Ranking Member Risch Opening Statement at Nomination Hearing for Ambassador to Israel
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today gave the following opening remarks at a full committee nomination hearing. The nominee included Jacob J. Lew, nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel.
Ranking Member Risch gave the following remarks:
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for consulting with me over the past week to get to where we are today.
“We are here today to support Israel by filling a vacancy in the position of ambassador to Israel. We have an acting chargé there in Stephanie Hallett. She’s doing a great job. When I visited with the prime minister earlier this year, she was very helpful to me as I met with other officials. So we do have things being done there on the ground.
“I agree with you – we need this thing filled. The problem I have is that it needs to be filled with the right person. The only thing worse than having it empty would be having the wrong person there. I have some issues in that regard, which we’re going to talk about and hopefully clear the air today one way or another.
“Eighteen years ago, Israel took the brave step of dismantling Israeli settlements in Gaza, handing the territory over to the Palestinian Authority. This good faith effort has been a disaster for the people of Gaza, and for Israel as well.
“Now, Israel faces an unprecedented crisis on the scale of the September 11 attacks against the United States. Masked gunmen killed entire families in their homes, massacred babies, beheaded some, and the elderly, and dragged hostages across the border to Gaza. These attacks were brutal and horrific.
“We mourn the loss of over 1,400 Israelis and 31 Americans, and people from numerous other countries. As Israel rightly responds to safeguard its citizens, it is absolutely imperative that Israel has the freedom to act until they get the job done.
“This happened to us in Europe in World War II – the Nazis had taken over Germany and were marching across Europe. We made the decision, our allies made the decision, that the organization – the Nazis – could not exist any further. We didn’t just go to battle to defeat Germany on the battlefield. We went to war to defeat and dismantle and eliminate the Nazis.
“We did that – it was difficult, we eliminated the Nazis as a military, as a political force, as a cultural force, and everything else. The Israelis are attempting to do the same thing now with Hamas, who deserve it.
“Almost immediately after the attacks on Israel, we saw calls for a ceasefire and mediation. These calls are misguided, dangerous, and fail to recognize Israel’s legitimate right to protect its people and restore deterrence.
“What happened in Gaza is directly linked to Iran – that is so important. What happened in Gaza is directly linked to Iran. The Biden Administration cannot wish away the Iranian threat or appease the Iranian regime with promises of unfrozen funds and sanctions relief. The attacks in Israel and recurring attacks against our partners, troops, and diplomats are proof of a failed Iran policy.
“Iran is the supporter of Hamas, which is impotent without Iran. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that Iran has more resources to support terrorism today than it did in 2019.
“U.S. sanctions enforcement under this administration has been utterly lacking. Iran has earned a shocking $80 billion in oil revenue since the Biden Administration took office. Iran’s oil economy, once hobbled at 250,000 barrels per day, is now selling almost 2 million barrels per day – mostly to China. We know where that money is going.
“Iran’s ghost fleet, used to evade U.S. sanctions, has grown from 70 vessels to over 300 during the Biden Administration.
“The unfreezing of funds – first in Iraq, and now the whopping $6 billion from South Korea – are completely unacceptable and it makes Americans and our partners less safe.
“It should come as no surprise that these attacks occurred immediately after the Biden Administration unfroze the $6 billion and also gave $75 million directly to UNRWA, over my strenuous objections by the way.
“On Palestinian policy, the Biden Administration argued that restoring funding, that I objected to, would give the Palestinian Authority the leverage to promote moderate Palestinian voices and reform organizations like UNRWA.
“Two years later, we’ve seen no reform, violence is at record levels, pay-for-slay is active, and many Palestinians identify with terror groups to meet their aspirations. Like Iran policy, it’s time for a wholesale re-evaluation of Palestinian policy.
“So today, we’re here to help Israel, we’re here to look at the vacancy that exists – the nominee that’s been put before us, we’re here to help Israel, not hurt it.
“Secretary Lew, I have reservations on your appointment as America’s ambassador to Israel. Not only will you need to support Israel as it responds to these attacks, but also as it contends with the enduring, and indeed existential, Iranian threat, which I think is an underlying and foundational issue here. I have reservations about your ability to do that.
“You played a key role in supporting the Obama Administration’s nuclear negotiations, and I’ve had longstanding concerns over a lack of transparency before Congress on the transfers of cash to the regime. You have publicly insisted that transfers of cash do not free up Iranian resources for terror activities – I fundamentally disagree with that assessment.
“Really importantly, it is alleged that you lied or at least mislead us, this very committee. On that, I have three items I want to insert in the record, and I will Mr. Chairman. Two of them are opinion pieces from the Washington Post, and the third one is a report by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations which has been authored and I’d like to introduce.
“So, I am going to have some questions for you about your activities, in what I think was a backhanded way of supporting Iran.
“With that I yield back. I’m here to support Israel today, help everyway I can, but it is important that we get the right person in this position. Thank you, Mr. Chairman."
These remarks have been lightly edited for clarity. Witness testimony is available on foreign.senate.gov.
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