Transcript
A (0:02)
This is a Global Player original podcast.
B (0:05)
Some people thought he was preparing to drop a nuke. I never believed that. But many smart people thought that that's what he was telegraphing.
A (0:12)
Prime Minister Netanyahu, who told President Trump that this was a chance to overthrow the regime. They were wrong.
B (0:19)
Pete Hegseth needs to check his language then, because he's been saying the shackles are off. Just pooh, poohing all the things that you rightly say. American forces are trained to respect and to foreign. And welcome to the bonus episode of the X Files. This is where we get to answer your questions. So let's get started. Jamie, I'm going to ask the first one because I think you're probably well positioned to answer it. Many believe, says Tony on email, that Trump was drawn into this war by Netanyahu. With Israel losing global support, especially among young people due to Gaza and Lebanon, what are the chances this backfires long term, harming the US Israel relationship and creating more problems for Israel?
A (1:08)
It's a very sophisticated question because it talks about the criticality of having bipartisan support in the United States for Israel, something that has existed for a very, very long time. In our earlier episode this week, Christian and I, Christiane and I talked a little bit about the war in Hamas that against Hamas that President Biden was largely supportive of. I find it hard to believe that a Democratic president in the future will be as support as someone like Joe Biden was in the Democratic Party. I think the Democratic Party has changed in its relationship to Israel, and that is not so much due to the Democrats as due to the leadership in Israel that has taken for granted the American bipartisan system and really only worked closely with Republicans. They've made it very clear going back to the Obama administration, Prime Minister Netanyahu has alienated Democratic presidents over and over again. And he's taken policies that now now pursued policies that now the Democratic Party as a party is not much less comfortable with. So this is going to now be an issue in the Democratic Party. What it happens in the Republican Party, I wouldn't expect to change that much.
B (2:22)
But listen, it's changing a bit, especially young people.
A (2:25)
For some young people who thought that, you know, that this was going to be an administration that wasn't going to get us bogged down in the Middle east, we should say, point out that we are as bogged down in the Middle east as we ever have been. Now we're talking about a naval blockade. That means our navy is going to be focused on the Strait of Hormuz rather than all the other shipping lanes and all the other threats we have in the world. But meanwhile, Israel, you know, this is a tougher call. Israel has benefited from the results of the post October 7th war. The Hamas leaders who launched October 7th made the biggest mistake extremists can make. They didn't predict the overreaction, arguably by, by the Israelis in certain cases inside Gaza, but the reaction that took place that yielded not only the Israelis back in Gaza, but the virtual destruction of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the attack on Iran, the end of the Syrian regime which was supporting them. So a cascade of dominoes was the result of October 7, and Israel has benefited from that. But Israelis don't necessarily feel it. Israelis don't necessarily feel that they've won this war because all that's really happened is the struggle that was going on largely behind the scenes through terrorism has now turned into a full scale war that they're dealing with every day. That hasn't yielded any obvious solution to the Iran problem other than weakening the Iranian regime. Remember the questioner asked about the causes of this war. There's no question that the Mossad leaders told Prime Minister Netanyahu who told President Trump that this was a chance to overthrow the regime. They were wrong. It was a misjudgment. That judgment may have been a factor for President Trump. I don't know. We'll find out someday when the history is written. But certainly it was part of the rationale. And so the U. S Israeli relationship is very strong right now. I think President Trump is in a position to dictate terms of this ceasefire and ensure that Prime Minister Netanyahu abides by it. If he chooses to use that power. President Trump now has that. It will be very hard for Netanyahu to disagree with him. But whether Israel benefits in the long term depends on what the Israel that people want is. The way for Israel to benefit in the long term would be to make a peace agreement with the Palestinians and get all these Arab countries to recognize Israel. And then they would have a safety and a security and a dream realized that their founders want wanted from the beginning. But you're not very, very close to that at all.
