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This is a joy.
He is a National Security Council spokesman. He is someone steeped in our defense discussion as the President speaks at one PM this afternoon, but far more John Kirby has actually had tours.
Of duty with the Navy. He has real world.
Experience that when the facts change, Admiral Kirby changes. Admiral thank you so much for joining us this morning and your briefings with the President and his team this morning.
What will be the message at one pm?
The first and most important message that the President will deliver in his remarks is really about the United States is long standing and continued support of Israel, of the people of Israel, our sympathies obviously with the loss and the suffering and the shock that they're going through, but also our firm resolved to make sure that they can continue to defend themselves against these the terrorist attacks and
to take action against Hamas directly. So he will talk about the military assistance that we are providing and that we expect to have to provide going forward. Number two, we'll talk about the hostage situation and the crisis and the fear that that is also engendering in so many hearts and minds throughout the region, including here in the United States, and what the United States might be willing
to do to help with the hostage recovery efforts. And then lastly, and this is not unimportant at all, it's a strong message for Americans here at home that anti Semitism has no place, neither does terrorism, and that the United States federal govern that will work with state and local authorities to make sure that a Jewish community throughout the country doesn't have to live in fear and anguish
and anxiety. That we're going to make sure that we can look after Jewish community centers and places of worship.
John Kirby from an Israel template, there is sixty seven and seventy three, and they were very different to bring it to your navy almost Zuomalt, Admiral Zumwalt didn't have to worry about social media, the immediacy, the speed of news today. How will this effort of Israel and the assistance of the United States change because of this modern news cycle, that crushing visibility of the terror that we have seen.
Yeah, I mean, you can't have a conflict today anymore where it's not being brought home to people in real time in micro bits of information and imagery. And it really it gives you a gut punch because it's right in front of your face and everywhere you turn, you
gotta feel like you have to react to it. It is really important like this, particularly when information is so is so ubiquitous and so accelerated, that when appropriate, you got to make sure you're slowing down and making the right policy decisions, that you're acting not so much in reaction to what's in the news environment, but what you actually need to do on the field of battle or in the information space. Make no mistake, and we saw
this in twenty fourteen in the Gaza war. The information the narrative war was just as important as the bombs that were dropping and the explosions that were going off. That will be even more the case here in terms of making sure that you know that there is a common set of narratives about who's that fault here, who are the victims, and what needs to be done to move this forward.
John Kravy, There's been a lot of discussion around the six billion dollars that the US released to unfroze.
I should say.
For Tehran.
It has not been released yet.
I've seen some of the comments that you and others have made in the administration saying that not a petty off. It's actually been transferred. However, what is the discussion around refreezing it. How likely and realistic is it that this administration will refreeze that six billion dollars.
We don't have a policy decision on that to speak to you right now. It has always been the case that that money could have could be frozen at any time. We said that when we send it over to Cutter and made it available to the Iranians. It's also important to remember that the regime, even though none of it's been spent yet, but even if some had been, the regime never sees a dime of it. They never get
their hands on it. It goes right to vendors that we approve who buy the humanitarian goods and ship them into Iran for direct access to the Iranian people. The regime will never see a sin of this.
A lot of people have said that this is sort of just a distraction from the real issue, which is that essentially Iran is getting a ton of money through the exports of oil, particularly to China, despite sanctions, and the sanctions have been somewhat lightened, how much does the US talk about enforcing the sanctions in a more significant way or the ineffectiveness of those sanctions.
I would push back a little bit on the idea that sanctions have been enlightened. We have not lightened any of the sanctions. In fact, we've added additional sanctions, some four hundred sanctions on Iran just since the beginning of this administration, and we're absolutely committed to full and total enforcement.
Now.
Obviously, other nations have to enforce their sanctions as well, and certainly we talk with them about that, but the United States has not backed off on any sanctions. Quite the contrary, We've added and increased our enforcement capability. Not to mention, we have increased our military presence in the Gulf region and now of course in the Eastern med to deter would be actors like Iran who might want to try to take advantage of the situation.
So far, there has been a distinction drawn by both US and Israeli official saying that while it is clear that Iran has been involved in backing Hamas financially, it is unclear whether they were directly involved in orchestrating this particular attack. What is the difference from a perspective? What would the US do and Israel do should Iran be determined to have been intimately connected with orchestrating this attack.
I won't get into speculating about what policy decisions we might or might not make based on where the information and the intelligence leads us. All I can do is reiterate what we've been saying.
We haven't seen.
Any specific tactical intelligence or information evidence that points to Iran's participation in these particular attacks. Now clearly, and we've made no bones about it, that there is already and has been for a long time, a degree of complicity by Iran here because they've been supporting Hamas for many years, Training capabilities, resourcing, certainly rhetorically in just the last twenty four hours of Supreme leaders out there praising this attack
by Hamas. So there's a degree of complicity, but we just haven't found any correct evidence. And quite frankly, now there have our Israeli counterparts, Emal Kirby.
With great respect, and I don't want you to give away the family secrets. But the conventional effort is like eboeing this century E three intelligence aircraft. You put a couple of them up in the air and gather intelligence. This is two million people in a highly urban landscape, squeezed into a geography that is two Washington d c's. How do you prosecute intelligence against an enemy sandwiched in among two million people?
Very difficult, very difficult to do.
I won't speak for the Israelis, and of course you know this is really for them to talk about. We will, obviously will and continue to share intelligence with them and offer them help in intelligence gathering, as of course we will, we always do, but it'll be a task really for
them to work on. But it is very difficult, very dense, very as you said, urban and very very heavily populated, and Hamas this is just another example of their barbarity, using Palestinians that live in gata as human shields, hiding in mosques and residential bid buildings and hospitals as command centers. I mean, this is what makes it very, very difficult for precise targeting ERMA.
One final question, and I must speak to the navy that gerald Ford is in the area. Is it properly staffed? Is this a US Navy that can develop the manpower, the sea power to staff not only that aircraft carrier but the many other ships involved.
Yeah, the gerald Ford care Strike Group is now in the Eastern Mediterranean. As you rightly said, it's not just the aircraft carrier and the embarked air wing of more than eighty aircraft, but it is several ships and around it in its periphery. They are all fully manned, they're all fully trained, they're all fully ready and fully armed to look after American national security interests in the region.
That was one of the messages that the President wanted to send by moving those forces there, that nobody should take advantage of the situation in Israel, and that the United States will always make sure that our national security interests are first and foremost as well Edmial.
Thank you so much.
John Curry of the National Security Council. A different voice now, an important voice, Cecy Lovely, totally.
I'll get that right. Help me here.
Lisa Israeli, Ambassador of the United Kingdom, joins us this morning in her busy schedule as well.
Ambassador.
Six years ago, in the conversation of the politics of Israel in the United States, you spoke about Jews in America.
Leading convenient lives.
I thought it was a brilliant comment of the distance of Israel from Judaism in America. Speaking of convenient lives in America? Are our convenient lives? Have they been shattered?
I think in a way every Jew in the world his life's being shattered after what happened in the last forty eight hours in Israel. I want to tell you from a personal stories because for me, I've been in Israel when the war started, and my husband and my two daughters are still in Israel. I just received my daughters in a shelter at the moment because Tel Aviv is under a rockets attack at the moment as we speak,
and this is horrendous. We've never seen anything like that, and I'm speaking as someone who has experienced I was part of the Israeli government. I've seen terror attacks in my life, and I must say this is unprecedented, the way Hamas barbarically acted against children, against young women. We're speaking here about war crimes being committed by Hamas in the last forty eight hours. The Israelis and the international community are exposed to those. I don't even have the
words to explain. How about those atrocities are and the videos on social media that I'm sure you've seen some of it. I've just seen of a young Israeli child walking in Gaza and Palestinian children are bitting him up. Those are things, I mean, think about. It reminds us dark times in the Jewish history, and this is our obligation, our first obligation to fight back and to make sure Hamas will never have the ability to act against Israelis.
Ambassador, how are.
You responding to the fact that this is really creating a whole host of tensions around the world that have become sort of ethnically focused on both sides. It really has erupted debates and protests and anger.
On both sides.
How would you like to angle the conversation to be able to foster something more productive.
I think that this is time to fight and to defend the people of Israel.
And I think.
Whoever saw the fact that a thousand Israelis were killed in cold blood cannot speak now about both sides. There is one side here. Who's the side that once freedom, democracy, cares about human rights, cares about people's life, which is the Israeli side.
And there is the other side. This is good versus evil.
This is so clear here that we are fighting in one of Israel's darkest moments. We are fighting evil that the world haven't seen since the Second World War, and we need to fight it. It's a terror organization recognized in the US and in the UK. And you know, many people are comparing to nine to eleven, and I heard many people that are making the equivalent numbers with the proportion. When you think about Israel as a tiny country, just nine million people, it's actually ten times of nine
to eleven. And the disaster that the country is experiencing. This is something that any country in the world should support Israel. Now we've seen Israeli flags here in London. We saw the British Parliament colors itself in blue and white. We saw number ten Downing Street with a huge Israeli flag projected on. This is the time to support Israel.
The international community should understand that if Israel is not protected, then the whole Western civilization is not protected, because those horrible things backed by Iran can happen everywhere.
Ambassadora, totally, what do you make of some of the reports of Qatar, of the United Arab Emirates of Egypt even acting as some sort of intermediary to negotiate hostage releases.
Hostage release is a very very important mission at the moment. We call again Hamas to release every single individual, children, women, elderly women that were kidnapped by Hamas.
Some of them were tortured.
And we've seen horrible, horrible again videos and images that are coming from Yaza, and they are committing those war crimes and the world must stop them to commit those war crimes. They need to release the people being kidnapped.
Ambassador, your politics is clearly to the right, that is the way. It is a stole within the Israeli media and of course in the United Kingdom.
Let me help you with that, I'm ambassador. According to the Israeli system. When you become a diplomat.
You're represent I understand that.
I don't.
I don't, I don't follow at the moment, you.
Know the Israeli politics as a politicians, I don't understand representing Israel.
And Bessadors talking to our Stuart Wallace about this news of a coalition or combined government within Israel.
That is in your wheelhouse.
Can that be successful and how will a combination of Israeli politics be successful in prosecuting this war.
So, first of all, it's clear both to the Prime Minister and to the leaders of opposition that there was never bigger necessity for unity government in Israel than at this moment. And I speak on behalf ever Israeli Israelis are united now. Israeli's fight together, shoulder to shoulder. We see so many gestures coming from Israelis want to support our soldiers, want to support the people that need help at the moment in Israel, that are in the front line.
So they want to see the same reflection in our politics. And I'm sure that the unity government will happen and it will be the reality.
I hope sooner.
The better ambassador, the Arab community speaks to different sets or different cohorts of Palestinians. Can the Arab nations assist Israel in speaking the Palestine away from Hamas?
You know, this is not something new.
I mean, this is a process being going on over a generation. And in the last few years, as you know, there were dramatic breakthroughs between Israel and our world with the Abraham Accords, with the ongoing negotiation with Saudi.
So we are in.
Times where our world wants to be close to Israel and the Middle East is changing. Unfortunately, this radical ideology that Hamas is leading based on isis mentality, this jihadi ideology. The look at Tamas charter, look at what there they want to do. They want to kill basically every single Jew. They don't they don't recognize the right of Israel to exist. So when this is Hamas ideology, this is ideology must be fight. You can't negotiate with these people, you can't
have peace with Hamas. You need to fight back because they started this war and Israel will win this war.
Ambassador totally, what do you make of some of the discussion around Iran And there's been a lot of dancing around you know that they have backed Hamas, but that they weren't necessarily directly involved in executing it or orchestrating it. How important is that going to be the determination of that to determine the next step for the Israeli government.
Well, obviously Iran is involved, and obviously Iran is the big brain behind activating its proxies. But at the moment we have this war to win. The war against Iran is something bigger than that. But the international community should know the real face of Iran and its proxies through those atrocities that Hamas committed in Israeli innocent people, including
children and elderly. I just can I say something, just because my country is now in a point where a thousand, almost a thousand funerals are going to take place in the coming few days. This is a number we've never seen in our lifetime in one day. The President said yesterday that since the Holocaust, we never experienced a reality where so many Jews were killed in one day. And
I'm looking at those stories. The Times has in the front page the ked And family, Jonathan and Tamal, the beautiful twins, their son, they were all murdered in one day, think about those families that were destroyed because of this barbaric attack. I think this is the date to mourn with the Israelis that lost their dear ones they loved once, those children being executed in front of their parents, those are days to support Israel, and I think this is why I'm coming here to speak to you and all
the people that care about the future Western civilization. Israel is in the frontline of this Western civilization, surrounded by very radical people, and we need to fight back and we need the world support in this very justified war.
Ambassador, thank you so much for joining Bloomberg today. Ambassador hotol Israelly, Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and our Queen Victoria Street Studios.
With the Surround the Table. Stuart Kaiser had a US secrety trading strategy over City, said this a few times already this week. We'd be waking up on Monday talking about the jobs report from Friday, the fact that the data is good and we're talking about something, ask we just sit on the data for a moment. Good news, good news for the team. You've said that a few times. It look like it was on Friday.
Yeah, I think we're still in that camp. I was a little surprised by the response on Friday. I thought, with the jobs over that was so strong, you know, we might see bond volatility kind of hold equities back for a bit. It held them back for about fifteen minutes, and then you know, we kind of went back to
one more operation. So as we sort of said, Friday encapsulated our view on how markets are going to respond to this data, which is, if the data is very strong, initially, you might get yield higher and that could be a headwind for equities. But big picture, equities like a stronger economy, and you would expect them to kind of, you know, reorient to that as well. And I think both both pay rolls at the ISM report last week, you know, kind of played into that narrative.
Start Upsico reports third quarter results, raises full year EPs, and provides initial constructive twenty twenty four outlook. I'm going to go back to your phrase, which I love it. It's a typical phraseency from a.
Guy like you. Solid growth. Okay, what does that mean?
I mean you are the optimist people right now are scared stiff for eight different reasons to find solid.
I think for at this point solid would be, you know, you don't go into recession, right, you get an actual soft landing that doesn't include negative growth from a job's perspective. You know that's going to be you know, payrolls stay stay positive, unemployment rates stays below four and a half percent, and you can get kind of a real soft landing.
I think you know your comments on PEPSI. I think the probably most important thing there is they're talking about twenty four right, and you know, if Corporate America has to do what the FED did, which was basically revised up twenty twenty four, I think that's your goal case. If they re made very cautious on that growth, you know, going into next year, then we'll probably have something to worry about.
And Lisa just headline, I missed this Within all the newsflow we've got, PepsiCo still sees fiscal year organic revenue growth of ten percent. I three years ago, I never envisioned that, not once double digit revenue growth.
That's stunning.
This is the reason why the idea of them revising their expectations upward the similar to the FED, you think is good news. How important is JP Morgan and their earnings on Friday going to be in setting your expectations and setting your forecasts.
Yeah.
I think the bank earners in general, you're going to be very very important. You know, what do they do on reserves again will be important. You know, how do they talk about the deal calendar? I think is going to be incredibly important. And you know, we've had a lot of headlines recently on capital requirements. You know how they kind of message that I think will be important as well. You know, banks have been a really really tricky sector. I think folks are frustrated that yields are
rising and banks aren't performing as well. I think the deal calendar, I think the capital overhang and the fact that the curve is still inverted. Probably those three things are playing into this. And then there's just underlying credit risks whe people are worried about on a go forward basis.
Are you worried about credit risk?
Are you worried about the fact that so many companies are just holding on and not borrowing for as long as they possibly can because of what we're dealing with in terms of higher borrowing costs. Once they have to do that, then not only will you see credit distress, you will also see these banks have a knemic deal flow on multiple levels.
Yeah.
Look, I think the credit thing is a little bit tricky. Everybody's worried about their ability to write refinance, but if you look at the timing of it, a lot of it doesn't happen for a couple three years, you know. So we're getting really worked up about something that isn't isn't really immediate. So I think from my perspective, what we're worried about is is actually credit event type stuff. Do we see losses in the commercial real estate sector?
Do we see companies have trouble either selling assets or refinancing that actually.
Have to do it now?
Unfortunately, we tried to narrow that list. We got only about twenty five stocks that really have have you know, near and dear type refinancing risks. So we're worried about it, but it does feel like, you know, maybe we're worried about it a little too early at this point.
For you're saying that high for longer isn't a problem anytime soon.
It would appear in that it would appear not right. You know, a lot of the obviously, the S and P is more of an investment gree corporate. You know a lot of those folks have refined and also locked in and extended hy you borrowers I think tried to do that as well. So it is a risk obviously. You know, some companies need to refine. It only takes one, right, It takes one company to have difficulty doing that, and
then it can kind of snowball a bit. But if you look at the timing of their needs to refinance, it's not something that's really going to hit you in the next six to twelve months.
Joah.
We talk about all this esoteric stuff. Mostly it comes down do you have to pick? Am I going to buy the potato chip company? Am I going to buy the good people from Atlanta? And you know, in every stock selection you have to make a choice. Never did I think the choice would be this broad. Over the last decade, Pepsi is clean, Coca Cola's clocked by what we call three hundred and fifty five basis points. That's three point six percent return per year.
So that's that is a chip company beating Atlanta.
Yeah yeah, Coke zero is like you know what, But in Stuart's world, this.
Is how you keep your job is you got to pick you know pepsi over coke? Yeah, coke, no pepsi?
Okay, got no idea?
What this is gone? Now?
Thank you Jit conscious City question.
Right now. And this is a great honor. Stephen A.
Cook, a senior fellow of Middle East and Africa Studies at the Consul on Foreign Relations. It's unfortunate that he and I speak only when the world is blowing up, or his world is blowing up. The definitive book on Turkey is false down. And this June we will celebrate the end of the end of ambition. How America should move forward in the Middle East. Steven, thank you so much for joining us today. I want to go to the ambition of the President this morning. He's going to
speak here. We have to recalibrate an ambition with all the legacy of forty eight, sixty seven, seventy three. What should be America's ambition day four of this war.
Well, it's clear that the President is going to throw all of his support to Israel. Already there is actually bipartisan support for anything that the Israelis need resupply. They will need a resupply of iron dome interceptors, and there is an aircraft carrier battlegroup moving into the eastern Mediterranean. That is clearly a warning to Iran and his law not to widen this conflict. That would be the nightmare
scenario for the Israelis. So the United States is getting indirectly or directly involved, and I think it's an appropriate policy for the United States.
The question will be is as this.
Conflict goes on, the Israelis are clearly gearing up for a major ground invasion, infantry in the Gaza Strip, occupation of the Gaza Strip for periods of time. How long will the international community remain staunchly behind the Israel's operation. I think the Israelis have a lot of leeway with this president in particular, and after how many Israelis were
killed in the opening stages of this conflict. But one can't imagine given the past pattern of events, as Israelis prosecute their operations and more innocent Palestinians were killed, that there will be pressure Israelis to move off.
Steve and to borrow from Mahada Abaden. Is this an Iran resurgent? I mean, I look at it around and I say, this is a complete surprise for so many of Hamas, but maybe also a complete surprise of Iran.
Is it Iran resurgent?
Well, certainly Iran is playing the role of an agent of chaos in the region. I think the administration's efforts to modify Iranian behavior through diplomacy through incentives just does not work. And I think it should be clear to everybody by now that trying to engage the Iranians, trying to beget goodwill through goodwill, is not a fruitful avenue to pursue. The Iranians are not willing to reciprocate. They want to push the United States out of the region,
and they want to confront Israel. And this is the result of it. And the sooner we all come to that conclusion, the better off will all be able to clearer policies towards Iran will come into view.
Stephen, it feels like there is a feeling that Iran was involved. Yesterday, Jean was talking with Ron Dermer about this about how as they get more information they are real saying that maybe there was a more direct role from Iran. Is there just simply a reluctance to say it out loud because then it would necessitate a response that does escalate the conflict to such a degree that it puts it in dangerous territory.
I think that's exactly right.
I think all the publicly available indicators would suggest that the Iranians were involved. The meetings between the Kudz Forces Commander Left Spring and Hamasis Islamic chi Had and his Belah. The kind of quantum leap and in terms of tactics and complexity of the operation that began on Saturday, has all the hallmarks of actually his Belah, Iran's primary proxy
throughout the region. The unusual activity of the Supreme Leader on social media last week talking about the the Zionist entity dying, and then of course Hamas itself thanking the Islamic Republic for its weaponry and support for the operation. If though the Israels publicly pain the Iranians, it does call for direct engagement.
Kinetic action against the Rans.
Now, of course, these Reels and the Runans are engaged in a shadow war throughout the region anyway, but this would be a step up in a real confrontation, and one has to be sure that the United States and Israeli are engaged in conversations about the what if.
Here in your recent article, Stephen in CFR you wrote that under these circumstances, no foreign government, including the US, will have any leverage on Israel to respond with restraint. Where is the rest of the Middle East on this? We've heard about the United Arab Emirates, We've heard about Egypt, We've heard about Cutter trying to negotiate some sort of deal to release the hostages. Seems like that's a no go based on both sides and some of the rhetoric there.
What are people doing to try to prevent a full out Middle East war that does involve a great deal of nations.
Well, there's not a lot that they can do. I think this is one of the problems is that publicly, Arab governments have to issue these kind of statements that are run from ambiguous to condemnation of Israeli conduct. Now, Israelis, of course have a lot to answer for their conduct in the West Bank and the cause of the strip over many years, but of course that's obviously no excuse
for the butchery of innocence. So in behind the scenes they are seeking the escalation, but of course many of them remain on Israel's side here, so again they will the Israelis will have a certain amount of leadway in order to prosecute this campaign, but of course, as the civilians suffer, there will in time be lots of pressure for the Israelis to back off.
I think the.
Israeli public is demanding the destruction of Hamas, and that's going to give the Israelis further ability to resist international pressure that will come from both its neighbors as well as Europe and some quarters in the United States as this operation continues.
Saman thank you for your insight this morning. I appreciate it. Stemen Cook the an soil on from relations. Congressman Frenchhill joined us right now. Congressman, a deeply emotional time for everyone involved, even though it's looking God from the outside looking in. Congressman, if you had an intelligence report, a briefing.
Just yet, Jonathan, we have an intelligence committee meeting on Israel this afternoon at three pm, so that we can pose all these questions that so many of us have, which is, how did this happen and we weren't aware of it in advance. I think that's a key question that everybody's trying to get the right answer to.
There is something very odd about what we're being told currently from the administration. It was only a week or so ago that we heard from Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor, who is optimistic about developments in the Middle East and said the Middle East region is quite today than it has been in two decades. At the same time, we've heard from Secretary blinkn who said we've been concerned about the risk of instability for many many month between
Israelis and Palestinians. Congressman, which one was it?
I think it's I've traveled in the region since the first of May. I've been in Aman twice, Jerusalem, riod Urbil Baghdad, Ankara, Turkey talking about the region, talking about the need for America's reassurance of the region that we're not pulling out and that we're a true partner. But
there's some key issues. First, the Arab League has readmitted Asad back into the Arab League, even though he's done nothing to curtail his murder of his own citizens, his partnership with the Iranian Shia militia and the Russians, and killing Syrians, and exporting captagon, which is a deadly and addictive drug that he's manufacturing and selling to the Gulf States. And look, I was pleased that the President has begun to make progress with Saudi Arabia on potentially bringing them
into the Abraham Accords initiated by President Trump. And for some of us, this looks like a direct response to the effort that Iran is throwing a disruption by a full scale attack if we find it to be true that they back Hamas, but they've been a financier of Hamas, They've been a founder of Hamas and Hesba Lah in Lebanon. So all fingers are pointed in that direction. But we want to get the validation Congress Hill.
Part of this is a stretch of five years, ten years, fifteen years. Dare I say back to nineteen seventy three, which is an America balancing between real politic and a focus in some would say, critics would say overfocus.
On human rights.
Frame how that debate's going to go as you go to this security meeting this afternoon and frankly in the coming days of war.
Right, So, look, if you want peace in Israel, you've got to have a partner to negotiate with. And that's a really important thing I think for Americans to understand there is no one Palestinian authority that fully represents the citizens that live in Gaza and those in the West Bank. Hamas is essentially at political war with FATA, which is my mood of ASA's party in the West Bank. So it's very difficult to get a two state solution when you don't really have two states that you're trying to
negotiate with. That's why the Abraham Accords approach, the involvement of Saudi Arabia, I thought it could be a breakthrough in trying to bring peace to the West Bank. But that doesn't really affect the fact that Hamas, which controls Gaza, doesn't agree with their other Palestinian brothers and sisters in the West Bank, and they're certainly fully committed to war with Israel.
Well, okay, we're with Israel. What do you expect to see at this meeting today? I mean, you've been in these meeting of zillion times as well. You're going to be briefed then what?
Well, I think we're going to find out. First of what's the intelligence say about the partnership that helped AMAS carry out was a surprise attack on Israel. So that's I think the first thing and the first and most important thing. Secondly, what is the response of Israel to that attack on their sovereign land? And what can the United States do to stand with our ironclad ally and
partner in the regent to repel it. And then of course we've got the issue Tom that's very concerning to all of us, which are Americans that are held as hostages or Americans that have been killed. And that will be a very important decision for the President and I look forward to his assessment on what the American reaction should be to that.
Congressman, can the US and leash aid to Israel without a House speaker, without a functioning House?
Yeah, thanks, Lisa. Look, last two weeks ago, we passed the State and Foreign Operations Appropriation across the House floor, and we passed the Defense Appropriation Bill across the House floor. Billions of dollars in those bills for our military partnership with Iran and to counter terrorism like a moss and money in State and foreign opts to enhance the Abraham Accords issue. And we don't support in these bills aid to the Palestinian authority either until they rein in this
kind of behavior. So those bills were important. I wish the Senate would take those up. But we need a House speaker this week, and we need it soon because we want our full legislative body to have the voice of the American people. In case President Biden asked the House to take action this week, we have to have a House speaker.
Congressman, are your peers, your colleagues in the House and their Republican Party willing to tie the idea of Ukraine AID and Israel AID together or is there reluctance to really go for one and not the other, or simply to deal with this issue right now, given how politically fraud it is.
Yeah, well, first, I think we should treat them separately. Personally, I'm working very hard in the House to find the consensus on the right path forward to support kicking Putin out of Ukraine and providing American support to our European allies to continue aid to Ukraine. We want transparency, we want leadership, we want a strategy to win, of course, but America is an indispensable partner in a too in
that effort. Secondly, on Israel, we need to hear directly from the President after this he completes his assessment on what we need to do to support our ally Israel that we can't do with existing authorities or existing funding. I think that remains to be seen, and we'll hear
from them soon. In the meantime, as I say, we've appropriated three point three billion for foreign military sales assistance to Israel just two weeks ago, and we appropriated five hundred million dollars for the US Israeli Military Cooperation Agreement. So there's significant money that's been approved by the House.
The congressman, speaking of money, this unfrozen six billion dollars is getting a ton of attention. Let's work through it together. This is the official response from Secretary Blinkin. This is what he says about it. Not a single dollar from that account has actually been spent today. It's very carefully and closely regulated by the Treasury Department to make sure that it's only used for food, for medicine, for medical equipment. Are we focusing on the right thingcare Congressman, Well, look.
Let's be clear. Let's say that Iran this year will have its largest GDP source about forty five billion dollars in oil sales. We're talking about releasing fungible money back to the government of Iran, which is a state sponsor of terrorism, about six billion dollars related to money from oil sales to South Korea. What Secretary Blincoln says is true that it can only be released when they make
a humanitarian or food assistance purchase. But it's still money that goes into the treasury in Tehran, and they can use other money to fund terrorism because they know that six billions coming in. And on top of that, Iraq owes Iran thirty one billion dollars, and the United States has approved a release of about two or almost three billion dollars of natural gas sales money from Iraq to Iran.
So this is significant money when you think about their largest GDP revenue sources about forty five billion, and we're talking roughly seventeen billion dollars in total that they're eligible to receive through these trust accounts, as you say, for a humanitarian or food stuff type purchase. But we're not naive here that frees up other money in the Tehran treasury.
French, thanks for catching up with today. I know the intelligence briefing is a little bit later on this afternoon. We'd love to catch up with you again afterwards to get an idea of what you've heard from the count Congressman french Hilldack.
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