WASHINGTON — Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are raising concerns about the U.S. role in the Middle East, as the Israel-Hamas War drags on.
That was the focus of a heated Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday.
"Your policy has been an utter disaster," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during an exchange with Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf.
"Have things in the Middle East gotten better or worse since Joe Biden became President?" asked Cruz.
"We have had a series of Black Swan events, so no doubt the region is in a very difficult state," replied Leaf.
"Black Swan" — a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise — was a reference to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack upon Israel.
The cost to U.S. taxpayers so far includes $14.1 billion for funding to support Israel contained in the Supplemental Bill passed by Congress in April.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) questioned if Israel is doing enough to ensure humanitarian aid makes it to innocent Palestinians.
"If Israel was engaged in sufficient effort to provide humanitarian aid, the U.S. wouldn't have to build a jerry-rigged pier off the coast of Gaza, deploying Virginians from Fort Eustis and elsewhere to do it. You'd see a higher pace of humanitarian aid being delivered," he said.
Regarding the $320 million JLOTS causeway, Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder pushed back on a New York Times report that the pier "will probably end operations weeks earlier than originally expected."
"We've said all along first of all that the pier is a temporary measure. I don't have any dates to announce in terms of when it will cease operations," he said.
Since May 7, according to U.S. Central Command, more than 3,500 metric tons of humanitarian aid have been delivered through "the maritime corridor."