“Protecting civilians in Gaza is a moral and strategic necessity”

2023-10-31 10:52:06

Jake Sullivan was unable to enjoy the festive atmosphere reigning at the White House on Monday, October 30, on the occasion of Halloween. President Biden’s national security adviser has been absorbed in the Israeli-Palestinian war since the Hamas attack on October 7. In an interview with Mondegranted just before he received Prince Khaled Bin Salman Al Saud, Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia, Jake Sullivan, 46, outlined the American strategy and vision in this crisis.

The White House has shown impressive empathy and support for Israel following the Hamas attack. Since then, you have had to repeatedly rebalance your position, first by focusing on humanitarian aid for Gaza, then by evoking the laws of war. How do you explain American isolation in the Middle East?

In his first major speech just days after the crisis began, President Biden spoke about the laws of war and how Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. So I refute the fact that we would not have introduced this idea until later. Then the president said unequivocally that Israel has the right and even the duty to defend itself against terrorist attacks, that Hamas presents exceptional challenges by hiding among the population, using these civilians as human shields. This represents an additional burden for the Israeli army. But this does not diminish its responsibility in distinguishing between terrorists and innocent civilians.

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You talk about isolation, but the United States gathered enough votes to pass a resolution in the Security Council condemning Hamas, which raises these humanitarian issues. The only reason it didn’t pass was the veto from Russia and China. But, in reality, we have gained support from a significant number of countries around the world, in Latin America, Asia and Europe. We will therefore continue to work in New York. We will continue to work with Arab States. On Sunday, the president spoke with Egyptian President Al-Sissi. He will speak to other Arab leaders this week. We will continue to defend our principles and offer our best advice to Israel.

Have you given Israel a full green light for its military operations in Gaza?

I think this is a faulty form of presentation. Israel is a sovereign nation. They don’t come to see us to ask us if we have our thumbs up or down, if the light is green or red. We ask them difficult questions. We recommend them as friends. We tell them we were in a similar situation, although I don’t want to entirely compare, after September 11, 2001. We were determined to go after the terrorists, and nothing was going to stop us. But we also made mistakes and we learned from them.

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