Transcript: Secretary of State Antony Blinken on

The following is a transcript of an interview with Secretary of State Antony Blinken that aired on “Face the Nation” on Oct. 8, 2023.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We now go to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who joins us from the State Department here in Washington. Good to have you with us. Mr. Secretary, I know you have been working–

SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: Thanks Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN:  Straight through on this. Can you answer the question yet of whether the Hamas assault is over? Are there more attacks to come?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: The assault isn’t over. there continued to be- to be very active fighting around Gaza. At the same time, we’ve seen more quiet in other parts of Israel, but there is intense fighting going on. But to put this in perspective, this is the worst attack on Israel since the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago, 1973. But there’s a big difference. That was a conflict between countries, between armies. This is a massive terrorist assault on Israel, with terrorists going into Israeli homes going into Israeli towns gunning down civilians in their homes, on the streets, grabbing people, men, women, children, and taking them into Gaza. a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair, women and children all being dragged into- into Gaza, you can imagine what this is what this is doing in Israel to Israelis, and it should be something that revolts the entire world.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And what about Americans? There are a lot throughout the region, how many Americans are among the hostages, and among the dead?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: So, Margaret, we’ve got reports that several Americans are among the dead, we’re working very actively to verify those reports. At the same time, the reports of Americans being taken hostage there, too. We’re working to get the facts and to find out if those reports are accurate.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you don’t know if there are hostages or not.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: We can’t confirm- we can’t confirm that in this moment. But we’re very actively working to see if we can confirm the reports that we’ve had.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. Israel’s Prime Minister is promising a sustained campaign, do you have a sense of how he defines the end goal?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Margaret, these are- these are early days. And President Biden was on the phone immediately with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday to offer our full support to offer our assistance. And we’ve been on the phones across the region and around the world, to make sure that Israel has the support it needs. And also to make sure that countries are using the influence they have to get Hamas to back off, to back down and also to try to make sure that conflict doesn’t erupt elsewhere. And the President was very clear and very stark in his warning to others not to take advantage of the situation. Look, these are, these are early days, Israel has to first and foremost ensure the security of its people in Israel. And then it’s determined to take steps to try to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. And there are a lot of hard decisions that it has to make in the, in the days ahead. But the main thing is to make sure that to the best of its ability, it puts in place the measures so that this doesn’t happen again.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you know why I’m asking you because this conflict could broaden out into surrounding countries beyond Lebanon. Has the United States asked Israel not to strike Iran?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: We- the only things we’ve said to Israel are that we’re here, we’ve got your back, we want to make sure that you have the support that you need, we want to make sure that you have the assistance that you need. At the same time I was on the phone yesterday, and many others were on the phones yesterday with counterparts from Egypt, from Saudi Arabia, from Jordan, from Qatar, from the United Arab Emirates, from Turkey, Lebanon, and many European countries as well, to make sure that first of all people have heard very clearly what the President said about others and other places not taking advantage of the situation. And to use the influence that they have with different groups to make sure that- that they don’t do that precisely so that we don’t have a broadening of this conflict to- to other places, Lebanon and the- Israel’s northern border. The West Bank, I spoke to President Abbas as well and Palestinian security forces. Right now we’re doing their job in trying to make sure that things keep-keep calm, or Iran taking trying to use this in other places. So we’ve been very clear about that. And we’re also using every tool that we have at our disposal, and our diplomacy, to make sure that others are doing the same thing.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But the door is open for Israel to expand this, to take the fight to potentially sponsors of Hamas, like Iran?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Israel is focused entirely on Gaza, and on securing its citizens, a number of whom remain under direct threat right now in Israel-proper. And as I said, trying to do what’s necessary to have accountability. And to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. That is Israel’s focus.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Is there a sense that this was an attempt to take advantage of the West’s focus on Ukraine?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: No, I don’t see- I don’t see that. I think, look, we don’t we’ll have to see As we learn more what the- what the motivations were and what they are. But here’s one thing that’s, it’s clear, we’ve been actively working on trying to help Israel and Saudi Arabia normalize their relations, as well as Israel broadening its relationships with many other countries in the region, and beyond very hard work, and not clear that we could get there. But if we could, it would really change the prospects of the entire region far into the future. Now, who’s opposed to that? Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran. So I think that speaks volumes. And there really two paths before the region, there’s the path of greater integration, greater stability, including critically making sure that Israelis and Palestinians resolve their differences. Or there’s the path of terror that Hamas is engaged on, that has not improved the lives of a single person. On the contrary, it’s destroyed lives, including Palestinian lives.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But let me press you on that because you’re suggesting this may have been a strategic choice. But then I look at conditions having been deteriorating for Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza for a while now, the right wing coalition in Israel. In fact, the CIA director, Bill Burns has publicly warned of his concern and US intelligence concern about the risk of instability in this region. Jordan’s King has been warning about the risk of extremism. Did the Netanyahu government underestimate that risk? Why were they so vulnerable?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, first, let’s be absolutely clear that there is no equivalence between the differences that exist between Israelis and Palestinians, and the actions of the Israeli government in that regard. And these absolutely heinous acts of terrorism that we’ve seen, directed at Israeli men, women and children, none. Now, we have been concerned about the risks of of instability for- for many, many months between Israelis and Palestinians, it’s exactly why we’ve been working so hard in Aqabah, in Sharm El-Sheikh, to bring them together, to get both sides to commit not to take steps that would actually increase the risks of instability or conflict. And we were working hard on that and making progress on that. It’s also why we’ve said from day one that even as we’re working toward normalization, between Israel and Saudi Arabia, that can’t be a substitute for resolving the differences between Israelis and Palestinians. We think the best way to resolve it remains a two-state solution, and one that assures that Palestinians and Israelis, alike, know equal measures of democracy of opportunity, of dignity in their lives. That’s why we’ve been very focused on- on that track as well.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yep. But that has not been a priority between the parties themselves, but- as you know. Gaza, and I’m explaining this to our audience, because I know you know how concentrated the population is within such a small area and every time we have a conflict like this, it raises the question of what the humanitarian impact will be. If this is a prolonged attack, what kind of humanitarian crisis are you expecting here and impact on civilians?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well we’ve seen this, unfortunately, repeat itself. Although, the magnitude, the scale of what Hamas did here is something we haven’t seen before. But in- in prior instances, those who have suffered along with the victims of terrorism are civilians, including in Gaza, and whatever Israel does, in Gaza. As always, we look to it to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, something of course, that Hamas doesn’t do on the contrary. Not only does it not seek to avoid them, it deliberately targets civilians. It’s gunning down Israelis in the streets in their homes, and as I said, dragging them across the border in Gaza. So there’s absolutely no- no comparison. But we look to Israel as always, to apply the highest standards when it comes to avoiding civilian casualties and anything it may do in Gaza.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I let you go, I want to ask you about something that matters a lot to Americans at home in terms of the migrant crisis. You announced Venezuela has agreed to accept back deported migrants who cross unlawfully into the United States. When will that begin? And how big of an impact will it have?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, it’s one of the many steps that we’ve taken to make sure that migration, to the best of our ability, is safe, humane, and orderly. And we’ve been working on this intensively going back to the beginning of the administration, but in particular since the- the Summit of the Americas where we got countries throughout our hemisphere to take on greater shared responsibility for the challenge of managing migration, historic proportions. We have not seen this kind of migration around the world, or in our own hemisphere ever before: 100 billion people on the move around the world, more than 20 million in our own hemisphere. So countries are doing a variety of things, including taking back their own citizens who are didn’t have the right to come into the United States. We’ve done that with a number of countries, Venezuela is one of them. We’re also setting up- and we’ve already established these offices in different countries where people can go to determine whether they have the legal right to come to the United States to get a labor visa, to be reunited with their family. But they can do that in their own countries without coming to the border. So through these steps, and many, many others, we’re working to stem the flow of people to the border, make sure that we have more legal pathways for people to come here, lawfully., and at the same time, make sure that we have a safe, orderly, and humane migration process.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But when do those flights start? The deportation flights?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: So, I can’t give you a precise date. But that will be happening, I think, very, very soon. And at the same time, we’re doing that with a number of other countries in the region. We’re also looking at countries to strengthen their own asylum processes to support them so that people can if they’re- if they’re leaving their countries of origin, can go and stay in these other countries in the hemisphere. There’s another thing that’s important here, Kristen, which is that, excuse me, Margaret, which is that, you know, ultimately, we have to make sure that conditions in these countries are such that people have the opportunity to stay at home, or to look out for themselves, to look out for their families. And that goes to the kinds of investments that we’ve also been making; that takes time to take hold. In the meantime, we’re taking all of these steps to make sure that, again, the flow to our border is something that’s controllable, and that people find other ways to determine whether they can come to the United States lawfully then coming to the border.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mr. Secretary, thank you for your time this morning. 

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thanks Margaret, good to be with you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Face the Nation will be back in one minute, stay with us.