(CNN) President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Defense Secretary, Ret. Gen. James Mattis, faced a series of rapid-fire questions at his confirmation hearing Thursday about the Middle East from Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a big player on military issues.

Graham put Mattis on the spot, asking what the capital of Israel is.

"The capital of Israel that I go to, sir, is Tel Aviv, sir, because that's where all their government people are," Mattis said.

Israel's military officials are primarily based in Tel Aviv, but the rest of the national government is located in Jerusalem.

Many Republicans have long pushed for the US to recognize the capital of Israel as Jerusalem, a move seen by past administrations on both sides as inflammatory to Palestinians and Arabs if done outside of a peace agreement. Trump has pledged to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem as president, and his nominee for ambassador to Israel is a vocal advocate of such a move.

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