Roughly one week before Israeli soldiers killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was meeting with leaders in the Middle East. His conversations — with officials from Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — gave him hope for a future of stability in the region, he said. Both the war between Israel and Gaza and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion were central themes of Blumenthal’s appearance at the University of Connecticut’s Stamford campus for The Connecticut Mirror’s “In the Room” event series. In his interview with CT Mirror Events Host John Dankosky, the senator opined on a path forward. “Sinwar’s death offers us both justice and hope. Justice, for the victims and loved ones, including Americans, whose torture and killing Sinwar masterminded. He is the architect of the Oct. 7 — how to characterize it in a word — savage atrocity,” Blumenthal said. “And it also offers hope that there is a path toward cessation of fighting, return of the hostages, a path toward normalization of relations, as well as humanitarian aid. There has to be more of it.” At the event, Blumenthal reiterated his belief that Israel has the right to defend itself and said that, in the wake of Sinwar’s death, Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, has “a potential for a historic legacy” if he can broker peace. But, Dankosky said, many people would argue that Netanyahu’s legacy includes the deaths of over 42,000 Palestinians who have been killed since Israel began its attacks on Gaza. Do you think, he asked Blumenthal, that Israel’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack was the correct one? “If you’re asking me, should every one of those 2,000-pound bombs have been used in every single instance they were used? Probably not,” Blumenthal said. “There’s no question, over a year’s worth of time, there were mistakes — inadvertent, maybe ‘innocent,’ in quotes, mistakes. But I’m not here to try to second-guess every single decision that was made. Israel had to defend itself. It has a right and responsibility to defend itself.” Questions surrounding the Israel-Gaza conflict, and the United States’ involvement in it, have come up frequently throughout CT Mirror’s “In the Room” event series.  State Treasurer Erick Russell was asked about calls for Connecticut to divest from Israel during his appearance in June, and in March, Sen. Chris Murphy’s answers were periodically interrupted by audience members, who at one point pressed him to call the humanitarian crisis in Gaza a genocide. Around Connecticut Blumenthal’s “In the Room” appearance was just one of several events he attended on Thursday. The senator arrived at the UConn Stamford campus “from Bridgeport, via Cheshire, via Hartford,” he said, spending the day at various events. Among them was a press conference in which he blasted Medicare Advantage providers for denying coverage for certain services through prior authorizations. Blumenthal is aware of his long-running reputation for making an appearance at seemingly every ribbon-cutting, press conference or fundraiser, and views it as “a badge of honor” — not, as he said a previous opponent once argued, an insult. “I sometimes think about whether I want to do that last event, and then I realize, ‘That last event is really gonna be fun. And it will mean something to someone,’” Blumenthal said. “And, you know, people come up to me and they say, ‘I’m so glad to see you again. You came to this event or that one.’ But it also is fun to do.” His inclination to interface with the public as much as possible goes back decades, to when he was campaigning in a special election to represent Stamford in the state House of Representatives. He knocked on “close to every door in the district,” he said, even during a snowstorm. Then, when he was standing at the polls on Election Day for that special election, people recognized him and would come up to say hello. The experience, Blumenthal said, taught him the value of talking to his constituents and learning about their lives. “I still believe the job is to be there, as often, everywhere that I can be where I’m invited — a lot of times, when I’m not invited,” he said to laughs. Blumenthal’s future At 78 years old, Blumenthal is above the average age of a U.S. senator, and only three years younger than President Joe Biden, whose decision not to run for reelection was largely due to concerns about his age. But when asked whether his current term — which lasts through early 2029 — will be his last, Blumenthal said “not necessarily,” saying he loves the job and is planning to run again. If reelected, he would begin his fourth term at 82 years old. Counter to arguments that some politicians hold their seats for too long, Blumenthal said many public officials become more effective over time. He said that’s especially true in the U.S. Senate, where “seniority really counts.” But, Dankosky asked, is 78 years old too old to be doing the job of a U.S. Senator? “No,” Blumenthal said.