Sen. Kaine on the Israel-Hamas Conflict: ‘The U.S. Should Demand a Cease-Fire’

EXCERPT:

KAINE: “Well, Jake, I think the U.S. should demand a cease-fire. I asked this question yesterday. When there is a shooting or innocent people are being killed on both sides, the U.S. is always aggressive in calling for a cease-fire. Instead, what we’re reading is that there’s efforts to get a U.N. Security Council resolution for a cease-fire and the U.S. is objecting to it. I just don’t think that is the place for the U.S. to be, and so that’s why I joined with Jon Ossoff and others in a statement Sunday that was about as crisply and simply written as can be in order to reduce Israeli and Palestinian casualties and in order to de-escalate violence, we called for a cease-fire. I think that should be the American position. Much of what the Biden team is doing behind the scenes is important. Some of this diplomacy does have to take place in quiet private discussions, not only with Israel, but with Gulf state and Arab neighbors that have normalized relations with Israel, but I think standing publicly for a cease-fire is what we would do in virtually any situation and we ought to do it here.”