Good afternoon , ladies and gentlemen .
Thank you very much for being here
today . It is my pleasure to introduce
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin the
third , the secretary will deliver
opening remarks and then has time to
take a few questions . Please note that
I will moderate those questions and
call on our journalists and due to our
schedule today , I would ask you to
please limit your follow ups and
appreciate your assistance with this uh
with that Mr Secretary over to you ,
sir . Thanks Frederick . Good afternoon ,
everyone . We've had a great few days
of discussion with my fellow Ministers
of Defense . But before I get to that ,
let me add a few words about the
terrible situation in Israel . We are
appalled by the emerging scope of the
atrocities committed by the terrorists
of Hamas . Our hearts are with all
those who whose loved ones were
murdered or wounded or taken hostage .
No country would live with the
wholesale killing and kidnapping of
innocent people including the very old
and the very young . Yesterday , I
mentioned the changes to our force
posture to reinforce deterrence in the
region . And I want to underscore that
message , nobody
should try to take advantage of this
vile Hamas assault to cause more
bloodshed or instability .
Our support for Israel is rock solid .
We're working urgently to get Israel
what it needs to defend itself ,
including munitions and iron , iron
dome interceptors , interceptors . And
we will do so even as we continue to
support the people of Ukraine as they
fight against Russian aggression , but
make no mistake , we can and will stand
by Israel . even as we stand by Ukraine ,
United States can walk and chew gum at
the same time . So let me turn to the
agenda of this defense ministerial ,
especially in challenging times . It's
great to be back at NATO . Let me
thank uh Secretary General Stoltenberg
for bringing up , bringing us all
together today and for all of his
leadership . Now , this was our first
meeting of defense ministers since the
Vilnius Summit in July . Our leaders
made historic decisions at Vilnius to
enhance nato's deterrence and defense .
And we also had the privilege of
welcoming Finland which joined a NATO
summit for the first time as an ally .
Let me urge all of our allies to
support the immediate accession
accession of Sweden , which is both a
proud democracy and a highly capable
defense partner . Villius was a
watershed for nato's collective
deterrence and defense . Our leaders
endorse nato's new new family of
regional defense plans and that will
significantly improve our ability to
deter and defend against any threat .
We also established a new multinational
and multi domain allied Reaction Force .
This new force will provide more
response options to threats and crises
across all domains . At Vilnius ,
our leaders also endorsed a new defense
investment pledge and that pledge
affirmed our shared commitment as
allies to spend at least 2% of GDP on
defense . Let me also
underscore the words of at least
2% . We urgently need to do
more to fulfill the commitments that
all of our leaders have made . And this
investment will help us strengthen our
defense , industrial bases and
standardize critical munitions and
improve NATO interoperability .
Nato's new defense production action
plan will guide this important work .
It will aggregate demand to meet our
capability targets and encourage
multinational co-operation and foster
more agile procurement
and enhance our transparency with
industry . Finally , at
Vilnius , we reaffirmed our enduring
commitment to a free and sovereign
Ukraine . We established the NATO
Ukraine Council . We agreed to develop
the comprehensive assistance package
into a multiyear program for critical
nonlethal aid . We expanded nato's
practical non lethal support for
Ukraine including medical supplies and
Mres . And that complements
bilateral security assistance that the
United States and other countries
around the world have provided to
Ukraine over the past 20 months . And I
should say again that the Ukrainian
forces continue to make steady progress
in their counter offensive . So today ,
we discuss the work that we've done
together since Vilnius to implement
these important decisions and that
included conversations on several key
issues including deterrence and defense
to support Ukraine and nato's ongoing
operations in the Western Balkans and
in Iraq . So it was a productive day
and I am tremendously proud of all the
progress that NATO has made . We've
still got a lot more to do , but we
will get it done together and we will
live up to the commitments that we have ,
we have made to ourselves and to each
other . Now , let me be clear ,
NATO is a defensive alliance and we
will not be drawn into Putin's illegal
war of choice , but we will stand up
for Ukraine's right to defend itself .
And we will continue to strengthen this
alliance for the challenges to come and
we will defend the sovereignty and
territory of every NATO ally ,
America's commitment to that mission is
ironclad and so is our commitment to
article five . And one last thing
we're especially proud that we'll be
hosting our allies next summer at the
Washington summit and we're excited to
come together to commemorate the 75th
anniversary of this great alliance . So
thanks again for being here and with
that , I'll be happy to take a couple
of questions . Thank you , Mr Secretary .
Uh First question , we'll go to Gordon
Newbold Wall Street Journal . I know
you like multipart questions . I'm
gonna make two different questions real
quick . Um The first one is the crisis
in Gaza has amounted to a moment of
emotion for the Israelis and for the
world . Um uh Prime Minister Netanyahu
referring to uh Hamas militants as dead
men walking your own people referring
to an isis moment into this emotion and
in this conflict , uh the US is pouring
munitions weaponry and other things .
I'm wondering what assurances or what
conditions even have you asked for
from the Israelis to make sure that
some of this weaponry , it's American
weaponry is used discriminately and not
indiscriminately and potentially
killing civilian innocent civilians in
Gaza . And then the second question is
just , um , is ISR coverage part of the
package of offerings . And I guess a
third one . Have you seen , have you
seen any amassing of any Hezbollah
forces along the border ? Thank you .
Any massing of Hezbollah forces . Yeah .
Um uh in terms of thanks Gordon for the
questions , but uh even though there
were like six of them , but uh in , in
terms of uh conditions that we would
place on the um security assistance
that we're providing to uh Israel ,
we've not placed any conditions on uh
on the provision of this equipment .
This is a professional military , uh
led by professional leadership and we
would hope and expect that they would
do the right things in the prosecution
of their , of their campaign and , and
we'll uh we will make sure that we will
leave it to them to define what their
operations are going to look like . Uh
But again , we have no reason to
believe that uh they would do anything
different um in terms of um
our provision , our assistance and uh
intel intelligence assistance to
Ukraine uh to excuse me , to Israel .
Um We will
support them in any way that we can and
certainly intelligence is a part of
that and I won't get into the specifics
of what that means . ISR other types of
collection we've worked with the uh
Israelis uh you know , over many , many
years and uh those sharing uh
mechanisms are there , those channels
are there to , to share information .
Uh And we will look to continue to do
that . So , um so I think I
got Hezbollah . OK .
Uh We've not seen any massing of forces
along the border . Uh And uh and again ,
this is something that uh you know ,
the Israelis are , are focused on . We
are also looking for additional things
that , that , that could widen the
conflict here and hopefully we won't
see those things , but uh we've not
seen that to this point . So thank you
very much . Uh Our next question ,
we'll go to Thomas Guha Frankfurt Gale .
It , I
thanks a lot , Zeitung , Mister
Secretary . I also asked a couple of
questions also related to Israel . The
first one would be , have there been
other allies besides the US and Germany
that today pledged military support to
Israel . And uh when it comes to this
support in your assessment , what would
be or could be the further needs of
Israel if this conflict continues . Um
And a third question , somewhat related
to what my colleague asked , Secretary
General Stoltenberg told us after the
meeting or he made an announcement
after the meeting that allies have made
clear , Israel has a right to defend
itself . But with proportionality ,
could you please explain if you share
this , this this
statement with proportionality and what
it actually entails in a situation like
this ? Thank you . Yeah . So
um as we um we briefed
by Minister Gallant earlier today , uh
what we heard from allies in the room
was uh unity among
all of the allies uh in terms of strong
support for Israel and unity in
condemning the horrible actions of
Hamas . Um
what the United States is doing . Uh
You've heard us talk about a number of
times and that is we are , we're moving
rapidly to provide uh Israel uh what uh
what it needs to continue to protect
its citizens and to protect its uh its
territory . And uh you've already seen
the evidence of , of that happening and
uh that will continue and we'll stay
engaged with uh with the Israeli
leadership and make sure that uh you
know , we're tracking along with uh
with their needs as those needs change .
And as is the case with any fight uh or ,
or any uh operation uh needs will
change as uh as , as uh you know ,
things evolve there . So we anticipate
that , you know , I've talked to
Minister Gallant , uh just about every
day since , uh since this began , we
had a great relationship uh leading
into this . Uh And that made it very
easy for us to uh to connect and , uh ,
and exchange information in , uh in ,
in Frank and open ways . Uh So , uh
we're gonna continue to do what , what ,
what's needed to uh uh to uh support
them and we're going to do it as
rapidly as possible in terms of needs
for Israel going forward again . I go
back to what I just said , this , this
will evolve and , and those needs will
emerge and we'll let uh Minister Galant
and the uh and , and the Israeli
leadership define what those
requirements are . We'll try to
anticipate as best we can . Uh And ,
and I am sure that uh countries on a
bilateral basis will engage uh Minister
Gallant and uh and work with them and
if they can provide uh assistance or
resources and they , they will , they
will do that . I would , I would agree
with the Secretary General in that
the Israelis have a right to protect
their people . And uh and we would , we
would expect that they were gonna
remain focused on it . So , and I won't
try to define proportionality for you .
So thank you very much . Our next
question will go to Will Dunlop agency
F press , I'll give you two
questions . Um Secretary Austin first ,
did the United States have any advanced
warning or other indication that Hamas
would attack Israel . And second ,
there have been contradictory reports
about Iran's potential role . What's
the latest US assessment on Tehran's
involvement in or knowledge of the
Hamas attack ? Thank you . Give me a
second piece again . Um , there have
been contradictory reports about Iran's
potential role in the attacks . Uh If
any , um , what is the latest US
assessment on Tehran's involvement in
or knowledge of the attack ?
We'll take the second part first . And
I think you heard us say yesterday ,
well , that we've not seen any
indication that Iran was involved in
the planning or the execution of this
attack . We've not seen any , any of
those indications yet and this is
something that we remain focused on .
Uh And uh and of course , um you know ,
what we know at this point is that
there are no indications that that was
the case , but again , we will remain
focused on this . Um We also know that
Iran has a long track record of
supporting Hamas . And so there's a ,
there's a relationship there that
extends over the years , but , but in
terms of their active
participation in the planning and the
execution of this attack , we've not
seen any indications of that yet . So
um in terms of uh
early warning or our or our uh uh indic
indications and warning that we may
have had to uh that this was going to
occur , of course , will , if we , if
we had those indications , we would
share them with our , with uh with
Israel . Uh but uh to my knowledge , we
did not see that . So we'll go
to Stuart Lau Politico Eu
from Political Mr Secretary , a couple
of questions first regarding the
disruption of the undersea cables
between Finland and Estonia . Is there
any indication that Russia may be
behind this ? And what possible action
should NASO consider if state actors
are behind it ? And the second question
about military commitment to Europe ,
is there any indication that future
delivery of iron dome to Israel might
come at a cost of existing security
commitments to Europe , especially
Poland ? Thank you .
Um First , I am certainly aware of the
reports of the um
attacks on the um the
infrastructure undersea infrastructure
there . And uh and I have been in touch
with uh my colleagues uh in Finland and ,
and uh Estonia , they are investigating
this and so because they are
investigating this , I won't speculate
on who may have been involved . I think
we have the , the right thing to do is
to wait for the results of the
investigation . I will tell you that uh
uh uh we have offered our help to
Finland , anything that they need to uh
to conduct this investigation . Uh We ,
we stand ready to provide um in terms
of iron . Do you know what's being
provided to Israel and will that
disadvantage uh other countries in
Europe ? I certainly don't think so . I
think Uh again , um for our focus is to
make sure that we get Israel what it
needs in order to protect itself and
protect its uh its uh sovereign
territory . So , um and I won't
speculate on , you know , one way or
the other on uh you know , but , but I
will tell you that Poland is , uh you
know , has a lot of capability and as
you , as you may know , I am in contact
with my Polish counterpart uh on a
routine basis . Uh And , and they have
played a key role in providing uh
security assistance uh to , to Ukraine .
So um uh I think uh again , my
focus is gonna continue to be uh to
support Ukraine and to provide support
to Israel as rapidly and as effectively
as we can . And so I'll leave it at
that ladies and gentlemen , that is all
the time we have for today . This
concludes the press conference . Thank
you very much for coming . I'll get
that . Yeah , you go .