Unnamed senator presses nominee on hostages, post-conflict plans and $6 billion Iran transfer

An unidentified senator on the committee pressed an ambassadorial nominee on several foreign-policy priorities during a confirmation hearing, citing a recent trip to Israel and meetings with hostages' families.

"Meeting with the families of hostages, their stories and the experiences are heartbreaking," the unidentified senator said, describing conversations with military and former national leadership. The senator said securing the release of hostages should be a top priority for the U.S. ambassador if the nominee is confirmed.

The senator characterized Hamas's actions as "The outrage, the brutality, the inhumanity of Hamas in the way they they took children and others and grabbed them and took them across the border is hard to comprehend," and quoted an Israeli military leader who, the senator said, told them "Israel and Jews don't do vengeance" and would try to avoid civilian casualties even where militants use civilians as human shields.

The senator said he was concerned about the lack of a publicly articulated plan for what would come after Israeli forces "root out Hamas," and told the nominee that post-conflict reconstruction and governance should be a priority for the U.S. mission.

He also raised concerns about a report from the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, saying he was "very troubled" by findings released under the direction of Senator Portman and that the report had prompted serious questions from Republican members and others.

On one of the most contested points, the senator criticized an administration effort to provide $6,000,000,000 in Iranian funds as part of a prisoner exchange. "It's a way of disguising the fact that we're providing funds to a a state sponsor of terror," he said, arguing that "funds are fungible" and could free other Iranian resources for malign activities.

The nominee, identified in the transcript only as the respondent, rejected the framing that Israel would act out of vengeance and said he believed Israeli leaders would seek to defend the country without seeking vengeance. "I believe they're going to do the right thing and try their best to do it to defend the country, not for vengeance," the respondent said.

Addressing the subcommittee report and questions about his character, the respondent said he had remained close to Senator Portman since leaving government and had spoken to him recently, inviting anyone who doubted his reliability to consult Portman.

On the $6 billion issue, the respondent acknowledged the economic point that "money is fungible," but argued Iran is not a "rational economic player" and that, in prior nuclear negotiations, U.S. intelligence indicated the "vast majority of that money will be used for the neglected purpose of humanitarian expenses." He added, "I can't say that there's no leakage," while saying leakage would not change the overall thrust of the outcome the negotiators sought.

The exchange in the hearing focused on what an ambassador would be expected to do beyond wartime operations, how the United States should balance humanitarian aims against the risk of empowering malign actors, and whether concerns raised in a subcommittee report should affect a nomination. The transcript does not show any formal vote or decision on the nomination.

The hearing proceeded to responses from the nominee; the transcript ends without recording any committee action in this excerpt.