we'll make it convenient for you to listen to multiple episodes, discussing history, biography, current events and culture from our signature program about books, afterwards. book notes plus and q & a. listen to the book shelf broadcast feed. find them on the c-span now mobile video app or wherever you get your podcasts and on our website at c-span.com/podcast. >> and condemning the biden administration for holding back weapons, and dick durbin spoke in support of the decision, saying a large scale on rafah

would add to the instability in the region. this is about 20 minutes. >> i'd like to begin my remarks today with a quote, the idea that we would cut off military aid to an ally, our only true, true ally in the entire region is absolutely preposterous. it's just beyond my comprehension why anyone would do that. five years ago then candidate biden was saying the right thing about america's commitment to the jewish state of israel. unfortunately, today he's doing the complete opposite. the president in his administration are withholding critical military assistance from israel as it fights to

restore its security against savage terrorists. and in refusing to answer basic questions about it. last week the speaker of the house and the biden administration pressing for specific details on which weapons were being withheld and why they were being withheld. and while we waited for an answer, the secretary of state spent the weekend dodging requests for any serious rationale driving the president's decision. now, it's no secret that the administration's under immense pressure from the anti-israel left. it's evident in words of some of our own colleagues.

members of this body have urged the president to quote, be more aggressive with the israelis. they've demanded, quote, not one penny go to support america's ally unless israel yields to their view of what's acceptable in self-defense. and of course, they've been engaged in grotesque political interference, calling for a regime change in a sovereign democracy. the intelligence committee is holding a hearing tomorrow about foreign interference in our politics and elections. and yet, too many of our democratic colleagues can't seem to resist the temptation to put their fingers on the electoral scales of other

democracies. in washington they've called the bb derangement syndrome, a trope, and some of our colleagues talk about an israeli government dominated by shadowy far right forces. that government does not exist. israel is led by a coalition, a national unity government and its war cabinet which includes members of multiple political parties which is distinguished by the absence of the most conservative members of the coalition. all accounts support for military operations in gaza and against hezbollah and lebanon transcend israeli politics. oh, but here in washington, democrats want to pretend that what they're objecting to is

merely the will of a prime minister they don't like. some of our most senior senate colleagues, including the chairman of the state foreign operations subcommittee just this weekend have even demonstrated an eagerness to assign political blame within israel for the failure to prevent the october 7th attacks. well, that will be the job for the people of israel. and it will come after they finish restoring their security against the terrorists wearing israeli and american blood. but let's make one thing absolutely clear, if the biden administration continues to hector and impede our ally's progress towards this goal, and

they share the blame that hamas may come to rest right here in washington. of course, there's already plenty of blame to go around among the western institutions that have fallen into predictable patterns of dangerous anti-israel bias in the months after october 7th. in the media, who rush to fit the deadliest attack on jews since the holocaust into tidy artificial narratives of merrill equivalence and cycles of violence. there are prominent international organizations that continue to elevate and legitimize outright terrorist propaganda. just a few days ago, the united nations finally admitted that the figures on palestinian casualties, it had held up for months as objective truth have

been grossly overstated. as a spokesman put it, quote, in the fog of war, it's difficult to come up with the numbers. no kidding, it's especially difficult to get accurate data when you rely exclusively on the word of hamas. surprisingly, just days after announcing its revised numbers, the u.n. backtracked yesterday and resumed making the hamas-run ministry upheld in gaza at its word. but remember, the u.n.'s affiliation to terrorists isn't limited to-- isn't employees of the u.n. relief and work agency, unra

and those who participated in the october 7th attacks. why don't we talk about the facts. in the last nine days, terrorists controlling southern gaza attacked a major entry port for humanitarian aid for israel, six times. six times. this is -- the terrorists inefficient and the floating pier that won't be either. the true obstacle to peace and stability for the people of gaza is loudly identifying itself. hamas is showing us precisely why it can play no part in the future of israelis or palestinians and a true ally would give israel the time, space and support it needs to

eliminate the terrorist threat. but that's not what we've seen from the commander-in-chief. limiting israel's options, the president is giving the terrorists a life line. does the biden administration really expect hamas to capitulate in negotiating when israel help terrorists survive on the battle ground? and does the president think that exhaustive arsenal of expensive low inventory interceptors is changing iran's broader calculus? the iran drone and missile attacks on israel for commercial shipping vessels isn't that we can't intercept them. the lessons that we still haven't managed to compel iran

to stop doing it and we ought to be doing more for the capacity of air and missile defenses as well as the long range weapons that can credibly threaten what iran and other advisories hold dear. this isn't new criticism. and it isn't a new problem. an emboldened iran, an unchecked network of proxies and brazen balance against israel, america and the global economy, the president choices magnifies these threats. he's united them with retreat, with hesitation, and with appeasement. today, the united states has effectively allowed itself to be deterred by second r