‘Sir, You’re the Head of the Foreign Relations Committee’: Reporter Grills Democratic Senator Who Says He’s Not an ‘Expert’ on Rules of War
AP Photo/Steve Helber
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) got the Isaac Chotiner treatment in a New Yorker interview in which Cardin said he’s not enough of an “expert” to determine if Israel is adhering to the rules of war.
Israel has been conducting a military campaign against Hamas in Gaza after the militant group carried out terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people. Hamas, which controls the region, also kidnapped more than 200. According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, more than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory.
The Israeli government disputes the number and claims many of the dead are Hamas fighters. Officials have also noted Hamas’ history of using human shields.
In an interview with Cardin published on Wednesday, Chotiner pointed to a recent press conference held by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who was evasive when asked if Israel is abiding by the rules of war:
CHOTINER: Jake Sullivan was asked whether Israel does what it can to limit civilian casualties. He dodged the question. And then he was asked directly on CNN whether Israel was operating according to the rules of war. And Sullivan said, “I’m not going to sit here and play judge or jury on that question.” Do you have a sense of whether Israel is operating according to the rules of war?
CARDIN: I know that, once I was elected to the United States Senate, I’m supposed to be an expert on every subject.
CHOTINER: Sir, you’re the head of the Foreign Relations Committee.
CARDIN: I’m going to confess that I’m not a military expert, so I don’t know. I know the challenges when you have a terrorist organization that uses civilian populations as shields. It makes it much more challenging to accomplish your military objective and preserve innocent life. I recognize the challenges. So I just don’t know the answer to that question. I have confidence that Israel is not targeting civilian populations. The judgment of the casualties versus the importance of the target is something that will be a judgment call.
CHOTINER: You said that you’re not an expert, but you are the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And I know that you feel incredibly passionate about human rights. And you’re saying, “Well, I’m not an expert.” It just seems like a notable divergence there.
CARDIN: Oh, no. I’m saying I don’t have the military expertise to know how they should be surgically performing their military operations and whether they’ve used the best surgical approach to preserve civilian life, as well as accomplish their military targets. That’s not my expertise.
CHOTINER: O.K.
CARDIN: I just don’t have a good view about that. I do know this, as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee: we need to have hope for the future. We need to have a pathway for two states living side by side in peace. There needs to be hope for the Palestinian people. And we’ve missed a lot of opportunities over many, many years. We can’t rewrite history. We have to look at the future.
Chotiner has built quite a reputation as a tough interviewer. Last year, he had a particularly entertaining exchange with Alan Dershowitz, who aired a series of grievances and recalled his spat with Larry David on Martha’s Vineyard.
