Deputy National Security advisor discuss the u. S. Israel alliance that followed by texas representative roy and policy advocates looking at the impact of israels war with hamas in helping the u. S. Best support of israel to defend against terrorist groups. This is from the heritage foundation. Vice president of the heritage foundations Davis Institute for National Security and foreign policy. [applause] thank you all for joining us today for this profoundly timely event on the 75th anniversary of the u. S. Israel alliance. Id like to start with a prayer. Heavenly father we pray for all of our friends in israel. We pray for all americans that they stand with our israeli friends and with the jewish people in this terrible time. We pray for your guidance and wisdom as we go through these discussions today not only celebrating the 75th anniversary of the u. S. History of alliance but the 1400. Amen. I did mention there is something kind of providential about the timing of this event because weve been talking about this for two years and so we had actually hoped to have it this may and i was upset when it got rescheduled and felt like i failed both to be able to join together today and talk about these topics, to talk about the u. S. Israel Security Alliance and the scourge of antisemitism two weeks after the attacks of october 7th isor a huge privilee and responsibility for heritage to host these discussions and im very excited to hear what everyone has to say and hopefully engageef in this in te spirit of looking at the next 25 years y and what can come of th. One other quick thing i wanted to mention being october 203rd of this is also the 40th anniversary of the bombings and its a date thats been very powerful foror me because the dy after on october 204th, my former boss got the call room fm then secretary of state George Schultz to come to washington to meet with president reagan to become his middle east envoy and manage the crisis afterwards. So working with secretary rumsfeld after his retirement on that topic was in many ways my introduction to the middle east and my introduction to terrorism. He also referred to the bomber by i think there was a quote about this at the time smiling death that the truck bomb pulled into the barracks the driver was smiling and that is so profoundly chilling for us as we do contemplate the horrible events of october 7th and the glee with which the terrorists apparently carried out theire atrocities this is unchanged over the last four years so we have our work cut out for us. We are fortunate today to have representations on the embassy of israel and its my great pleasure to introduce my friend the deputy chief mission who is, who previously served as the chief of the Mideast Bureau at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs so we have something of a history together. Going back a few years hes had an extraordinarily distinguished career at the msa including tours at both china and previously in the United States. If you can all join me in welcoming benjamin. [applause] thank you for those kind words. Thank you, senator ernst for being with us, congressman, ambassador you will hear from later as well. We are gathered here today to talk about the 75 years of alliance between israel and the United States. Something i remember speaking about when this was in the planning and we had a Different Things happening and different ideas. Not a Single Person in this room ever imagined that 75 years of his right all the jewish people to experience the most horrific deadly attack since the holocaust. On the morning of october 7, 2023 and unprovoked war against the state of israel. October 7 should have been a joyful day for jewish people celebrated the jewish holiday. Instead we were confronted with aa devastating reality of the unprovoked attacks over 1400 people whove been massacred and lost. Over 4,000 wounded and about 200 people whod been kidnapped. We still dont know the actual number. Among them were american citizens killed, injured, abducted. Thankfully some released. Like most weve been personally impacted. My own brother lives adjacent to the crossing on the border of gaza together with his wife and four kids they spent 12 hours in their safe room. My brother with his pistol outside of the window hoping nobody would come. They finally found a narrow opportunity to escape only to learn later on their friends and neighbors two houses down were gunned down completely, and entire family. Israel is at war, and it may be a long one. Its not another round of violence. Israel didnt choose to start this war, but we will end it. As we respond, the idea of one of the worlds most moral militaries would act in accordance with the International Law and ethics. Israel is working hard to evacuate innocent civilians out of harms way while hamas is doing everything it possibly can to ensure innocent civilians are in harms way. Hamas, isis brutal attacks continueue to grow violation of International Law as well as severe crimes against humanity. This is a work of humanity against evil. The objection of anyone especially if innocent uninvolved civilians including women, children and elderly is a grotesque war crime. Allowing representatives of the red cross not providing humanitarian aid or even information of who is there, who is alive and who is not. Id like to take this opportunity to call on every single one of you here and on the screens to call about their release immediately. Make no mistake like every other nation in the world, israel has the right and a duty to defend its citizens against the brutality of terrorism. We will ensure that hamas is eliminated and we will not and should not apologize. As for israels northern border, hezbollah is responsible for all the acts of terrorism coming from lebanon choosing to enter the conflict into destructive war. Israel doesnt wish to have a multiple front war with hezbollah but we are prepared to do whatever it takes to negate any threats that come our way. As President Biden said, dont. As weve already is in the medias portrayal of the war shifted its critical that the United States continue to support and stand shoulder to shoulder with israel as it has done for the past 75 years. Since president truman recognized the jewish state just moments after our creation. Our two countries are founded on the bedrock of freedom and democracy with a shared commitment to oppose terrorism. President t bidens visit just last week x expressed solidarity and support and highlighted the struggle against the rising threat of islamic terror. His visit alongside the diplomatic visits including ten bipartisan members and the u. S. Military support are all a demonstration of the Close Partnership between the u. S. And israel. The United States and israels military coordination provide a steadfast support of the west and has expressed and has shown its rightful commitment to combating terrorism in this consequential war. The administration is currently requesting an allocation of over 10 billion to support the security and strategic needs. Additionally weve seen military support from the u. S. Deterrence efforts by the projection assets should says aircraft carriers, the east mediterranean and towards the gulf. These are to further Strategic Support for israel. Israel will continue to stand firmly against terror threats in full cooperation, coordination with ourit longstanding ally. Congress exhibited a display of support for israel and lawmakers on both sides ofel the aisle cae together to underscore their commitment to israels security and its right to defend itself. This unity transcended partisan line as legislators recognized the gravity of the situation thatti we are now facing. Despite the overwhelming show of support from government officials, the rising tide of antisemitism in the United States is deeply concerning and underscores the critical importance of combating prejudice in all its forms. Discrimination, hatred towards jewish communities not only threatens the wellbeing of jews worldwide who undermine the Core Principles of tolerance and inclusivity that the United States stands for. By raising awareness, educating the publicic and taking concrete actions to comect from the issue with work towards the safer and more Inclusive Society for the security and safety of the jewish communities across the country. Demonstrations against israel that we are seeing now equals supporting hamas and its terrorism. Israelis found themselves caught in this relentless conflict leaving them with little time to properly mourn their losses yet despite the overwhelming sorrow we stand resolute and refusing to be broken by the terror that we face. Israel demonstrated remarkable unity and resilience as our citizens have come together in the face of adversity. In the midst of conflict and uncertainty of the nation has witnessed a profound sense of solidarity transcending political religious and cultural divides. Israelis from all walks of life rally behind the common goal of safeguarding our homeland over 300,000 reservists called up to duty. Palpable not only among the israeli people but also in the Political Leadership with a shared commitment to ensure the nations security and sovereignty. With all differences aside that weve been experiencing over the past year we see how at times in crisis the people come together and israel even forms an emergency unity government. The unwavering determination exhibited by israel throughout this challenging period serves as a testament to the resilience and ability to stand strong in times of crisis, something we could not do without the ongoing support in the United States. Going towards the future sustaining bipartisan support for israel remains essential for not only American Foreign policy and regional stability but also for the safety of the jewish people. The relationship between the United States and israel has deep historical roots and strategic significance. While specific geopolitical landscapes may evolve, fostering bipartisan consensus on the shared values and common interests that underpin this alliance will be pivotal. We do thank you for the ongoing support, for the support also Going Forward which is so crucial to us. The 75 year celebration has changed. Seventyfive years together is a message that we are here to stay together. Thank you. [applause] thank you very much. We extend greetings to the ambassador and all of our friends back in jerusalem. Thank you. Id like to begin our first panel on the u. S. Israel security relationship. We are also honored to have with us today our senator from the great state of iowa joni ernst who has also been doing some really incredible work on the Senate Armed Services committee where shes been a very distinguished member b and is jt back from a trip to israel i believe with the first u. S. Elected official on the ground after the attacks so great pleasure to welcome senator ernst. [applause] she has a cheering section. And then also to welcome rob greenway who serves as the director of National Defense here at heritage who will be moderating our discussion and i will be serving as your second panelist. [applause] thank you all very much. As already stated and captured, steadfast support has been the cornerstone of american National Security policy for every u. S. Administration since harry truman. Since its founding in 1948 the u. S. Has provideds. Over 150 billion in bilateral assistance focused chiefly in the security domain and allowed it to address complex threats which it has done. This is also transformed the Defense Forces into one of the most preeminent capabilities and its been tested many times and ast you all know it is being tested yet again. The attack october 7th was the most deadly and israels history and also the most deadly attack against u. S. Americans by 9 11. So in this we are not merely observers but we are in fact participants. The first question i would ask of you is because israel has been the leading recipient of Security Assistance for many decades now and congress is considering supplemental as mentioned providing Additional Resources following the second declaration of war since 1973 how important has our investment in israel dan . Thank you, robert and thanks to heritage for this incredibly timely discussion and simply put, its very important so we continue supporting israel now more so than ever. Iak will take us back a couple f weeks to when i was actually on the ground in israel. I had already embarked on a congressional delegation trip to the middle east. I started in the uae and was joined by the rest of my bipartisan delegations in saudi arabia. We were scheduled to go on to bahrain and then into israel where we were joining in a conversation at the end seven regional conference. We were just leaving saudi arabia when we heard about the attacks in israel. Maybe like many of you, when i woke up that morning to find out about the rocket attack, my staff came to me and said we cant go into israel, israel is being attacked by hamas. My thought was we can wait a few hours. We should be able to go in, not understanding the severity of the attacks. They were like no, this is not the normal, because israel is attacked all the time from gaza. This was not the daily occurrence of one or two rockets into israel. This was an all out onslaught against israel. As we let that absorb, it became more andec more clear why we needed to continue to support israel. We were able to push into israel on the tenth of october much to the chagrin of our state department who did not want us traveling into israel, but the embassy folks on the ground were so thankful that we were there and we were able to stand sidebyside with thend prime minister, with the Opposition Leader and just emphasize to them that the United States stands in solidarity with the people of israel and against these horrific attacks by hamas. As soon as we a are looking at this, again, simple answer. Its more important than ever. But not only do we need to continue to fund for the defense of israel but we also need to push back much harder against iran because a lot of this is coming directly out of iran. Thank you very much, senator. I know that your visit makes a great deal to our longtime partners and that the culpability cannot be, cannot escape our attention. Israel is in the final stages of what we anticipate to be a long anticipated Ground Invasion to destroy hamas and prevent it from being a threat. Weve heard reports about the Current Administration asking for delays. What should we be doing to support our partner and ally at this critical juncture . Thank you, robert. I think right now is the moment when all is raleys and americans need to hear and unequivocal message of support for israels right to selfdefense and thats becomee something of a talking point. Israel has the right to selfdefense. What do those words mean . It means israel has the right to exist without the fear of thousands of Hamas Terrorists going across the border on a random saturday when its supposed to be a holiday and whats been clear to me as we gather the information and have been digesting it still getting updates as they identify more bodies, the stark contrast between good and evil. There are no degrees or shades of gray. There is good and theres evil and so i think what we need to do as the United States is put on a jersey. I think we should put on a white jersey in this case and get in the fight. Obviously the hostage situation is profoundly difficult in a uniquely horrific way. We have both israeli and american citizens, citizens from other countries as well. They didnt ask for their passports. They just took them and dragged them back to gaza and i know that that is weighing on everyones heart very heavily. But at the same time, israel cannot live withth this threat d unless it is eradicated now, we are going to wind up in a situation where this could happen again and thats what is ultimately intolerable. So obviously from the senators experience and from our experience in government theres a lot of discussions that go on. Many elements of the United States government would be involved in that. It will be a complex operation but i think the message needs to be simple. The United States and israel stand together. Could not agree more especially on the stark contrast between good and evil knowing what was perpetrated on october seventh as Additional Details and confirmation come out as it could not be more important. Senator, you mentioned iran and we know from secretary alstons testimony in march that from januaryan of 21, iran and its other circuits and proxies have launched at that time 83 attacks against u. S. Forces to which we only responded four times and in the last seven days by my countg weve been attacked an additional eight times by iranian proxies chiefly in syria and iraq. Ul what in your judgment should we be doing, should the administration be calling for to address this threat . I would say just having been a soldier and serving in that region, the rules of engagement anyti time we went into iraq isf you are fired upon, you fire back. Why are we not doing that as a United States of america . Anytime we have a terrorist group, foreign entity coming after our men and women, american citizens, we need to retaliate, we need to go back and go back hard. We need to make sure these other countries, these terrorist proxy groups know and understand that but what we have seen with this administration is any administration of appeasement, they will do whatever they can not to get on the bad side of an authoritarian regime, not to get on the bad side of terrorists, have inverted. We are seeing this administration do everything they can to get a Nuclear Agreement with iran even going against the wishes of congress continuing down this path of appeasement. We saw the release or the unfreezing of 6 billion of assets which i think contributed to hamas and their attacks on israel. We have seen this administration not and force sanctions that are already in place. Iranian oil exports are at a fiveyear high and the sale of the iranian oil only goes to fund hamas, the Palestinian Islamic jihad, hezbollah. So weve seen this administration do everything they can to make lives easier for the iranian people. But essentially what they have done is make the mission of hamas and the other proxies much easier in achieving their goals of death to america and death to israel. So we have to get the administration to step up. We have our own efforts in congress. Ive led the way on many of these and i have democratic partners as well. So, its not just about all democrats feel we should do everythingve for iran. Thats not true. We do have good partners out there that do support israel and i will be calling more and more on those partners to help us push back against this administration and their appeasement of iran. Thank you, senator. Grateful for your leadership its been most welcome and clarifying. I agree completely its difficult to understand, and appreciate why we are not responding to really unparalleled provocation. Victoria, you remember from our time at thef white house one of our efforts, which ultimately was successfully concluded that the department of defense was directed in 2020 to bring israel to within the Central Command area of responsibility for circumstances just like this. In your view, how has that helped the Unitedd States and israel prepare for what may be a regional escalation . I may be taking my life into my hands by lecturing you [laughter] i remember where i was when i was on senator cruzs staff and learned that israel was in uconn, not a centcom which made zero cents because israel is not in europe the last time i looked unless they changed the map again. It seemed so discordant to me, and there were a lot of reasons you knew they wanted to observe in nato and all these other reasonsnd and then the real rean came out which is that it had basically become kind of the era of military club and they were unwilling to allow the israelis in, and i thought that it really just doesnt make any sense. One of the positive things we were able to engage in during the Trump Administration of course was the Abraham Accords and reaching new peace agreements for the first time in 25 years between israel and their neighbors. We brought it up at the time that maybe we can rectify this law and as we go forward into the next 25 years of the relationship, have israel actually be seen as part of this region where it is physically located. That might seem a symbolic but i think that it is critical because that arrangement of sort of having israel is one of the things that allowed others to kind of cast their survival into doubt is it really a state if its not even really in the right a place. And i think writing those wrongs, recognizing it as the sovereign israeli territory and moving the embassy to jerusalem, these are very powerful messages about how the United States sees israel and then as we found out that helped others with their clarity. So now that the move had happened, i think as we look at the Regional Response to octobes disappointed that we are not getting more fulsome statements of support for israel out of the arab world. That would be nice, but israel i think is used to things not being terribly nice and what they really need is the arabs not to attack, not to demand israel be removed and they are pretty much doing that. So i think the kind of reality check we did with this move can nghopefully Going Forward laid e foundation for a Regional Securityty architecture that wod include israel. It would be central as a power projection point for the United States. Thats why i think that move was important and why it can be really sort of a linchpin of what we do Going Forward. I think weve seen positive comments from both quarters both the security establishment and from the United States i think from Central Command in particular that was long overdue and in fact its made a tremendous impact on the coordination which at the moment, incredibly vital. Therebl is i think fear and trepidation in many quarters of the prospects of regional escalation and conflict and in this part of the world where it has been systematic, weve seen not that long ago the Biden Administrations disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan. Weve left some 83 billion of equipment and infrastructure and reverted control back over to the same group that we took it from which ads i think to that hesitancy. And we h know that under then ve President Biden and general austen who at the time was the Central Commander, they orchestrated the withdrawal from iraq in 2011 which set the stage for isis and in many ways iranian control over iraq. You see and know the reluctance well. What is the best way of making those that are concerned about our presence and the potential of conflict understand the need for the United States to be involved but also the importance of israel in the region and i oursupport for it under these trying times . Its extremely important that we continue supporting israel because of this stability in the region they truly are the kingpin making sure that we dont continue to see the growth of terrorist proxy organizations atunder iran. They are the ones that provided that stabilization, that a continuation of safety iny that region. They are pushing back against iran, so it is incredibly important that we continue to support israel, work with israel, but then also draw upon the abraham according to make sure that not only do we continue to focus on peace efforts with his royal but also thai and all of the other Abraham Accords nations that signed on to that agreement and pull in saudi arabia because in the arab nation, saudi arabia is there kingpin so we need to make sure we continue on with of the israeli saudi peace agreement. Ive heard people say its dead, its gone, its never coming back. Thats notot true, folks. Thats not true. The delegation that i lead to saudi arabia after we had our discussion with nbs, we actually left feeling very encouraged about the direction that the kingdom wanted to go. They realized that if they want prosperity for their people, if they want greater Educational Opportunities for the people, israel needs to be part of that equation. Peace needs toar be part of that equation. The one thing that your on fears is peace in the region because all of these countries coming together, they provide a force against iran. Im going to pick it back. Victoria laid it out beautifully on why these nations need to come together and how we can work together. That is the securityur cooperatn in the region. And because of the Abraham Accords now working with the kingdom as well we have been able to put in place through congress, through the nba, my efforts on the defense act and we are working on the maritime act now. Defend allowed us to pull together intelligence from all of these nations to provide an integrated air and Missile Defense system. So this is Early Warning to all of those nations that are now tied together and in their air and Missile Defense and its allowed us to push back against the drones, the rockets, any sort of missile that would be coming from iran or their proxies. So, collaborating with all of these countries is incredibly important. Providing peace and stability in that region just allows us to have peace and stability here in the United States of america as well. Any time these actions are happening overseas, make no doubt about it, folks, it is going to impact the United States of america. We cannot o turn a blind eye, ad i will give you an example. 9 11. We cannot turn a blind eye, and we must always be prepared and make sure that our friends and allies are also prepared. Theres no question and cant thank you enough for both pieces of legislation which under the current circumstances are vital i think to ensure the defense and weve got embassies, diplomatic and military facilities and the protection of ourli own forces are absolutely vital to the coordination established. The abraham was mentioned now i would be remiss if i didnt bring it up in the last question before we open up to the audience further questions. We are familiar with the historic agreements i think everyone is. They are not dead but i think in fact they hold promise for the future. How do we regain the momentum and build on its foundations from a security perspective how do we build a new Regional Security architecture from it . I think we start by not accepting the premise of the terrorists whichf is that that peace is dead. You just reject that out of hand. We keep the conversations going and we make it very clear through the United States congressss that congress contins to support these very strongly. Ive been thinking back to the summer when we were versed in the white house and had terrible troubles in jerusalem on the temple mount and President Trump actually intended to very much go through with a peace deal between the israelis and the palestinians and the socalled deal of the century and as the violence flared and things really seemed to break down it seemed impossible but what came out of that was a recognition increasingly overt from the arabs that they could no longer give the palestinians veto over their nationalat security polic. And they couldnt condone any longer this wanton violence particularly against civilians, which was not consistent with the islam that they practiced. So i think that in this case, by being very clear about the nature of the palestinians have done and do you really want to be associated with that or do you want to start really chart a path to peace and there was a reason theer conversations were becoming so warm between israel and saudi arabia and i think we all solve the extraordinary interviews in midseptember with the crown prince of saudi arabia and at the pre minister of israel talking so openly about their process and about their movements toward peace. We can get back there because we also dont give the iranians veto and we continue to point out the huge benefits of these relationships to arabs and israelis alike and make sure Everybody Knows this remains a top priority for the United States. It is indeed a time for choosing and i think its important not to forget the fact that theres very little sympathy for this type of conduct and all of the countries in the region have confronted in their own ways. I think theres more sympathy for israel in this particular moment than we can often appreciate it. At this point, we would love to invite and open up for questions. Weve got microphones in both a aisles. We will work in sequence andnd begin right here in front with this gentleman. You have to first question. You would please, state your name, affiliation and to whom your question is directed. Thank you for your comments. President of american friends of kurdistan. First, i want to say that we stand with israel and continue that bond that we have. Theres been a lot of conversations about iran and rightly so theyre backing of these organizations. But how about the relationship between turkey which is a supposedly nato ally and hamas. As you know hamas has an Office Headquarters inside turkey. Theyve openly stated and tweeted that it is not a terrorist organization and that it is not designated as a terrorist organization in turkey. So what does this look like in the United States as far as enforcing that designation t wih turkey . We tend to do as turkey says. We look at the history with her but turkey continues to receive that backing just because it is shielded by nato. And as you know, the u. S. Israeli consulate in istanbul was attacked. Theres a lot of pro hamas protests inside istanbul and turkey so what is the United States reaction and how do you think israel should react to this alliance with turkey . Thank you. Thank you for the question. I would simply state our Administration Needs to step up their efforts and put a lot of political pressure. They need to disassociate themselves with hamas and decry hamas as a terrorist organization. Unfortunately, this administration again they are trying to waffle out anyway they can to appease everyone they can. As victoria just stated, this is not a gray area. Its either black or white. We need our president and all those that work in this administration to make that very clear these are adversaries, terrorist organizations. So it couldnt be any more clear but unfortunately until this administration wakes up we are not going to see that political pressure but we can build in congress and push back where we can. But we really need a strong leader at this time. We dont have a strong leader at this time. [applause] i would just add that we had been encouragedn recently by the israel turkey relationship historically had some very positive aspects, it had gone through a terrible crisis but there was something of a change of attitude towards that relationship over the last few years and it seemed like it was less adversarial and couldnt potentially get back to a better place, but i think echoing senator ernst, i think that this is going to have to get cleared up. Thank you for the question. Next question, this gentleman. And maam, i will come to you next. I spent over 40 years in various parts of the ic and my first trip was 1980 to the consulate in jerusalem. Ive been there several times and i guess my question, each of you what do you view as the possibility of either one state or two state solution . It seems like it has to either be one or the other and i just dont unless the israeli constitution or whatever the founding documents become more secular, i dontul see one state working. But then again i dont see the two states working very well either. So maybe he could each of you give comments on that . I wrote an oped in the daily signal today my title of which it was perhaps more userfriendly titled by my editor until the palestinians accepted there is no plan a, there can be no peace. I agree with you right now its very hard to see any solution to this. But the reason is 100 years ago in 1923, he wrote a seminal essay called the iron wall in which he makes the observation that if the arabs think they can eradicate the jews, that is always plan a and if they think that is possible, they will not move on to plan b. And what we found with the abraham accord is that not only countriesn arab accepted that the jews were not going to go away but they also realized they didnt want them toto go away so that is what thn led to that great leap forward. The palestinians obviously are not there yet. If it tells us anything its that they are still being fed to the lie, the genocide is possible in the holy land and that that is what they are going to pursue. So i think our goal now is to convince them that there is no plan a. They are going to have to move on to plan b if they want to survive as any kind of functioning entity. So i would say we need to shift the mindset before we can get to any kind of practical solution. I dont have much more to add. I think that was beautifully put. Those that are waging war against the israelis, this is their mission in life. This is what they were raised to do. Until that changes, im not sure with that path forward is. Thank you for the question. Im sure its shared by many. If we could get a microphone here and move to the second round, please. Thank you so much for convening the panel. I think i had the pleasure of hearing you give a briefing to my professional organization the Academic Engagement Network earlier in the year when things were a little more hopeful regarding the abraham accord. I wanted to ask aac question abt this topic. What has to happen sort of practically regarding development on the ground for the abraham accord countries to kind of move away from their current somewhat neutral definitely not proisrael posture. Theres a lot of hope including on the people to people level that there are these cultural exchanges, business exchanges, academic exchanges. And also a move away from antisemitism as well. What has to happen to kind of build up that momentum again . Thank you for the question. I diverted to senator ernst having these certain thank you. And i think that just from hearing from a number of the leaders of those arab nations, theres a lot more that we as the United States need to do. Because w i will just give an example land discussions with nbc and the arab emirates he had stated that he entered into the Abraham Accords with the thought that of course they would continue these great cultural exchanges. S. Educational opportunities with israel. But they also expected that the United States would engage heavily in those as well. What we have seen over the course of the last several years is not the level of engagement that they had expected. So we have seen this administration not fully embrace the abraham accord. They rather would have let them fester a little more so than to really fully engage and embrace them. So in the former administration we saw the abraham accord to come to fruition with a great promise to all of these arab nations that they would all be tied together and in happy collaboration. That hasnt come to fruition. He was sorely disappointed and he let me know that and he said because of the void of its now been c created by the United States ofat america, they do tun to others out there to fill that void. If we can think of who out there is filling the void where the United States is not engaging. Its china. So, they are turning now to the east and engaging more with china than the United States of america. Andth i think because we havent engaged like we should have with a number of these key very important arab nations, they dont feel as compelled to stand behind israel and thats where the failure of leadership is really showing on the world stage right now. We need to engage more and not just take for granted some of these incredible opportunities withni our arab the residence ad neighbors. I would echo senator ernsts point and the need for robust, decisive American Leadership has never been more clear. We have had now these two and a half years of the Biden Administration in 2021 we had afghanistan. In 2022 we had ukraine. In 2023 weuk had israel. You know, are we going to face another massive crisis next year in international affairs. Obviously one that springs to mind would be taiwan, but there could be any number of others and so i think as we as heritage are approaching project 2025, our role simply is to point out the very clear policy differences that are emerging and make the case that leadership is going to be critical and hopefully we will all be able to get behind a ecandidate who will demonstrate that leadership. Thank you all very much. I think we have time for two more questions. We will headed to the lady in the back. Thank you so much. Its very insightful. I come from an International Organization that works mainly in latin america. We are worried given the pending and extent of influence that countries like iran for example have in the region, so the question is how is the United States planning to reengage the region especially when president s have publicly expressed support for [inaudible] i think thats a critical question and its one thats too often ignored. We have seen iranian backedd terrorists strike in latin america and plot to strike in the United States including a plot here in washington in 2011 to assassinated the then saudi ambassador to the United States. How Many Americans would have died there. And its one of the reasons that we have declared Border Security one of our seven key priorities. Under doctor roberts leadership because this is a huge National Security vulnerability and i think what we need to do is obviously first get that under control to prevent bad actors from creeping across. But then as you say, engage robustly with the region with governments that also see the Security Risk and work on again a Regional Security architecture so that likeminded countries can collaborate and pool their resources and i think that engagement has been sorely lacking. Im going to add on a little bit to that as well because any time in the Armed Services committee we have leadership from south column come in, southern command, they will present us with what they call placemats, and its a global view on a piece of paper where ourad adversaries are locating around the globe. And if you look at the south and Central America and the influencee of iran, russia and china, they are everywhere. We dont Pay Attention to that. And this is where im going to put on my Armed Services subcommittee had for emerging threats and capabilities. Is that subcommittee has oversight of special operations command. And these menma and women are deployed all around the globe and work with local populations and create stability. In this administration as we look at recruiting the retention challenges and funding challenges coming up with budgets, we see the administration then asking to draw down the number of people and so calm. If we are looking at kind of about 4,000 troops and so. These are those deployed everywhere around the world and they seek to diverge those types of forces that might cause us to engage conventional forces and conventional actions. We would rather use our individuals and pushback on the presence of those adversaries in the south and Central America. What do you think the impact of the negative role that our woke military has played in emboldening our enemies and causing some of our muslim allies in particular to sort of distance themselves from certainly the Current Administration if not even past administrations . Im going to jump on this. I do think it contributes in a number of different ways. We can look at this from all differenthi angles. The recruiting retention issue is most certainly one. If you look i just want to give an example of one of the big priorities of this administration with our military, and that was the electrification of all of the nontactical vehicle fleet so they wanted to put evs out there and then as soon the nontechnical fleet was in place move onto the rest of the military. Are you kidding me . Electric vehicles for our military . I wasit a Transportation Company commander in iraq and i cant imagine rolling a convoy up through iraq and asking excuse me, mr. Iraq he, where is your charging station . It doesnt work. And this is what america looks at. And mothers and fathers out there say theres no way i want my child to engage in his military with this kind of ideology and then our adversaries are looking at us and they are laughing, china laughing all the way to the bank because they are the ones that would be producing those vehicles and the batteries for thoses vehicles but they look at us and say they are focusing on electric vehicles, not ensuring that they have the most lethal fighting force on the face of the planet. I defer to you too. Would have more time to questions. The judgment in the gray sweatshirt and them will go to you after that. Thank you. Excuse me. Im a retired member of the u. S. Somatic service pretty spoke about the large sums of money that we have provided to israel over the years. From what i understand particularly in our relations to israel thats not a oneway street. I understand the more significant strategic advantages which the u. S. Has accumulate over the years and still gets i wonder some of you might elaborate on that a little to help us understand that . I think thats really the critical point about the u. S. Security assistance to israel. This is not foreign aid the weit usaid practices it. This is a partnership between our two countries. It has very real world of benefits to the American People. You look in the system like iron dome which was originally exclusively israeli intellectual property supported obviously by the United States congress. But in the recent modernization of iron dome it has become joint intellectual property and my personal favorite Missile Defense system at davids sling was a joint project from the beginning. So we are developing these things together. It means our militaries are very interoperable. Their training on the same equipment and obviously we do a lot of massive training exercises with them. Which to keep the American People safe. I see this very much is a practical investment. With profits for the american taxpayer. An you can have your case for israel i generally try to revert to the practical. And state that this is something hugely in our best interest. If we can over the next 25 years and build that out, that partnership become a Regional Partnership even better for both of our people. I will just give a quick example on this as well. The systems that are developed and employed in israel, they are developed jointly with israelis and engineers here in the United States and defense contractors. And in my little Tiny Community back home in iowa, i grew up in a town of about 700 people. One of the ladies i go to church with her son who graduated a number of years after meat fromm the same high school, he is a grown man now he is an engineer. He is engineer on the iron dome project. There is far far reaches across United States and the number of people and type of people that are employed by these projects. I would concur its very practical as well. Yielded benefits over the years perhaps the next couple of days pland weeks we will be more evident how important, how vital that cooperation joint develop it is. We will go to the gentleman behind you and the t man to your question. Jon dixon global peace foundation. What drives me crazy i was very active with afghanistan after that horrible withdrawal my colleague partner finally got out at the last minute with his wife, sisterinlaw, and two boys. They stayed with me. He watches very carefully he was an advisor and so america is still giving the taliban tens of millions of dollars a month. I know we give money all over the place thinking People Like Us. Especially in gaza even humanitarian aid. We know all of this money is fungible. That does not help our status with these people. It empowers our enemies and nobody says even thank you. It will always be taken with resentment and does not make People Like Us more but less. I cant understand but we continue to do it and i do not quite understand i dont remember the numbers im getting old. I know its not money well spent its money we borrow from china to give itt is counterproductive i think it works against us is what it seems like to me. I wonder ifbo anybodys watching that . I will address this. This is where i have been very critical of dollars that have gone to usaid and i know it victoria just mention this. We have had discussions about this. And jon if you have followed some of my pushback in recent months it is on the taxpayer dollars going to usaid. Usaid did not have enough people to do contracts to push dollars out for humanitarian aid in ukraine. So what did they do question they sent the money to the United Nations. Are you kidding me . We cant track it if it goes to the United Nations russia has to seven minute making authority on where it goes when it goes to the United Nations. I have been very critical of this. I do believe that in some of these cases, some of the countries like in the case of ukraine and russia are European Partners could better deliver on humanitarian aid than we can. And in the i case of israel in gaza be some of the arab nations confederate deliver upon humanitarian aid. Perhaps in egypt if egypt would just open the border to women and children. Allow themm to come in and allow other nations to support humanitarian needs. I think thehe United States of america lets focus on what we do best that is developing the weapons needed. I say weapons not welfare that is mypo catchphrase put on a bumper sticker. We can be the arsenal of democracy and we should be but we need to invest in our and fenced industrial Industrial Base me too ramp up make sure we are strong and what we need for our armed forces and work to support our partners and allies as well. But we really need to scrutinize thet humanitarian aid is going overseas and make sure our adversaries do not have access to it. I would just add to that congressman roy and i didnt op popit in the National Review ate end of july about the up evil and in course of writing that looked into how much money has been funneled into particular gaza but also other palestinian entities. Its over a billion dollars. The oldld assumption that conventional wisdom is this would change of mind. Over time it would allow palestinians to build a society for themselves they would have more interest in preserving that the employee cap israel. We tested that hypothesis in the Trump Administration when he directed the cut off of all aid to then palestinians after the distasteful 2017 speech to the native nations General Assembly in accordance with u. S. Law the people who engage in anti americanle rhetoric should not t taxpayer g money. The assumption was this would cause tremendous unrest but we didun not get a massive spectacular terrorist attack like we saw on october 7. When the were turned back on immediately by the bidenn administration weve had this billion dollars fill in file by the hundred million amounts by the president some amount of the supplemental they have requested in the humanitarian pot of about 9 billion somewhere between zero and 9 billion is supposed to go into gaza. Not only is it throwing good money after bad at a time of fiscal crisis its obviously counterproductive. It led to a massive horrible terrorist attack that claimed american lives. We just cannot continue to fund this. An excellent question as you can see their strongly held viewshe on the panel about it ad rightly so. Maam i think you have the last question. Thank you. Bring attention back to the homefront a little bit i notice in the polling results came out over the weekend americans are really, really concerned at the increase violence between hamas and israel with the Current Crisis at the southern border will lead to potential threatsti directlyn america and on american soil. I am wondering what kind of policies need to be inf place . Lawhat kind of discussions we should be having right now to make sure we keep the conflict contained abroad . Obviously securing the southern border is key. Whether was the unrest in the middle east or anything you see coming from southCentral America we have so many foreign nations that are pouring across our southern border. This is been going on the entire time joe biden has been president. Not only do we need to secure the board we need to really address the policies that are allowing people to stay in the United States and to enter freely. Eeour asylum laws have got to change. They have got to change. We have to figure out a way to stop people before they enter into the United States. And again a huge a diplomatic diplomatic pushwith a number oft are on the way into the United States, working with their governments as well will be key to this. I would say lets replicate everything President Trump had done during hissi administratio. Remain in mexico policy. Changing our asylum laws whatever it might happen to be what we have got to enforce our Border Security. We are not only having a problem with the southern border nowt bt there are also realizing they can come r across our northern border it is becoming more of a problem. It is because we have the white opendoor policy that President Biden has enabled that puts us in jeopardy here in the united testates. I guess i would just add to those excellent points there were many disturbing things about theoi pro hamas demonstrations were seeing acrossha the country the blatant antisemitism which i know will be addressed in the next panel. But also the numbers of people who are sympathetic to hamas and their methods for lack of a better word that are already present in our country. And are not shy. Maybe the most disturbing was new york yesterday in the day before in which these groups came together and start attacking the police. Now the throwing eggs and water bottles, when does it become worse than that . We have a our concerns with securing the border weve got to be concerned with what is already here cbp numbers that have been released about the ones they know that were encountered. They are all from countries with potential exposure to terrorism. And that is just what we know. I think we have to be enormously vigilant and concerned about what is here and what might already be planning mischief. There is no question the 75 years have been eventful. They have marked in many ways close cooperation between the United States and israel. We have covered a fair bit of that and brought into current circumstances i have only three things left to do first with your help please lets thank our panelists for their tremendous contributions. [applause] and their leadership on this issue. [applause] second is to preview the next d,panel which we will resume afr the break on enriching the u. S. Alliance by combating antisemitism which will be moderated by allie who is a deputy special envoy for combating antisemitism of the state department the previous demonstration. The last is to welcome you