Ted Cruz (4:32)

Well, this war, this active and hot war between Israel and Hezbollah has been waging for 14 months now. And it happened on October 7th a year ago when Hamas attacked Israel, murdered over 1200 Israelis and in the greatest mass murder of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. Immediately after that, Hezbollah. So Gaza Hamas attacks southern Israel. Gaza is in the southern part of Israel. Lebanon is to the north. And Hamas and Hezbollah are two separate terrorist groups, but they're both proxies of the nation of Iran. They're both funded by Iran. Both Hamas and Hezbollah receive over 90% of their funds from Iran. And so once hamas carried out October 7th in southern Israel, Hezbollah responded by launching thousands and thousands of missiles into northern Israel. And as a consequence, northern Israel has evacuated. Tens of thousands of Israeli citizens have evacuated from northern Israel, have been evacuated for many, many months, unable to go to their homes because Hezbollah has been raining rockets onto them. And so Israel responded with overwhelming force, taking out Hezbollah's leadership, taking out many, many of their terrorists, devastating their infrastructure. And today they announced a cease fire. Now, Joe Biden announced the ceasefire from, from the Rose Garden. And Biden said, let me quote, quote, let's be clear, Israel did not launch this war. The Lebanese people did not seek that war either, nor did the United States. Security for the people of Israel and Lebanon cannot be achieved only on the battlefield. And that's why I directed my team to work with the governments of Israel and Lebanon to forge a ceasefire to bring a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to a close. Now, I gotta say that's an infuriating statement. We're gonna play more of it in just a second. But it's an infuriating statement because it continues the Biden administration's practice of drawing an equivalence between, gosh, you know, Hezbollah is in the wrong, Israel's in the wrong, they're just all in the wrong, and wise old me is going to tell them to put down their arms. Let's be clear, it wasn't Israel that invaded Gaza. It was Hamas that invaded southern Israel and murdered 1200 civilians, raped women and little girls. Let's be clear, it wasn't Israel that invaded Lebanon. Rather, it was Hamas, Hezbollah that launched thousands and thousands of rockets murdering civilians into northern Israel. In terms of who launched this war, it was not Israel. And well, okay, look, you've heard me say that. Listen to Joe Biden talking in the Rose Garden.

Joe Biden (7:20)

Getting all this done will require making some hard choices. Israel has been told has been bold on the battlefield. Iran and its proxies have paid a very heavy price. Now, Israel must be bold and turning tactical gains against Iran and its proxies into a coherent strategy that secures Israel's long term, its long term safety and advances of broader peace and prosperity in the region. Today's announcement is a critical step in advancing that vision. And so I applaud the crazy decision made by the leaders of Lebanon and Israel to end the violence. It reminds us that peace is possible. Say that again. Peace is possible. As long as that is the case, I will not for a single moment stop working to achieve it. God bless you all. Sorry to keep you waiting so long. May God protect our troops. Thank you.

Ben Ferguson (8:13)

I mean, Iran and its proxies have paid a very heavy price. So therefore stop killing terrorists. That's a weird doctrine coming from the President. United States of America. Am I wrong?

Ted Cruz (8:24)

You're not wrong. And let's start with the utter incoherence. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and every Democrat in the Senate and the House together work together to send over $100 billion to Iran to the Ayatollah Khamenei. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and Congressional Democrats have been the greatest friend Hezbollah and Hamas have ever had. Why is that? Because they flooded $100 billion into Iran and Iran put much of that money into Hamas, into Hezbollah, funding their terror war against Israel. And Joe Biden doesn't put any of the fault at the feet of the terrorists. Instead, he lectures Israel. And look, I gotta say today, in response to this deal, I put out a lengthy statement and I just want to. I want to share my statement with you because there's quite a bit of substance in it and I want to read it and then we'll talk about what it means. Here's the statement I put out today. Our Israeli allies have accomplished enormous military successes over the last year against the Iranian controlled terrorist group Hezbollah, killing thousands of Hezbollah terrorists, eliminating Hezbollah's entire command and dismantling its infrastructure across Lebanon. These actions have directly contributed to vital American national security interest, including directly by liquidating terrorist leaders who had the blood of hundreds of Americans on their hands. Indeed, the US Israel relationship is at the core of US interest in the Middle east. And American policy should be to provide unequivocal military and diplomatic support to our Israeli allies to fully ensure their security. However, the Biden administration has spent the last four years pathologically obsessed with undermining Israel and boosting Iran, including by coercing our Israeli allies to cede maritime territory to Hezbollah. They are now using the transition period to the Trump administration and a Republican Congress to try to lock in these efforts and to constrain the incoming administration by establishing what they believe to be irreversible diplomatic, legal and military policies. However, these and similar international policies are not irreversible. This month I led a letter co signed by 10 other senators saying that the US will fundamentally reevaluate our relationship with the United nations and the Palestinians if Palestinian President Abbas fulfills the pledge he made to secure Israel's expulsion from the UN General Assembly. Last week, I joined my colleagues in vowing to act against the International Criminal Court for undermining American and Israeli interests by issuing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders and said everyone involved in the decision should face American sanctions. I am deeply disturbed both by reports that Obama Biden officials exerted enormous pressure on our Israeli allies to accept this cease fire and by how those officials are characterizing Israel's obligations. This pressure and these statements are further efforts to undermine Israel and constrain the incoming Trump administration. Obama Biden officials pressured our Israeli allies into accepting the cease fire by withholding weapons they needed to defend themselves and counter Hezbollah and by threatening to facilitate a further broader binding international arms embargo through the United Nations. Obama Biden officials are already trying to use Israel's acceptance of this ceasefire to ensure that Hezbollah and other Iranian terrorist groups remain intact across Lebanon and to limit Israel's future freedom of action and self defense. Administration officials, including Secretary of State Blinken today even downplayed Israel's right under the ceasefire to strike terrorist groups in Lebanon when those groups pose imminent threats. These constraints have been rejected by our Israeli allies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that under the ceasefire, Israel retains full freedom of action to counter Hezbollah. If the group attacks Israel or tried to rebuild its terrorist infrastructure, the United States should allow and assist Israel in doing so. And I am committed to working closely with the Trump administration and my colleagues in the incoming Congress to ensure that they are able to do so.

Ben Ferguson (13:06)

You look at that statement and it is so 180 from the policy that we're hearing from this administration, their ideology. They're saying it now publicly, which is, well, we don't like it when you guys kill too many terrorists. What's the right number? I mean that's, that's a real question. I think you have to ask about all of them. Right? But they're saying basically, and I go back, not basically, let's go back to the exact quote from Joe Biden. Iran and its proxies have paid a very heavy price. He's saying to Israel, all right guys, you killed enough of them, I think so let the rest of them live. How is that possible for Israel to survive? Senator, if this is the mentality that, that a large part of the American government believes is, is what success or failure looks like.

Ted Cruz (13:55)

And understand when Biden says Iran has paid a heavy price today, literally while he's saying that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are refusing to enforce the oil sanctions and so they're flowing billions of dollars to Iran right now, that is going to end on January 20 one of the most significant things the incoming Trump administration is going to do is immediately and vigorously enforce the oil sanctions which will bring crushing economic pressure to Iran. But anyone who thinks that Iran, you know, Kamala Harris said in the 60 Minutes interview that the greatest national security threat was to Iran, to America, was from Iran. And of course 60 Minutes, because they, they were sycophants for the administration, didn't ask the obvious question where if they're greatest national security threat, why are you giving them $100 billion? I don't understand general. People don't generally pay to arm the people who want to murder them. That she was never forced to answer. But even today Joe Biden and the Democrats continue to fund Iran. That will change on January 20th. And understand, look on one level, the Wall Street Journal had an op ed today saying what a tremendous victory this was for Israel because Hezbollah is incredibly weakened. And that is unquestionably true. And it is up to Israel to make a decision whether or not to enter this ceasefire. They made the decision to do so. But understand a big, big part of the reason Israel made this decision is because the Biden administration put enormous pressure on Israel by cutting off weapons and threatening to cut off more weapons. And in fact, at a press conference, here's what Prime Minister Netanyahu said were the reasons to support the deal. He laid out three reasons. Number one, to focus on the Iranian threat, number two, to provide an opportunity to refresh the Israeli forces and number three, to separate Hamas from the northern front. Now understand, number two is basically saying, well the Americans have cut off our weapons and so we've got to do this cease fire so we can focus on Hamas. That is the result of, of this White House and Democrats undermining Israel.

Ben Ferguson (16:09)

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Ted Cruz (18:30)

Joining us now, Israeli government spokesman in the office of the Prime Minister David Mentzer. Really good to have you. Thank you for being with us.

Ben Ferguson (18:37)

Is this a permanent deal or a temporary deal?

David Mentzer (18:39)

Look, the length of the ceasefire depends on what happens inside Lebanon. We will certainly, from Israel's point of view, adhere to the agreement. But we will also insist on the agreement being enforced. We will respond forcefully to any violations. So with the US's understanding, we will maintain the full freedom of military action. Yes, of course we want our people to go home to their homes in sovereign Israeli territory. But if Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild its terrorist infrastructure infrastructure near the border, we will attack. And the Prime Minister has made crystal clear, if it launches rockets, if it digs tunnels, if it brings in truckloads of rockets, we will attack. We all want peace in this region, no one more than Israel. But we will respond forcibly, forcibly to any violation of this agreement.

Ted Cruz (19:39)

Does that go for the other side as well? If Israel comes back and rearms itself and resets for a possible future escalation. Possible future escalation in Lebanon, Is that a violation of the agreement?

Ben Ferguson (19:51)

I just got to stop and get your reaction that it's amazing how the media here is acting like Israel is a terrorist organization. They should be held to the same standards as a terrorist organization. Like, well, hold on a second. If you're going to hold terrorist standards, Israel, are you guys going to not, you know, arm yourself? Again, Israel is doing this in a defensive manner because they've been attacked from all sides, and yet NBC is asking a question like they're a terrorist group.

Ted Cruz (20:18)

That may be the most astonishing question I've ever heard a reporter say in my life. I want you to play that. Play just the final question again. I want you to hear it because this is staggering. This is. Do you have the name of this reporter?

Ben Ferguson (20:32)

Yeah, this is on Katie. Tour Show NBC/MSNBC. And again, here's that question, as she acts like Israel is a terrorist organization.

Ted Cruz (20:43)

Does that go for the other side as well? If Israel comes back and rearms itself and resets for a possible future escalation, possible future escalation in Lebanon, is that a violation of the agreement?

Ben Ferguson (20:56)

I mean, people wonder why the media, no one has any faith in them anymore.

Ted Cruz (21:02)

And understand. Katie Tur was a star reporter for NBC. She was embedded with the Trump campaign in 2016. She now has her own show on MSNBC. And what an absurd question. Is the agreement violated if Israel rearms itself? Katie, Israel is a sovereign nation. Israel is entitled to defend itself. There's nothing in this agreement. I mean, listen to the idiocy of. Well, doesn't this agreement say that Israel cannot have an army, can't defend itself, has to be utterly defenseless? Why? Well, they committed the horrible crime of existing when Hamas came in and murdered 1200 innocent civilians. Like, there is a reason that we did an episode early on, after October 7th. It's actually one of my favorite episodes entitled CNN is Hamas's Air Force. So is MSNBC. So is ABC. By the way, you want to go back? And that's one of the episodes we put on YouTube. It's a video episode and you can watch it because we play about a dozen different clips where the corporate media is the PR arm of Hamas. Well, there is MSNBC being the PR arm of Hezbollah, saying, well, wouldn't it violate it if Israel rearms itself? No, Israel has a right to defend itself and to keep the people of Israel safe. And they are not the equivalent, as apparently MSNBC seems to think of the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah that target and murder civilians.

Ben Ferguson (22:34)

I wish, by the way, I could say that this was the worst for Katie in this interview. Listen to the response from the Israeli government spokesman and then the follow up to this about why the timing has happened now for this deal to be done. And that's where Israel basically kind of says like, yeah, it's, it's the Biden administration's fault because they didn't give us what we need to defend ourselves. Listen, of course not, Katie.

David Mentzer (22:57)

Israel is a sovereign country, not a terrorist organization. We're talking about Hezbollah, a terrorist organization in my country, but also, last time I checked, in your country too, Katie. They're a terrorist organization. They're our enemy. But make no mistake, they're your enemy in the States as well. So we, of course in Israel will defend ourselves. That's our rights, like any other country in the world, to defend ourselves. But if this terrorist organization begins to prepare another attack against us, we will defend ourselves. Israel reserves that right.

Ted Cruz (23:30)

Is this contingent upon the U.S. unfreezing weapons shipments, specifically those one ton bombs that, that Israel had been using so effectively?

David Mentzer (23:40)

Well, look, the Prime Minister made clear just before, a couple of hours ago, that the reasons why this has happened now are three reasons. It's because we want to focus now on the Iranian threat. The Prime Minister didn't want to expand on that, but we know that Iran is preparing to create a nuclear weapon. We cannot let that happen. We will always make that our number one priority. Because Iran say they wish to wipe this country off the face of the earth. Katie, when they say it, we believe it. And the second reason, of course, is to, yes, give our forces a breather and to replenish our stocks. And there have been big delays. The Prime Minister made that clear, that, yes, the US is our closest ally in the world. There are no to closer countries anywhere in the world. That there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. The Prime Minister made that clear. And these delays, we hope, will be resolved very, very soon. But really, the third reason for this ceasefire now is to separate, as the Prime Minister said, the fronts and isolate Hamas from day two of this war. Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. That was a massive miscalculation. With Hezbollah now out of the picture, Hama on its own. And Israel can increase our pressure on Hamas, get our hostages home, which is our sacred mission. It's our number one priority.

Ben Ferguson (25:05)

I mean, you hear it there. They're still like, hey, you guys let us hang out to dry. The Biden administration did this on purpose. We need this. We got to wait for Trump to.

Ted Cruz (25:14)

Come in well, and that's why this ceasefire happened now, as the Biden White House put enormous pressure on Israel to accept this deal. Israel did. And it is rational for Israel to make the decision focusing on Hamas, cutting Hamas off from Hezbollah. That is a major strategic step forward. And so I understand why the deal was attractive. But the deal is also, this White House is A, it was prompted by this White House for extended periods of time, cutting off weapons to Israel. But B, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the Democrats are trying to tie Israel's hands and they're trying to do it before the Trump administration comes into office. And so what I'm trying to make clear is nothing in this deal ties Israel's hands to protect itself, to defeat and kill terrorists. Understand? Literally on the day of October 7, the Biden administration was saying publicly, do not retaliate militarily. They have been saying every day since October 7th happened, stop killing terrorists and Israel, to its credit. And I gotta say that the prime minister spokesman there, I think, did a fantastic job of articulating that Israel is going to defend itself, whether or not Democrats in Washington are willing to support it.

Ben Ferguson (26:28)

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Ted Cruz (29:06)

You've mentioned that a couple of times now. Would you be willing to participate in those? As the mayor of Denver, would you be willing to go out and protest these things?

Denver Mayor (29:13)

I would if I believe that our residents are having their rights violated. If I think things are happening that are illegal or immoral or un American in our city, I would certainly protest it. And I would expect other residents would do the same. Trump's new border czar, Tom Homan, has.

Ted Cruz (29:27)

Said that he is willing to arrest leaders like yourself for standing in the way of these policies that they want to enact. Would you be willing to go to jail for these things?

Denver Mayor (29:39)

Yeah, I'm not afraid of that. And I'm also not seeking that. I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people how to solve hard problems. Republican and Democratic presidents in the past have all tried to find solutions to these problems. President Reagan helped people get access to work so they could stay and support themselves. Biden and Harris worked on restricting entry at the border to close down. There are a lot of ways to approach this problem. We don't think it has to Come to this. But yeah, I think when you look at, you know, Ralph Carr has always been one of my heroes. He was the governor who in the middle of the internment of Japanese Americans, said this was the wrong thing to do and he stood up. It was unpopular. People were mad at him about it. That was the middle of wartime. If the president or any of his actors are going to do things that we think are illegal or immoral or un American, we'll stand up against those.

Ben Ferguson (30:20)

Now, Senator, what did you call him again? Just for people that may have missed it the other day.

Ted Cruz (30:24)

A modern day Bull Connor. Bull Connor was yet another elected Democrat who hated federal law, in this case hated federal civil rights law, who stood up and defied federal civil and said we're going to continue to discriminate, we're going to continue to be prejudiced. Well, in this instance, you have the mayor of Denver saying he's going to continue to favor illegal aliens, to defy federal immigration laws. He's going to continue to endanger the families of Denver. If you actually care about your children in Denver, well, the mayor's telling you you're not his priority. His priority is protecting the Venezuelan gang members and the murderers and rapists who have been released into his community. That he's working for them and not for you. And the absolute smug arrogance and condescension by the way he analogizes himself to people standing up to Japanese internment camps. There's of course, a rich irony to that because the Japanese internment camps were opened by fdr, the hero of the Democrats. It's the Democrat Party that is over and over and over again. You go back to the 1860s, it was the Democrat Party that founded the Ku Klux Klan. It was the Democrat Party that wrote the Jim Crow laws. It was the Democrat Party that created the Japanese internment camps. And, and, and it was the Democrat Party that were the party of Bull Connor and, and, and the Dixiecrats who stood up and fought against civil rights. And, and I gotta say, the mayor of, of Denver is continuing a proud tradition. Well, in response to his boast, Tom Homan went on, on Hammett Hannity and, and actually responded and said, well, okay, you, you, you've offered to be arrested. Well, well, take a, take, take a listen to what Tom Homan had to say in response.

Ben Ferguson (32:01)

Tom, you heard this mayor out there in Colorado. I want to get your reaction to it and I want you to be clear about who has jurisdiction, the federal government or state and local governments. And if you're a sanctuary state or city Are you breaking the law?

Joe Biden (32:18)

You're absolutely breaking the law. All you have to do is look at Arizona versus us. You'll see that he's breaking the law. Well, look, me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing. He's willing to go to jail. I'm willing to put him in jail. Because there's a statute. It's Title VIII, United States Code 1324 III. And what it says is it's a felony if you knowingly harbor and conceal illegal alien from immigration authorities. It's also a felony to impede a federal law enforcement officer. So if we don't want to help, that's fine. He can get the hell out of the way. But we're going to go do the job. President Trump has a mandate for American people. We got to secure this country. We've got to save American lives. And I find it shocking, any mayor of a city would say, President Trump's been clear. We want to concentrate on public safety threats and national security threats. I find it hard to believe that any mayor or governor would say they don't want public safety threats removed from their neighborhoods. I mean, I mean, I don't know what the hell is going on in Denver, but we're going golden. We're going to fix it. If you don't want to fix it, if you don't want to protect his communities, President Trump and ICE will.

Ben Ferguson (33:15)

I love just how matter of fact. And I feel like there's a big change coming and they're not going to screw around with these mayors and let them continue to defy the law. I think this is a smart move to say it early on. This is the line. You either abide by the law or you don't. And there will be consequences.

Ted Cruz (33:31)

Well, look, that is exactly right, that you don't have a right to defy federal law. You don't have a right to obstruct federal agents carrying out federal law. And by the way, to be clear, this Democrat mayor is bluffing. He's talking tough. I think his words are empty. And in just a couple of months, we're going to see, we're gonna see proof of that.

Ben Ferguson (33:55)

No doubt about it. Don't forget, we do the show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Hit that subscribe auto download button. Also, if you will help us grow by writing us a five star review and making sure you share this on social media, it makes a massive difference. To reach people that have not listened to the show, we try to give you great information every single time we sit down to do this, so if you will share it on social media, it is a tremendous help to reaching new, changing hearts and minds. If you'll do that, we would greatly appreciate as well. Also, on those in between days, grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast. I'll keep you up to date on the big breaking news and the senator and I will see you back here in a couple of days.