Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Thanks Karine, so you say that you haven't seen a comprehensive plan for Rafa, but I am told by a US official that the US has been briefed on some sort of initial plan.
00:10 So can you just tell us what the reaction was to Israeli counterparts about that initial brief?
00:15 So I'm going to be super mindful, these conversations are, you know, these are diplomatic conversations.
00:20 We don't read out in details and specifics on the conversations that we have with our, with certainly with all of our counterparts here.
00:29 Last time there was a virtual meeting we did have a readout there, but I don't want to go into details.
00:33 We've been very clear in public and in private that our concerns with a large military operation into Rafa, we do not, we're not in support of that.
00:46 And so obviously there's been conversations, there's been two virtual-led conversation led by the National Security Advisor on this particular topic, Rafa operations.
00:56 We read out to all of you the last time that the President spoke with the Prime Minister of Israel, Rafa operations came up in that conversations.
01:04 We're not going to go into details from here, but I think we've made ourselves very clear.
01:08 There are more than 1.5 million Palestinians who are seeking refuge there, and so we believe those lives need to be protected and we're going to continue to have those conversations.
01:19 So to be clear, the US was not satisfied with whatever the US has been done in this initial plan?
01:23 I'm just, I'm not going to go into details or specifics from here.
01:26 We've been clear about our concerns. We're going to continue to be clear about our concerns here.
01:30 Those conversations are going to continue and I'm just going to leave it there.
01:35 And just switching gears a little bit, a new ABC News Ipsos poll found that nearly 4 in 10 Americans say the US is doing too much to support Israel.
01:42 That's up from about 3 in 10 in January, so it is showing that support for Israel is declining as the war drags on.
01:49 Is the President concerned about this?
01:51 I'm not going to go into every poll that comes out. That's for political pundits to do.
01:55 I used to be one. I'm not one anymore standing here at this podium.
01:58 But what I can say is that we saw what happened on October 7th.
02:03 We heard from Hamas, a terrorist organization, what they said that they would do.
02:08 A leader from that organization said they want to see October 7th happen again and again and again.
02:15 More than 1,200 souls were taken on that day.
02:18 More than 200 Israelis, including some American hostages, were taken by Hamas.
02:27 And as you know, we are working very hard to get that hostage deal so that we can bring hostages home, including those American hostages,
02:34 create a situation where we have a ceasefire, so more humanitarian aid can go through.
02:40 That is incredibly important. We're working around the clock to get that done.
02:44 You saw Secretary Blinken in the region meeting with regional partners.
02:48 And so that is certainly a priority and continues to be a priority for us.
02:53 Our commitment to Israel's security is ironclad, as I've said and we have said many times.
02:58 They live in a tough neighborhood. And we saw what Iran did.
03:02 They launched missiles and drones into Israel, and it wasn't just us that stepped in.
03:08 It was leaders in the region that stepped in to make sure that they were able to defend themselves at that time.
03:15 And so we want to get that hostage deal. That's what we want to see.
03:19 We want to make sure that innocent Palestinian lives are protected.
03:25 That's why we're looking into the Rafa operations and having those conversations.
03:30 But getting that hostage deal is so critical to bring hostages home, to get that humanitarian--more humanitarian aid in,
03:36 and to have a ceasefire. And we are committed to doing that, and you see that from this president.