Former U.S. ambassador to Israel says goal is to prevent regional war
MINNEAPOLIS — The former U.S. ambassador to Israel says a key U.S. concern is preventing the war with the Hamas militant group from becoming a regional one.
Tom Nides was the ambassador until just a few months ago, but because the Senate has yet to confirm his successor, Nides is still very much in the know.
Nides called the Hamas terrorist attacks disgusting and despicable, and he stressed that Hamas as an organization does not speak for the Palestinian people. In fact, he said Hamas is the reason so many Palestinian civilians could be innocent victims in this war.
WCCO asked Nides about the diplomacy behind the scenes and what the conversations are like between officials. He said right now the number one goal is to deter Hezbollah, another Iran-backed terrorist group, from launching attacks against Israel from Lebanon.
"First you have to send a very strong message of force that we're sending heavy machinery and ships, airplanes, basically saying to people don't screw with us. As Joe Biden famously says, superpowers don't bluff," Nides said.
To illustrate the reach of the devastation, in the middle of WCCO's interview, Nides pulled out his phone and shared with us a text message from a friend in Israel who just learned his daughter was killed.