LEADER JEFFRIES: “EXTREME MAGA REPUBLICANS WANT TO IRRESPONSIBLY CONDITION AID TO ISRAEL”
Brooklyn, NY – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer where he emphasized that House Democrats will continue to stand with Israel in this urgent time of need.
BLITZER: Joining us now, the top Democrat in the House, the Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Leader Jeffries, thanks so much for joining us. We'll get to the congressional funding fight in a moment. But I want to start with Israel's war against Hamas. You were just here in Israel, I know. An IDF spokesman confirmed to me a while ago that it was an Israeli airstrike that hit Gaza's largest refugee camp earlier today. Israel says the strike was targeting a senior Hamas official that it claims was the leader in the October 7th terrorist attack against Israel. We don't yet know how many civilians were killed in today's strike on that refugee camp, but is taking out one Hamas leader or maybe two Hamas leaders who may have been there, worth the deaths of so many civilians?
JEFFRIES: Well, I support Israel's effort to defend itself. It has not just the right to defend itself, but the responsibility toward its citizens and its sovereignty in the face of a brutal, horrific attack that took place on October 7th. And for the good of Israel, for the good of the region, for the good of America, the free world and for the good of the Palestinian people in Gaza, we need to make sure that Hamas is defeated. At the same time, as President Biden has consistently said, it's our hope and expectation that Israel will follow the international rules of war, particularly as it relates to mitigating and deploying every single measure to try to limit, if not eliminate, civilian casualties. And I hope that that will continue moving forward.
BLITZER: So did you think that Israel violated that law today in attacking that Palestinian refugee camp in hopes of killing a top Hamas leader?
JEFFRIES: I'm unfamiliar with the particulars on the strike, and so I'll reserve judgment. But I know that Israel is taking every effort to continue to conduct this necessary war following the international rules of warfare and I would expect that it will continue to do that.
BLITZER: Let's talk a little bit about what's going on in Congress right now. The new House Speaker Johnson, says he expects the stand alone Israeli aid package to come to the House Floor on Thursday. Will Democrats support this? Does it have enough support, to pass this new aid for Israel?
JEFFRIES: Well, we're going to have a leadership meeting to discuss it tomorrow and then on Thursday morning, we'll convene as a caucus. But here's what I can say. President Biden has been an incredible leader in terms of articulating the special relationship between the United States and Israel and also setting forth the need to make sure that we continue to have Israel's back and look out for Israel's safety and security, while at the same time, of course, being there for the people of Ukraine in its war against Russia and Vladimir Putin's brutal aggression, as well as making sure that we're there for other allies throughout the free world and that we're providing humanitarian aid and assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who may be in harm's way and others throughout the world. That is the package that was sent to us in both the House and the Senate. The Senate is prepared to move forward in a bipartisan way. House Democrats are prepared to move forward in a bipartisan way. President Biden continues to lead in a bipartisan way. Extreme MAGA Republicans are on an island all by themselves and they want to irresponsibly condition aid to Israel when Israel is at war and fighting for its very existence in many ways. That's irresponsible.
BLITZER: Have you actually spoken privately, Leader, with the new House Speaker Johnson about the plan if this bill goes nowhere, let's say, in the Senate?
JEFFRIES: It's my expectation that I'll have a conversation with him at some point, either tomorrow or on Thursday. And we'll continue to express the position that there is a bipartisan path forward here, that House Democrats are ready and willing and able to find the common ground necessary to meet the national security needs of the American people, to keep the government open, to avoid a government shutdown and do what is necessary to solve problems for hardworking American taxpayers. That's been our position from the very beginning. That will continue to be our position. The time for brinksmanship is over. The time for gamesmanship is over. The time for partisanship is over. We wasted about three weeks on the House floor in the middle of the House Republican Civil War. It's time to put that behind us, for extreme MAGA Republicans to stop trying to go it alone and to join us in a reasonable, responsible, normal way to meet the needs of the American people and to be there for our allies throughout the world, including Israel and Ukraine.
BLITZER: Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush is facing bipartisan criticism, as you probably know right now, after she actually accused Israel of engaging in what she called an ethnic cleansing campaign. How do you respond to your Democratic colleague?
JEFFRIES: Israel is not conducting an ethnic cleansing campaign. Israel is not engaged in genocide. Israel was brutally attacked in the most horrific way on October 7th. It has resulted in the largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. And Israel is in a position where it is responding and going after Hamas. That is a necessary and urgent project for it to complete. At the same time, we are, of course, going to make sure that we are providing the humanitarian assistance necessary for Palestinian civilians who may be in harm's way through no fault of their own. That's also one of the reasons why the package that has been put forward by President Biden should be considered in its totality. This is a dangerous world that we are all living in right now. This is a heavy time in America and throughout the world and we shouldn't be playing partisan political games, which is what it appears the extreme MAGA Republicans are prepared to do this week and that's unfortunate.
BLITZER: The Democratic Leader in the House, the Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Always good to have you with us in The Situation Room. Thanks very much for joining us.
Full interview can be watched here.