Transcript: Sen. Chris Van Hollen on "Face the Nation," July 28, 2024

The following is a transcript of an interview with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, on "Face the Nation" that aired on July 28, 2024.

ROBERT COSTA: We're back with Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. Senator, great to have you here at Face the Nation. Let's begin with your colleague, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He was on Face The Nation just a few minutes ago, we were talking about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his visit to the United States. We're glad to have you here. You've been so outspoken on Israel and its handling of its war with Hamas. He was pretty clipped in talking about why he didn't shake Netanyahu's hand. He said, I just wanted to recognize the relationship between the US and Israel. But he did say- he did not say he had any regrets about making that formal invitation. Do you agree with the senators take on all of this with the Netanyahu visit or not?

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: Well, Robert, it's good to be with you. And just to be very clear, yes, I've been critical of the conduct of the war in Gaza, but always affirmed Israel's right to self defense, in fact, duty to self defense. So look, the message that I got from my trip to Israel nine days ago, where I met with hostage families, was don't be used as a political prop by Bibi Netanyahu in an address to Congress that will help boost his very low popularity ratings in Israel. At a time when he and his extremist colleagues Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are not prioritizing the return of the hostages, they're not prioritizing a ceasefire and return to the hostages. So they encouraged me, many of them to express my views in support of the people of Israel, by not participating in what they saw was a political ploy by Prime Minister Netanyahu. So that's what I did.

ROBERT COSTA: You said they told you to not be used as a prop. Do you believe Congress was used as a prop by Netanyahu?

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: I do think- I think Prime Minister Netanyahu accomplished his goal of using Congress as a prop to boost his support in Israel, especially among his right wing extremists. If you saw the people who gave two thumbs up to his speech, they were Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. These are very right wing extremists. 

ROBERT COSTA: Was it a mistake for Democrats to support him coming to Congress?

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: I believe it was, and I've expressed that view. But the reality is, obviously, he came. So for those of us who thought it was a mistake, to have him here. We expressed our views by- by not participating. And again, that was the message I got, not only from hostage families. But I also met, Robert, with a lot of Israeli families, whose loved ones were victims of the October 7 Hamas attacks, who told me that neither Prime Minister Netanyahu, or any member of his government, had come to see them, had reached out to them. And their message to me, as I've said on the Senate floor in a speech last week, was before he comes to the United States Congress, have him come look us in the eye and explain his responsibility in the intelligence failure that made the Hamas attack even worse. That was their message. 

ROBERT COSTA: If you're so frustrated with Prime Minister Netanyahu, well should the president refuse to meet with Netanyahu in the future? He met with him this past week. Where should the line be drawn now with Netanyahu?

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: Well, my view is that we need to really stand up and confront the extremist policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. And again, that's the message we're getting from many in Israel. I mean, while you had people in the Congress standing up and giving Netanyahu big applause–

ROBERT COSTA: Real affirmation. 

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: You had people in the streets, Israelis in the streets, protesting the fact that Netanyahu and his right wing extremists who have been- they've been very clear that they don't prioritize the return of the hostages. You had Israelis protesting that fact. And the message to me was, if you really want to take a pro-Israel position right now, you've got to confront the very extreme positions of Netanyahu and Smotrich. And this is not just their refusal to prioritize a cease-ceasefire to return the hostages. Also, many see some of the extremist measures they're taking on the West Bank, where they're pushing Palestinians off their lands, allowing extremist settlers to assault Palestinians with relative impunity. All of this is just going to add fuel to the fire. 

ROBERT COSTA: You have a political antenna policy antenna. I've been listening to Vice President Harris this week speak about Israel and what's going on with the war with Hamas. You've been listening in as well. Do you believe there is any daylight between her position and articulation of the policy on Israel versus President Biden's?

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: I don't know. What I think about Vice President Harris's approach here is that all the elements of President Biden's approach are there, she supports them, she's been part of that. So Israel's right to self defense, the fact that how the war is conducted matters, Hamas can have, you know, no control or governance after this war, no more October 7, but also, very importantly, that the Palestinian Authority has to be the nucleus of governance in a post-war Gaza, they have lots of flaws, they need lots of help to reform. They also need resources. And very importantly, and you mentioned this with Congressman McCaul, a path- although he left out this part, a path to a two state solution to assure that the great majority of the Palestinian people who have nothing to do with Hamas can have some light at the end of the tunnel, we need equal security, equal dignity, equal rights of self determination for Israelis and Palestinians alike. And the President has coupled that with what you did talk about, which was a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia, which would be very good for the security interests of Israel.

ROBERT COSTA: And she, of course, will remain President Biden's vice president for the rest of the term. But she's also now the presumptive Democratic nominee 100 days between now and the election. Would you counsel her in any way to separate or differentiate herself or at least define herself on the Israel issue on her own terms quickly, or just to keep going along as is?

SEN. VAN HOLLEN: Well, so I believe the elements of her policy are the same. But the question is how we succeed in achieving the elements of the policy. I have been critical of the Biden administration at times for not using all the levers of influence we have to achieve President Biden stated goals, including what a post war Gaza looks like. So I was pleased that after her meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Vice President made it- made a statement, a public statement, not a written statement, and she did it with clarity. 

ROBERT COSTA: Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, we appreciate you coming by Face the Nation and we will be back in a moment.