On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) said that the weapons the U.S. provides to Israel for protection against Iranian proxy groups are “leverage.” And the “big” action that has made it difficult to reach a ceasefire deal was Israel killing Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Himes began by saying, “The Biden administration and Brett McGurk and Bill Burns, Director of [the] CIA, in particular, have devoted an immense amount of time to trying to bring this deal to fruition. This deal is important, it’s important to de-escalating the conflict in the region. It’s not — this conflict is not just one between the Israelis and their many enemies in the region, chiefly, Hamas, it’s one that bears the very real risk of growing into a true regional conflagration, which you can think of a dozen different ways in which the United States might get involved. So, this deal is essential. And at various points in time, both the Israelis and Hamas have taken positions that have made it very, very hard. Of course, the big one was the killing of Haniyeh inside a Republican Guard compound in Tehran. That, of course, made it very, very hard in that moment to get that deal done. So, we just need to keep breaking our pick on this rock, because not getting this deal done just further inflames the tinderbox in the region.”
MSNBC Contributor and BBC U.S. Special Correspondent Katty Kay then asked, “Congressman, President Biden only has about four-and-a-half months left in office, and he would really, really like to get this deal done. So, I’d imagine that, over the course of the next four months, he’s going to put as much pressure as America can, as the White House can on the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. We know that we’ve got close, because we’ve got to the stage where there are even names of Palestinian prisoners who might be released in exchange for certain types of Israeli hostages. What more could the White House do, say, withhold from Prime Minister Netanyahu in order to push this over the line?”
Himes answered, “Well, the answer to that question is, at some level, obvious, but it’s problematic. The United States provides a great deal of support, particularly in the form, today, of weaponry to the Israelis. It is uncomfortable, given the fact that it’s not just Hamas, but it is any number of other Iranian…proxies in the region who are after Israel, it’s uncomfortable to say that that’s leverage, but it’s leverage. And there have been moments when, in my opinion, I think the Prime Minister has taken steps to actually slow progress on a deal. … I don’t know exactly what form it takes, but the United States is going to need to pressure all parties and people with leverage with Hamas, the Qataris, the Egyptians, etc., are going to need to pressure Hamas to finally take a deal so that we can sort of exhale after many, many months of an immensely tense situation.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
