a realistic plan for the day after operations in framework for a two-state solution, where the state of israel and aj demilitarized palestinian state exists side by side in peace and security. this plan will requirebuy-in from all, israel, the palestinian people, the world community, arab neighbors. israel should not and■ w find the long-term security and peace it wants by indefinitely reoccupying the gaza strip. while it is a decision that will ultimately be made by the israeli and palestinian people, like leader schumer, i believe it is time for new leadership for both the palestinians and the israelis. it i anto what

was supposed to be a four-year presidential term. finding a successor for the palestinian authority isg a new palestinian leader must recognize that the only path to peace, security, and prosperity is to to work with israel, toss work with the regional partners for a path to statehood, which is stable and peaceful. new leadership, as i indicated, also includes prime minister netanyahu. polling indicates that more than 75% of israelis believe he should step down, and i agree with leader schumer that netanyahu represents an obstacle to long-term peace in israel. i have long been a friend and support other of israel. i traveled tn the early 1990's and traveled there periodically since. more importantly, the united states has been israel's closes.

in 1948 when the israelis declared their independence, the world was not particularly accepting, except here in the 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, and in my view and in my hope will always exist. and we can't have anyone break that bond. great allies must hold each other to highrds, share hard truths when needed, and the u.s.-israeli alliance is no din. and so i -- is no different. so the urge them to change course immediately, to work with all of us to establishmately an

hope, a secure and peaceful israel and the protection of its people as well a just, secure, and safe place where all people of that region can live safely.■ with that, mr. ■n