Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Pete Hegseth, president-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defence secretary, told senators on Tuesday that he supports Israel “killing every last member of Hamas”, during a contentious confirmation hearing that focused on his past conduct.
At least three pro-ceasefire demonstrators were arrested for disrupting the hearing, calling Mr Hegseth a “Christian Zionist” who supports the war in Gaza.
“I'm a Christian, and I robustly support the state of Israel and its existential defence,” he told the Senate armed services committee. “I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas.”
Mr Hegseth, a former Fox television personality with no previous experience in government, is one of the most contentious of Mr Trump's nominations.
Two of the top Democrats on the committee grilled Mr Hegseth on his support for the 2019 pardoning of US veterans convicted of war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Hegseth said he wants to ensure “lawyers aren't the ones getting in the way” of US fighters' mission to “destroy” the enemy, and sidestepped questions on whether the US would abide by international laws on torture.
“We are going to unleash war fighters to win wars … we fight enemies that play by no rules … we follow rules, but we don't need burdensome rules of engagement that make it impossible for us to win these wars,” he told the committee, adding that the Geneva Conventions are “incredibly important”.
The sentiment builds on growing hostility between a Republican-controlled Washington and international courts, as the party moves to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court for its pursuit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on allegations of war crimes committed in Gaza.
Mr Trump's team recently joined ceasefire negotiations in Qatar, and the president-elect has warned Hamas that there will be “hell to pay” if it does not free the remaining hostages before his inauguration next week.
Mr Hegseth, 44, has in recent weeks visited senators on Capitol Hill in a bid to ease concerns over his nomination, including over a 2017 sexual assault allegation that did not result in any charges and in which he denies any wrongdoing.
Josephine Guilbeau, a former US Army intelligence officer, and Greg Stoker, a former US Army ranger, were among the protesters arrested at the start of Mr Hegseth's hearing.
Ms Guilbeau told The National that she felt like she “looked crazy doing it”, but felt compelled after a year's worth of emails, calls and other lobbying to push Washington to stop its support of Israel.
“I haven't looked away, not one day. I know exactly what has been happening and [politicians] refuse to acknowledge the truth, and they're dragging our country down,” she said.
Republicans, who now control Congress, seemed to be strong in their backing of Mr Hegseth.
Supporters described Mr Hegseth's ascension to leading the largest employer in the US as a necessary shake-up to a troubled department. Committee chairman Roger Wicker said Mr Hegseth “is an excellent choice to improve this unacceptable status quo” at the Pentagon.
Mr Hegseth promised that under the new Trump administration, the Pentagon would be “laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, war fighting, accountability”.
“Back to lethality” was a mantra repeated frequently by Mr Hegseth and his supporters – a rallying cry for conservative claims that the US military has embraced a “woke agenda” at the expense of strategic readiness.
He said his service as a combat veteran gives him a unique advantage, despite not having “a similar biography to defence secretaries of the last 30 years”.
Republican Congressman Mike Waltz, Mr Trump's national security adviser, celebrated that Mr Hegseth would be the first Pentagon chief “to have served as a junior officer on the front lines” since September 11, 2001.
“He recognises the human costs, the financial costs, and the policy drip that was discussed often in this very room that led us to decades and decades of war,” said Mr Waltz.
Many veterans turned out in support for Mr Hegseth on Tuesday, including Stuart Schiller, a former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who says the Pentagon needs “an outside-establishment pick”.
“He represents a generation that knows there needs to be change,” Mr Schiller told The National from the hearing room. He wants the Biden administration to face accountability for the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021, and added that it “shook our faith in our senior leaders … not only did that shake our adversaries into thinking we're weak, that's why you see a lot of global unrest”.
But not all veterans in attendance were supportive of the Trump nominee. Ms Guilbeau and Mr Stoker were mainly protesting against US legislators, but say they have concerns about Mr Hegseth, too.
Mr Stoker spoke out against Mr Hegseth saying the decline in military recruitment was caused by diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and not because younger Americans “just watched us millennials sacrifice our youth and bury our friends for the sake of imperialist lies for 20 years, what did we get out of it? Nothing”.
“I see Pete Hegseth as an accelerant to make things worse faster. But again, there's really no way out of recruiting crisis unless you fix the economic issues,” he added.
Ms Guilbeau said she “was a little bit optimistic during Trump's campaign in hoping that at the very least he would be more of the anti-war candidate … but I'm starting to have second thoughts about that,” given Mr Trump's imperialist rhetoric on Greenland and Panama.
Mr Hegseth settled the sexual assault claim in 2017 but has also faced accusations of alcohol abuse and drunkenly proclaiming, “Kill all Muslims”. He also has repeatedly stated women should not serve in combat roles.
Democratic Senator Jack Reed told Mr Hegseth he does “not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job”.
Armed services committee Democrats also complained that Mr Hegseth did not visit them before the hearing. Mr Hegseth met only Mr Reed, the party's ranking member, before Tuesday's confirmation hearing.
