John Kerry Appears To Criticize Israel's Gaza Operation In Hot Mic Moment
"While you were on camera and while you were on microphone, you just spoke to one of your top aides in between the interviews about the situation in Israel and the fact that 14 Israelis have either been shot or killed in an operation. We want to play a clip of that conversation because it's an extraordinary moment of diplomacy," Wallace said.
In the clip, Kerry appears to be sarcastically referring to the Israeli use of force as a "pinpoint operation."
"It's a hell of a pinpoint operation. It's a hell of a pinpoint operation," Kerry says to an aide named John. "We've got to get over there. Thank you John. I think John we ought to go tonight. I think it's crazy to be sitting around."
Kerry, asked to clarify his remarks by Wallace, said he was simply making a point about the difficulty Israel faces as it seeks to eliminate the Hamas tunnels and rocket attacks while minimizing civilian casualties.
"You have people who come out of tunnels. You have a right to go in and take out those tunnels. We completely support that and we support Israeli's right to defend itself against rockets that are continuing to come in. Hamas has started this process of rocketing after Israeli was trying to find the people who killed ... three young Israeli citizens. It's disgraceful. So yeah, it's tough. It's tough to have this kind of operation," he said.
View the exchange below.