Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, arrived in the Middle East last week with grand ambitions of helping Israel and Saudi Arabia inch one step closer to a peace deal that — just years ago — would have seemed inconceivable.
He returned stateside Wednesday having watched all of those plans crumble in a single day.
“We went on the trip to talk about peace, but we left the area talking about war,” Panetta said.
The unprecedented attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas on Saturday played out while Panetta and a bipartisan group of U.S. representatives and senators were in nearby Saudi Arabia. Until that point, their goal had been to tour the Middle East as part of efforts by the United States to secure a string of peace deals in the region between Israel and several nearby nations, including Saudi Arabia. After the attacks, Panetta and his fellow members of Congress drove into Israel to meet with Americans impacted by the fighting, as well as Israeli leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen and opposition leader Yair Lapid.
In an interview with this news organization, Panetta hailed Israel’s resolve and voiced optimism that a peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia – which has refused to formally recognize Israel since its creation in 1948 – might yet be salvaged in some form. Here are excerpts from that interview, edited for brevity and clarity.
Q:You met with Americans in Israel, as well as people whose relatives were kidnapped by Hamas during Saturday’s attack. What did they tell you?
Panetta: One of the Americans stands out – basically they had two sons in the Israeli Defense Forces, and their best friend was killed in this atrocious assault. Yet, that hasn’t deterred them. That has emboldened them to continue their service in defense of Israel. So it was very interesting to hear an American citizen talk that way about his kids, his two boys, who are serving and potentially fighting for Israel and the defense of Israel.
And we met with a brother and sister whose father was kidnapped from the most southern town that was attacked by Hamas in the invasion. The father and mother (who are in their 80s) were in a safe room, because they’re kind of trained to go into these safe rooms. But what you have to realize is these safe rooms are more for protection from rocket attacks, not for protection from a terrorist attack like this. So there are no locks on these doors, since they want to be able to access the safe room after the rocket attack. The terrorists actually entered into their homes, found the safe room, and were trying to open the door. And the father, in an effort to protect the mother, basically exited the safe room and that’s when he was kidnapped and taken away.
What I thought was interesting was the resolve of this brother and sister and that they believe that their father is still alive — they’re just worried about him having his medication. And to me, that’s a small example of the determination all Israelis have in dealing with these types of evil attacks on their nation.
Q: What did the Israeli officials you spoke to ask for? And what was your message to them?
Panetta: What we heard pretty much consistently from all of them was how traumatic this was. Yet at the same time, again, we heard about how determined they are and will continue to be moving forward. And hoping for the United States’ support in these efforts going forward to ensure that they defend themselves from Hamas, and to make sure they continue to work hard to destroy Hamas. That’s exactly what we’ll continue to do throughout these upcoming efforts. But it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be a difficult path forward.
Q: Do you have any expectation or optimism that peace accords between Israel and other nearby nations — such as Saudi Arabia — will continue to move forward? Or are you concerns these attacks will imperil those efforts?
Panetta: I do believe that is part of the motivation of Hamas to carry out this bloodthirsty attack, in the sense that they wanted to kill Jews, they wanted to kill the Jewish society and they wanted kill peace. In regards to the peace process, it’s probably on pause right now. But based on our discussions with the leadership — not just in Israel, but the leadership in the Middle East — I think the people want to take that turn, to having basically peace in that area through these agreements.
Q: There appears to be little, if any, humanitarian relief being allowed into Gaza to aid civilians at the moment. Do you have any concerns about the level of response by Israel, and the lack of humanitarian aid getting into Gaza? And do you have any red lines when it comes to that?
Panetta: Obviously it’s horrible what we’re seeing in any war — be it from Gaza to Ukraine — it’s obviously very, very difficult in regards to the casualties to civilians. And that’s the last thing you want. We made that clear in our meeting with the Israeli leadership — and we were assured — that they would abide by international law, and they would abide by the laws of war, when it comes to discretion and when it comes to proportionately. And that’s why you’re seeing us, even the United States, basically telling civilians in Gaza to leave. You have to understand that: This is not about Palestinians. This is really about Hamas.
Q: What did you hear from Israelis, in terms of needs? And what is your level of concern right now about Congress’ ability to act, given that the House of Representatives has not yet selected a new Speaker?
Panetta: When it comes to U.S. support, there’ already a pipeline of support that is going into Israel (through prior agreements). There’s obviously going to be more specific assistance that is needed when it comes to precision-guided missiles, to ensure they limit the casualties in Gaza, but also the replenishment of the Iron Dome as well. So that’s going to take a supplemental funding package. In order to have that, we have to have a speaker. And therefore its on the Republicans to come together and to ensure they can elect a new speaker. If they can’t do that, then they need to know they can come to Democrats in order to have a shared governing agreement going forward. But right now, we’re not seeing those types of overtures from the Republicans.
