On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken answered reporter questions on ceasefire negotiations during the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I want to start with what is surely the biggest game-changer since we last gathered here,
00:05which is October 7th, the Hamas attack on Israel, the Israeli response in Gaza, war
00:11in the Middle East.
00:13Our ambassador at the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said this week, and I quote,
00:19that negotiations on a ceasefire are trending in the right direction.
00:24Is she right?
00:25And on what is that based?
00:28Well, first of all, good morning, everyone.
00:29And it's wonderful to be here back in Aspen and with this remarkable group.
00:36Yeah, there's a lot going on, and the Middle East is front and center.
00:41What Linda said is right.
00:42I believe we're inside the 10-yard line and driving toward the goal line and getting an
00:47agreement that would produce a ceasefire, get the hostages home, and put us on a better
00:53track to trying to build lasting peace and stability.
00:56Question again on what is that based?
00:58It's based on two things.
00:59Other than hope.
01:00Yes, because hope's good, but it's insufficient.
01:03No, it's based on reality, and the reality is this.
01:07A month ago, President Biden put out a detailed proposal for getting to a ceasefire, the release
01:13of hostages, and the ability to move forward.
01:17And what happened after that was quite extraordinary.
01:20The entire world came together in support of that proposal.
01:25Country after country standing up and endorsing it.
01:29The United Nations Security Council, where Linda did a tremendous job, coming together
01:34– something we don't see that often these days – 14 to nothing, with Russia abstaining,
01:39in support of that agreement.
01:42And the result was, after a lot of pushing and diplomacy in the weeks after that, we
01:49have an agreement to the framework that the President put out by both Israel and Hamas.
01:56The question now is finishing the negotiation of some critical details that are important.
02:02Well, and that Hamas hasn't signed on, have they not?
02:04No, no, they've signed on to the framework.
02:05Right.
02:06And that's what's so important.
02:07But there remain some issues that need to be resolved, that need to be negotiated.
02:12We're in the midst of doing exactly that.
02:17And by the way, when I say we're inside the 10-yard line, we are.
02:21Now, we also know that with anything, the last 10 yards are often the hardest.
02:26So I don't want to be in any way naive about it, but based on everything we've been doing
02:31for these last, now, really six months – because starting in January, we believed and we continue
02:37to believe that the quickest way to bring this war to an end, to bring relief to the
02:42people of Gaza, who so desperately need it, to put Gaza itself, to put the entire region
02:48on a better path, is through an agreement on a ceasefire and a hostage.
02:53So that's actually the quickest way to get it done.
02:55Netanyahu will be in D.C. on Monday.
02:59What's your big ask of him?
03:02What would count as a successful visit?
03:04Well, I think we need to make sure of two things.
03:07We of course want to bring this agreement over the finish line.
03:10But while that's necessary, it's also not enough, because what's critical once we get
03:14it, assuming we do, is to make sure that there's a clear plan for what follows, the so-called
03:22day-after plan.
03:24Because what we can't have is this.
03:25What we can't have is an agreement that's followed by some kind of void that will either
03:32be filled if it's there by Hamas coming back, which is unacceptable, by Israel prolonging
03:39its occupation of Gaza, which they say they don't want to do and is unacceptable, or just
03:46having a vacuum that's filled by lawlessness, that's filled by chaos, which we see in so
03:51many parts of Gaza right now, which is also inimical to actually helping people who desperately
03:56need it.
03:57So making sure that we have a plan in place, which we've been working on also every single
04:03day with our partners, with Israel, with many others, for governance, for security, for
04:09humanitarian assistance, for reconstruction.
04:11That's critical.
04:12And I imagine the discussions with the prime minister will center around that.
04:15And have you figured out how to deal with Netanyahu?
04:17The administration has tried the bear hug, unwavering support.
04:22You tried pressure and withholding 2,000-pound bombs.
04:25Where are you now?
04:27I'm not focused on personalities.
04:28I'm focused on policies.
04:30And we want to make sure as we go forward with anyone, whether it's our Israeli allies
04:35or anyone else, that we reach agreements on the concrete steps to be taken to move
04:40whatever it is we're trying to move forward.
04:42I'll ask it a slightly different way.
04:44Have you figured out what Netanyahu wants?
04:47Do you give any credence to the view among many analysts in Israel that he would actually
04:53kind of like to slow walk or even thwart a ceasefire and hostage deal?
04:58Because the far right in his coalition oppose it, and it could cost him his job.
05:03What I'm seeing, what I'm hearing across Israeli society is a strong desire to get this done,
05:08to get a ceasefire, to get the hostages home after so many months, including, and it's
05:14often forgotten here, American hostages.
05:16I've met with the American hostage families and other hostage families, I don't know,
05:2110, 12 times.
05:22So the president has, Jake Sullivan has, many others in our administration have.
05:27So this is real and personal to so many of us.
05:33But for the Israeli people, bringing people home is their number one priority.
05:39And I believe getting a ceasefire is something that most Israelis support.
05:44At the same time, we have to get this, because the suffering of people every single day,
05:50innocent men, women, and children, who've been caught for the last nine months in a
05:54crossfire of Hamas's making, that has to end too.
05:58I appreciate you reminding all of us of the obvious, that these are real humans and lives
06:03at stake, because that is clearly important and at the center of this.
06:08One more on the Middle East.
06:10Is the two-state solution dead?
06:15Not only is it not dead, it can't be.
06:17And there-
06:18It's very hard to find a path to optimism, given that Israelis are now resisting it,
06:23and the government, ordinary people, Gaza is destroyed.
06:27Settlers are taking more land in the West Bank.
06:29Where does that leave room for hope?
06:31You know, John McCain used to say that it's always darkest before it goes completely black.
06:38So-
06:40We miss him every day.
06:42If you keep that in mind, it's not bad guidance for the work that we're all trying to do.
06:47But look, there's some fundamental realities that we can't escape.
06:51The fundamental realities are these.
06:53Between Gaza and the West Bank, there are somewhere over 5 million Palestinians.
06:59There are about 7 million Israeli Jews.
07:04Neither is going anywhere.
07:05The Palestinians are not going anywhere.
07:07The Jews are not going anywhere.
07:08There has to be an accommodation, but an accommodation that does two things.
07:13That brings lasting peace and lasting security to Israelis who so desperately want it and
07:19need it, and fulfills the right self-determination of the Palestinians.
07:25Now, with any right comes responsibility, responsibility to build a state that would
07:31not be a threat to Israel, that won't be a Hamas-stan, that won't be like Lebanon with
07:37Hezbollah actually dominating the country.
07:40So there are important things that would need to happen in order for a state to be realized.
07:45But I believe strongly that, yes, that has to be the future.
07:49And by the way, the two strongest opponents of a two-state solution, who are they?
07:55Iran and Hamas.
07:58So the strongest possible rebuke to both Iran and Hamas would be the realization of two
08:04states.
08:05At every step along the way in the history of this, you go back to the Oslo Accords.
08:09Who tried to disrupt the Oslo Accords?
08:11Hamas.
08:12When the Arabs launched the Arab Peace Initiative and were moving toward recognition of Israel,
08:17who, unfortunately, effectively disrupted that?
08:21Hamas, with one of the most horrific terrorist attacks before October 7th that we've seen
08:25in Israel.
08:26So if you look at the logic of this, it's compelling.
08:29And there's something else.
08:30And I'm sorry for going on, but I think it's important.
08:34There is a different future.
08:36And we saw it, we've seen its outlines in an almost embryonic form, but it's there.
08:39A different future for Israel that realizes maybe its number one objective since the founding
08:45of the state.
08:46And that is its acceptance in the region, having normal relations with all of its neighbors.
08:52We see that through the work that we're doing on normalization.
08:54We saw that when Iran attacked Israel.
08:58And for the first time, a direct attack from Iran on Israel, the United States, but not
09:02just the United States, European countries and countries in the region came to Israel's
09:07defense.
09:08So we can see a future where Israel is integrated in the region.
09:12It's more secure.
09:13The Palestinians realize their aspirations for a state.
09:17And the enemies of that future, Iran and its various proxies, are isolated.