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[00:00:00] Well folks, a lot of news breaking
[00:00:02] tonight. A historic night. Israel about
[00:00:03] two hours ago began striking targets in
[00:00:06] Iran. This is a long time coming. Iran
[00:00:08] has been on the verge of a nuclear
[00:00:10] weapon for a very long time. The Wall
[00:00:11] Street Journal reported a little bit
[00:00:13] earlier this week that Iran was already
[00:00:15] on the verge of developing nuclear
[00:00:17] weapons. That they had developed
[00:00:18] multiple bombs worth of nuclear fistal
[00:00:22] material up to about 60% highlyenriched
[00:00:25] uranium principally at its Ford site.
[00:00:27] The IAEA, the International Atomic
[00:00:29] Energy Agency, which of course is no
[00:00:31] ally to, for example, Israel, has stated
[00:00:33] that Iran has been violating all of its
[00:00:36] nuclear obligations under all of its
[00:00:38] agreements with the IAEA under the
[00:00:40] original agreement with Barack Obama
[00:00:41] that Donald Trump pulled out of that
[00:00:44] IAEA report was green lit by all of
[00:00:46] Europe. The intelligence has suggested
[00:00:48] for a very long time that Iran was
[00:00:50] developing nuclear weapons and Iran
[00:00:51] itself says that they are developing
[00:00:53] nuclear capacity such that at any time
[00:00:56] they could have come to a deal with
[00:00:57] President Trump. At literally any time
[00:00:59] they could have said we are going to go
[00:01:01] weapons down with regard to our nuclear
[00:01:03] regime in order to reenter the world
[00:01:05] economy and be treated the same way as
[00:01:07] Saudi Arabia or UAE or Bahrain or even
[00:01:10] Qatar wouldn't have been difficult. But
[00:01:12] Iran felt that they had to have a
[00:01:13] nuclear weapon because of course they
[00:01:15] want to be a regionally dominant player.
[00:01:17] And the nuclear weapon was designed for
[00:01:19] one of two purposes. Either for the
[00:01:20] extermination of the state of Israel,
[00:01:22] their long stated goal, or to act as a
[00:01:25] sort of deterrent to anyone taking
[00:01:28] activities that they did not like,
[00:01:29] whether that be Saudi Arabia, whether
[00:01:31] that would be Israel. The goal would be
[00:01:33] to activate terrorist groups all over
[00:01:34] the region, fund those terrorist groups.
[00:01:36] Iran has been developing long range
[00:01:38] ballistic missiles at a rapid clip. They
[00:01:40] tested a ballistic missile just this
[00:01:42] week that carried a very heavy payload.
[00:01:45] Their goal was to develop a wide variety
[00:01:47] of new ballistic missiles that
[00:01:49] eventually when they actually had a
[00:01:51] nuclear device, they could attach a
[00:01:53] nuclear device to and then possibly use
[00:01:55] it or at least threaten to use it. It
[00:01:57] would have changed the entire
[00:01:58] geopolitics of the Middle East in a
[00:01:59] major way. And so tonight, about two
[00:02:01] hours ago, it is now breaking dawn over
[00:02:04] in Iran. Iran is at this point, I
[00:02:07] believe, eight hours ahead. The time in
[00:02:09] Tehran right now is currently 5:21 a.m.
[00:02:15] It the dawn is breaking. The Israeli
[00:02:16] strikes continue. Israel began by
[00:02:18] striking a number of sites including in
[00:02:20] Tehran. They're targeting military
[00:02:23] assets, military leaders, nuclear
[00:02:26] scientists, the people responsible for
[00:02:27] the Iranian nuclear program. And Israel
[00:02:29] is saying Iran has been threatening
[00:02:31] nuclear activity for a very, very long
[00:02:33] time and threatening to exterminate
[00:02:34] Israel continuously for decades. Iran,
[00:02:38] of course, has spread its terror
[00:02:39] tentacles all over the world. They
[00:02:40] attempted to kill President Trump when
[00:02:42] he was a candidate. Iran has made very
[00:02:44] clear over the course of the past week
[00:02:45] they're not giving up their nuclear
[00:02:46] program come hell or high water. They
[00:02:49] kept slapping the United States in the
[00:02:50] face over and over with regard to the
[00:02:52] negotiations. We'll get to the United
[00:02:54] States's role in all of this because, of
[00:02:56] course, there were expectations that
[00:02:57] Steve Witoff, the special envoy, was
[00:02:59] going to try to push forward some sort
[00:03:02] of nuclear proposal on Sunday. All of
[00:03:05] that coming at the tail end of what
[00:03:07] appeared to be very quickly cooling
[00:03:08] relations between the United States and
[00:03:10] Tyran. Was that a ruse? Was that a
[00:03:12] bluff? Was that part of a broader
[00:03:13] negotiating strategy? We'll get to that
[00:03:15] in a moment. First, I just want to bring
[00:03:16] you what exactly is going on. And
[00:03:18] throughout the night, we're going to be
[00:03:19] having on guests from the ground in
[00:03:21] Israel, including high-ranking
[00:03:22] government officials. We're going to
[00:03:24] bring you all the intelligence that we
[00:03:25] have, all the information we have as we
[00:03:26] cover what is going down because it's
[00:03:28] all happening in real time.
[00:03:30] First off, just so you know the
[00:03:32] geography here is a map of Iran. This be
[00:03:35] clip seven. This map of Iran shows where
[00:03:38] their key sites are. You can see their
[00:03:41] nuclear sites on this map. You can see
[00:03:44] where they are building weapon
[00:03:46] weaponization facilities on this map.
[00:03:50] Teahran,
[00:03:51] Fortal, Natans, those were the main
[00:03:54] targets of the Israelis on night one.
[00:03:57] Here are some video of the Tehran
[00:03:59] skyline as the bombings were occurring.
[00:04:02] So, Israel did attack again within Thran
[00:04:04] because there are in many of these
[00:04:06] Islamic Republic capitals. This is true
[00:04:08] in Lebanon as well, areas that are
[00:04:11] basically occupied by senior government
[00:04:13] officials. Israel has excellent
[00:04:15] intelligence viewership into Thran.
[00:04:18] There are reports that MSAD agents on
[00:04:20] the ground in Iran were also
[00:04:22] participating in operations
[00:04:23] simultaneously.
[00:04:26] You can see that's kinetic activity in
[00:04:27] Tehran. There are also photos of
[00:04:29] buildings that were struck by Israel in
[00:04:32] Tehran.
[00:04:34] The bombing continues in Tehran. By the
[00:04:35] way, the buildings struck, some of them
[00:04:37] completely collapsed. CNN is reporting
[00:04:40] already that there is a very high chance
[00:04:41] that senior Iranian military brass have
[00:04:43] been eliminated. Here was CNN reporting
[00:04:45] just a few moments ago. is clip 12.
[00:04:50] Something I just heard from a senior
[00:04:52] Israeli official who says that according
[00:04:55] to Israeli assessments, uh there are
[00:04:58] very high chances that the entire
[00:05:00] Iranian general staff, including the
[00:05:02] head of the Iranian general staff of the
[00:05:04] Iranian military and several senior
[00:05:08] Iranian nuclear scientists, were all
[00:05:10] eliminated in the Israeli strikes.
[00:05:13] tonight.
[00:05:16] There are reports emerging from Israel
[00:05:18] that the entire top brass of the IRGC
[00:05:20] may have been eliminated or many of
[00:05:22] their top people, including the military
[00:05:25] chief of staff, the commander of the
[00:05:26] IRGC, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
[00:05:28] Corps. Again, all of these groups, the
[00:05:31] IRGC particularly, works handin- glove
[00:05:32] with the terrorists, including
[00:05:34] terrorists in Iraq, in Syria, in
[00:05:37] Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen,
[00:05:40] terrorists all over the region. The
[00:05:42] Secretary of the Supreme National
[00:05:43] Security Council and nuclear scientists
[00:05:45] were all apparently targeted.
[00:05:48] Coming up in just a few moments, we will
[00:05:50] be joined by the former prime minister
[00:05:51] of Israel Natali Bennett to discuss
[00:05:53] this. He's been pushing for Israel to
[00:05:54] strike what he called the head of the
[00:05:55] octopus for a very long time. Prime
[00:05:58] Minister Netanyahu did put out a full
[00:06:00] statement in Hebrew and then he put out
[00:06:02] one in English explaining exactly what
[00:06:04] happened tonight. Here was the current
[00:06:06] prime minister of Israel.
[00:06:09] Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a
[00:06:13] targeted military operation to roll back
[00:06:16] the Iranian threat to Israel's very
[00:06:19] survival. This operation will continue
[00:06:21] for as many days as it takes to remove
[00:06:24] this threat. For decades, the tyrants of
[00:06:27] Thran have brazenly, openly called for
[00:06:31] Israel's destruction. They've backed up
[00:06:33] their genocidal rhetoric with a program
[00:06:35] to develop nuclear weapons.
[00:06:38] In recent years, Iran has produced
[00:06:40] enough highlyenriched uranium for nine
[00:06:44] atom bombs. Nine. In recent months, Iran
[00:06:48] has taken steps that it has never taken
[00:06:50] before. Steps to weaponize this enriched
[00:06:53] uranium. And if not stopped, Iran could
[00:06:56] produce a nuclear weapon in a very short
[00:06:59] time. It could be a year. It could be
[00:07:01] within a few months, less than a year.
[00:07:04] This is a clear and present danger to
[00:07:06] Israel's very survival 80 years ago.
[00:07:09] Okay, pause it right there. Okay, the
[00:07:11] point that Netanyahu is making right
[00:07:12] there and this is the correct point is
[00:07:14] that the breakout time for an Iranian
[00:07:16] bomb could be a month, it could be 6
[00:07:18] months, it could be a year. But the
[00:07:20] bottom line is that an Iranian bomb is
[00:07:21] an existential threat to the state of
[00:07:22] Israel. Iran has very often suggest that
[00:07:25] Israel is what they call a one bomb
[00:07:26] state, meaning one bomb could take out
[00:07:29] nearly the entire majority of the
[00:07:30] population of Israel. And Israel has a
[00:07:33] closing window because recall that in
[00:07:35] the prior exchanges with Iran in which
[00:07:39] Iran fired missiles at Israel and then
[00:07:40] Israel went back at Iran and destroyed
[00:07:42] all of their air defenses. Once that
[00:07:45] window closes, it becomes much more
[00:07:46] difficult for Israel to perform the kind
[00:07:48] of operation that it is currently
[00:07:49] performing. In the last round of
[00:07:52] fighting, Israel with air strikes took
[00:07:54] out a bunch of Aero3 system. Took took
[00:07:57] out a bunch of
[00:07:59] missile defense systems and and air
[00:08:01] defense systems that Iran had in place
[00:08:04] that had been supplied by Russia and
[00:08:06] Israel destroyed them. And so the skies
[00:08:08] over toran were clear. And so that
[00:08:10] window was closing. And meanwhile, Iran
[00:08:12] was racing to build more ballistic
[00:08:14] missiles, racing toward a nuclear
[00:08:15] weapon. And so Israel wouldn't have a
[00:08:18] perfect perspective into when the window
[00:08:20] would close. They just know the window
[00:08:21] was closing. Here's Netanyahu.
[00:08:25] Victims of a holocaust perpetrated by
[00:08:28] the Nazi regime. Today, the Jewish state
[00:08:31] refuses to be a victim of a nuclear
[00:08:34] holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian
[00:08:37] regime. Now, as prime minister, I've
[00:08:40] made it clear time and again, Israel
[00:08:42] will never allow those who call for our
[00:08:45] annihilation to develop the means to
[00:08:47] achieve that goal. Tonight, Israel backs
[00:08:50] those words with action. We struck at
[00:08:53] the heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment
[00:08:55] program. We struck at the heart of
[00:08:57] Iran's nuclear weaponization program. We
[00:09:00] targeted Iran's main enrichment facility
[00:09:03] in Atans. We targeted Iran's leading
[00:09:05] nuclear scientists working on the
[00:09:07] Iranian bomb. We also struck at the
[00:09:09] heart of Iran's ballistic missile
[00:09:11] program. Last year, Iran fired 300
[00:09:15] ballistic missiles at Israel. Each of
[00:09:17] these missiles carries a ton of
[00:09:20] explosives and threatens the lives of
[00:09:23] hundreds of people. Soon, those missiles
[00:09:26] could carry a nuclear payload,
[00:09:28] threatening the lives not of hundreds,
[00:09:30] but of millions. Iran is gearing up to
[00:09:33] produce 10,000s of those ballistic
[00:09:36] missiles within 3 years. Now, just
[00:09:39] imagine, imagine 10,000 tons of TNT
[00:09:44] landing on a country the size of New
[00:09:46] Jersey. This is an intolerable threat.
[00:09:50] It too must be stopped. Iran is now
[00:09:53] working on what it calls the new plan to
[00:09:56] destroy Israel. You see, the old plan
[00:09:58] failed. Iran and its proxies tried to
[00:10:01] encircle Israel with a ring of fire and
[00:10:04] to attack us with the horrible attack of
[00:10:06] October 7th. But the people of Israel,
[00:10:09] the soldiers of Israel rose like lions
[00:10:12] to defend our country. We crushed Hamas.
[00:10:14] Well, that was Prime Minister Benjamin
[00:10:16] Netanyahu just a few moments ago in
[00:10:18] Israel explaining the current
[00:10:19] geopolitical situation of Israel that
[00:10:22] led to the attacks on Iran tonight in
[00:10:24] Tyran and Atans in Florida attacking
[00:10:26] missile factories. You can see secondary
[00:10:28] explosions in the videos. Attacking
[00:10:29] nuclear facilities, attacking nuclear
[00:10:31] scientists, attacking top members of the
[00:10:33] Iran Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
[00:10:35] Joining us on the line right now is
[00:10:36] Napali Bennett. He's the former prime
[00:10:38] minister of Israel. Prime Minister,
[00:10:40] thanks so much for joining the show.
[00:10:41] Really appreciate it.
[00:10:43] Hi Britain, how are you?
[00:10:46] I mean, we are we are all watching as
[00:10:49] this unfolds. So tell me, first of all,
[00:10:51] what is the feeling like in Israel from
[00:10:53] on the ground given what's going on
[00:10:55] tonight?
[00:10:57] Well, uh there were sirens across Israel
[00:11:00] and uh so all Israelis are alert. It's
[00:11:03] the middle of the night. Uh and this is
[00:11:05] a long doom. Uh Iran has explicitly time
[00:11:09] and again time and again said they want
[00:11:11] to destroy Israel. Uh has sped forward
[00:11:15] um with enriched uranium. They they
[00:11:18] today have enough enriched uranium for
[00:11:21] 10 bombs at a immediate uh time frame.
[00:11:25] Um, we know that they tried to
[00:11:28] assassinate uh President Trump. We know
[00:11:30] they're the epicenter of all the terror
[00:11:34] in the Middle East. So, it's long due.
[00:11:36] This is the right thing to do. Uh, and
[00:11:39] all Israelis are united behind this.
[00:11:43] So the extent of the operation so far as
[00:11:45] we know targets everyone from top
[00:11:47] leaders in the IRGC to the nuclear
[00:11:50] facilities in Aans and Ford possibly
[00:11:53] other targets as well. Does this appear
[00:11:55] to be an attempt by the Israelis to
[00:11:57] decapitate the regime? Is this an
[00:11:58] attempt at regime change or is this an
[00:12:00] attempt to end the military threat from
[00:12:02] Iran as it currently stands including
[00:12:04] the nuclear program?
[00:12:06] This is an attempt to save millions of
[00:12:09] lives, uh, Israeli lives, lives in the
[00:12:11] Middle East and across the world. Uh,
[00:12:14] Iran wants to destroy Israel. Uh,
[00:12:18] they're working to destroy Israel and we
[00:12:20] believe them. Uh, they were on the cusp
[00:12:23] of achieving um, several nuclear bombs.
[00:12:27] This was the very last moment and we did
[00:12:29] what we had to do. We're doing what we
[00:12:31] had to do. Uh we're not talking about uh
[00:12:34] regime change as a goal. The goal is to
[00:12:38] protect us, the Middle East, and the
[00:12:40] world from a nuclear Iran.
[00:12:44] Well, Prime Minister, you you've been
[00:12:45] calling, as you say, for years, for
[00:12:47] Israel to strike at what you called for
[00:12:48] many years the head of the octopus.
[00:12:50] Obviously, Iran had encircled Israel
[00:12:52] with a wide variety of terror tentacles
[00:12:53] ranging from Hamas in the Gaza Strip
[00:12:55] tobah in Lebanon and Syria to the
[00:12:58] Houthis in in Yemen. This is a a major
[00:13:01] attack exactly as you had suggested.
[00:13:04] What do you think the next steps are?
[00:13:05] There's been a lot of talk about how
[00:13:06] long this attack will last. It might be
[00:13:07] multiple days. What do you expect Iran
[00:13:10] to do in in return? And how good is
[00:13:12] Israel's defense capacity against a
[00:13:14] possible large-scale missile attack from
[00:13:16] Iran in response?
[00:13:18] Well, this indeed is not a one-off. Uh
[00:13:20] it's a continuous operation where we're
[00:13:23] taking out their ballistic missile uh
[00:13:26] factories, the Iranian nuclear
[00:13:29] facilities, military facilities,
[00:13:31] leadership. So it's a very uh broad and
[00:13:34] comprehensive attack and it'll likely go
[00:13:36] on for a bit. uh in terms of uh defense,
[00:13:41] uh Israel has a formidable defense
[00:13:43] system. Uh but it's not uh perfect and
[00:13:47] uh therefore the Israeli citizens have
[00:13:50] to um be in shelters when they're told
[00:13:53] to and that'll save lives and I think
[00:13:55] we'll together um persevere and and
[00:13:59] cross this together.
[00:14:02] So, Prime Minister, there's been a lot
[00:14:04] of talk about the United States, its
[00:14:06] role in all of this. The Secretary of
[00:14:07] State, as we'll talk about a little
[00:14:08] later on the show, came out and released
[00:14:10] a statement saying, "Tonight, Israel
[00:14:11] took unilateral action against Iran. We
[00:14:13] are not involved in strikes against
[00:14:14] Iran. Our top priority is protecting
[00:14:16] American forces in the region." Israel
[00:14:18] advised us that they believe this action
[00:14:19] was necessary for its self-defense.
[00:14:21] President Trump and the administration
[00:14:22] have taken all necessary steps to
[00:14:23] protect our forces and remain in close
[00:14:25] contact with our regional partners. Let
[00:14:26] me be clear, Iran should not target US
[00:14:28] interests or personnel. There's been an
[00:14:30] attempt by many to drive a wedge between
[00:14:31] the Trump administration and the state
[00:14:33] of Israel. This statement does not
[00:14:35] appear to me to be a wedge. It more
[00:14:36] appears to say that Israel has her own
[00:14:39] interests. America has her own
[00:14:40] interests. Those interests don't always
[00:14:42] coincide. Both countries had an interest
[00:14:44] in Iran not having nuclear capacity. And
[00:14:47] if Israel chose to take a unilateral
[00:14:49] action without the direct help of the
[00:14:51] United States in bombing runs, for
[00:14:53] example, that does not mean that the
[00:14:54] United States wouldn't be involved in,
[00:14:56] for example, shooting down missiles that
[00:14:57] are coming the other way from Iran. And
[00:14:59] also that if Iran were to attack anybody
[00:15:02] involved with the American military,
[00:15:03] there would be hell to pay.
[00:15:06] That's correct. Uh, Israel is a
[00:15:08] sovereign state. Uh, we need to defend
[00:15:10] ourselves. Uh, in the past we did it
[00:15:12] twice and we prevented very radical
[00:15:16] regimes from acquiring nuclear weapons.
[00:15:18] I'm talking about Saddam Hussein in 1981
[00:15:21] and Assad in 2007.
[00:15:26] Uh at the time um in in the first case
[00:15:30] we were condemned also in the second
[00:15:32] case but at the end the whole world
[00:15:35] thanked us for preventing them from
[00:15:36] acquiring nuclear weapons. Imagine a
[00:15:39] world with Iraq and uh and Syria with
[00:15:43] nuclear weapons. So we had to act and
[00:15:45] this time we're acting again. Uh we
[00:15:48] don't want to go down the North Korean
[00:15:50] scenario where uh words did not stop
[00:15:53] North Korea from acquiring nuclear
[00:15:55] weapons. we had to act. We're doing
[00:15:57] this. Israel is looking after its own
[00:15:59] national security interest and that's
[00:16:02] perfectly fine that America has its own
[00:16:04] set of interests. Um we're doing the
[00:16:07] job. We didn't ask America to do the job
[00:16:09] for us.
[00:16:12] So, Prime Minister Bennett, you know,
[00:16:14] when when you look at the situation in
[00:16:16] in Israel, obviously it's very
[00:16:18] politically complicated. uh you of
[00:16:20] course are are likely at this point to
[00:16:22] run in the next Israeli election
[00:16:24] whenever that is going to happen. There
[00:16:25] have been tremendous political
[00:16:26] divisions. I think what people abroad
[00:16:28] not in Israel need to understand is that
[00:16:30] this is maybe the one area of Israeli
[00:16:33] life where there is near universality
[00:16:35] that this needed to happen. I I can't
[00:16:37] name an Israeli politician on the
[00:16:39] spectrum who doesn't believe that this
[00:16:40] was something that that needed to happen
[00:16:42] given the existential threat that Iran
[00:16:44] has openly posed to the state of Israel
[00:16:47] via the development of a nuclear
[00:16:48] program.
[00:16:50] That's correct. Um we uh there's no
[00:16:54] right and left on this issue. Uh all
[00:16:56] Israelis are united that we have to uh
[00:16:59] defend ourselves, prevent Iran from
[00:17:02] being able to destroy Israel.
[00:17:06] So Prime Minister Bennett, you know,
[00:17:07] when when you look at the situation on
[00:17:08] the ground for Israelis, there's been a
[00:17:10] huge military call up presumably in
[00:17:12] anticipation of an Iranian response.
[00:17:14] That response could take the form of
[00:17:15] anything from on the ground attacks
[00:17:18] launched across the border from Lebanon
[00:17:20] or or or missile attacks from the
[00:17:23] Houthis or terrorist groups in the
[00:17:25] so-called West Bank Judea and Samaria
[00:17:27] being activated against Israelis.
[00:17:29] Meanwhile, Israelis are basically in a
[00:17:31] form of lockdown from what I understand.
[00:17:32] Obviously, the sirens went off as the
[00:17:34] Israeli jets were were entering Iranian
[00:17:36] airspace to warn everybody to get in
[00:17:37] what's called in Hebrew the Mammad,
[00:17:39] which is a safe room. And so millions of
[00:17:41] Israelis right now are in their safe
[00:17:43] rooms awaiting the Iranian response. How
[00:17:45] do you expect this to play out for
[00:17:46] Israelis domestically over the course of
[00:17:49] the next few days?
[00:17:51] Look, we've been through so much uh
[00:17:53] through Hamas,
[00:17:56] the Houthis, Iran twice attacked Israel.
[00:17:58] We tend to forget that they attacked us
[00:18:01] twice with uh hundreds of uh missiles.
[00:18:05] Uh we're going to pass this. We're going
[00:18:06] to do it together. We're going to be
[00:18:08] fine.
[00:18:11] Well, that's Prime Minister Naftali
[00:18:13] Bennett, former Prime Minister of
[00:18:14] Israel. Really appreciate your time.
[00:18:16] Stay safe and really appreciate it.
[00:18:18] Thank you. You take care.
[00:18:22] Okay. Well, meanwhile, we have
[00:18:23] information from the IDF explaining why
[00:18:25] exactly this happened. Amid Seal, who
[00:18:27] will be joining us in just a little
[00:18:28] while on the program, he's an Israeli
[00:18:30] political analyst, columnist, author.
[00:18:32] I've recommended before that people
[00:18:34] check out his Telegram channel because
[00:18:35] if you want sort of the very latest on
[00:18:36] what's going on in Israel, that is an
[00:18:38] excellent source of information. He
[00:18:40] reported on that Telegram channel via
[00:18:42] IDF sources why Israel did this. Now,
[00:18:44] quote, "Under the guidance of the
[00:18:46] political echelon, we embarked on a
[00:18:47] focused and precise operation to remove
[00:18:49] threats from the entire state of Israel
[00:18:51] to damage the nuclear program and the
[00:18:52] long-range missile firing capabilities
[00:18:54] of the Iranian regime. Why now? We've
[00:18:56] been following developments for years,
[00:18:57] and recently we recognize that Iran is
[00:18:59] racing toward a nuclear bomb. The
[00:19:00] project is at a stage where if we do not
[00:19:02] act now, we will know less every day.
[00:19:04] Okay, that is a that's an important
[00:19:05] line. Again, the the idea here is not
[00:19:08] that Israel knew that Iran was going to
[00:19:10] go nuclear next week. The idea was that
[00:19:12] their intelligence can only keep up with
[00:19:15] what's going on so long as what's going
[00:19:17] on moves relatively slowly. If Iran
[00:19:18] races to a bomb, by the time Israel
[00:19:20] finds out about it, it may be too late
[00:19:22] and Iran now has a nuclear weapon,
[00:19:24] according to those IDF sources. In
[00:19:25] addition, Iran has thousands of
[00:19:26] ballistic missiles, which in themselves
[00:19:28] are an existential threat. We are also
[00:19:29] identifying attempts to arm proxies in
[00:19:31] the Middle East against the state of
[00:19:32] Israel. In recent years, they've begun
[00:19:33] to formulate a concrete plan to destroy
[00:19:35] the state of Israel. We are now in a
[00:19:36] strategic window of opportunity, a point
[00:19:38] of no return, and we have no choice but
[00:19:40] to act. We launched the operation at a
[00:19:41] point where the threat is real, and in
[00:19:43] the face of this, our operational
[00:19:44] readiness is good. We are conducting an
[00:19:46] ongoing situation assessment. The
[00:19:47] operation will evolve as necessary. We
[00:19:50] will now launch a campaign asking the
[00:19:51] public not to send locations of
[00:19:52] vulnerabilities or to document them.
[00:19:54] will work to provide at least 10 minutes
[00:19:55] warning before missile firing or any
[00:19:57] other type of event.
[00:20:00] Meanwhile, again, the IDF is suggesting
[00:20:03] that the Iranians had plans for a more
[00:20:06] widespread attack on Israel, including
[00:20:08] widespread and precise fire from the
[00:20:09] entire Iranian access, a ground invasion
[00:20:11] using pickup trucks from all borders,
[00:20:13] also undermining regimes that are allied
[00:20:15] with the United States, including Jordan
[00:20:16] and Egypt.
[00:20:20] The IDF spokesperson made an
[00:20:22] announcement explaining what exactly is
[00:20:24] going on as well. Quote, "The IDF
[00:20:26] spokesperson announces that a short time
[00:20:27] ago, the IDF under the guidance of the
[00:20:29] political echelon launched a precise and
[00:20:31] integrated preemptive strike based on
[00:20:32] highquality intelligence with the aim of
[00:20:34] striking the Iranian nuclear program and
[00:20:36] in response to the Iranian regime's
[00:20:37] ongoing aggression against Israel.
[00:20:39] Dozens of Air Force aircraft recently
[00:20:41] completed the opening strike, which
[00:20:42] included attacking dozens of military
[00:20:43] targets, including nuclear targets in
[00:20:45] various areas of Iran. The public has
[00:20:48] been instructed to obey what are called
[00:20:49] homeront command instructions, telling
[00:20:51] people to stay home, not go to school
[00:20:53] essentially if you're not an essential
[00:20:54] employee. You're supposed to stay
[00:20:55] indoors in a safe room. At this point,
[00:20:59] as the IDF points out, the Iranian
[00:21:00] regime is the primary perpetrator of all
[00:21:02] terrorist attacks committed against the
[00:21:03] state of Israel since the beginning of
[00:21:05] the Iron Swords War. That would be the
[00:21:06] beginning of the Gaza war. And in doing
[00:21:08] so, also for arming and financing the
[00:21:10] kamas terror organization responsible
[00:21:11] for the events of October 7th. During
[00:21:13] the Iron Tours war, Iran even attacked
[00:21:15] Israel twice directly, firing hundreds
[00:21:17] of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles
[00:21:19] into the country. The Iranian regime of
[00:21:21] course has made it a stated goal that
[00:21:23] they wish to destroy the state of
[00:21:24] Israel. Senior Iranian regime officials
[00:21:26] continue to declare this. By the way,
[00:21:27] that's true daily. We played clips of
[00:21:28] them on the show.
[00:21:31] The IDF has announced this is going to
[00:21:32] be a multi-day operation. This is not
[00:21:34] going to be a one-off, as you just heard
[00:21:35] the former prime minister suggest. This
[00:21:37] is going to be relatively lengthy
[00:21:39] because of course Israel does not have
[00:21:41] B2s or B-52s.
[00:21:43] The targets that have been identified
[00:21:45] thus far include Tabris, Kman, Iraq, if
[00:21:49] is Fahan, Natans, and Tehran. Those are
[00:21:52] all places where we have reports of
[00:21:55] ordinance hitting ground. Israel has
[00:21:58] already closed its airspace to civilian
[00:21:59] traffic. All flights arriving at or
[00:22:01] departing from Bengorian near Tel Aviv
[00:22:03] have now been cancelled. Apparently,
[00:22:06] according to the New York Times, Israel
[00:22:07] has attacked at least six military bases
[00:22:08] around Tehran, including Parchin and
[00:22:10] residential homes at two highly secure
[00:22:12] complexes for military commandments and
[00:22:14] multiple residential buildings around
[00:22:16] Tehran. What appears to be targeted
[00:22:18] assassinations.
[00:22:20] So again, a highly sophisticated attack
[00:22:24] by Israel, a highly sophisticated attack
[00:22:26] targeting its direct enemies, direct
[00:22:29] threats. There are reports coming out
[00:22:32] that the president of the United States
[00:22:33] was watching this in the situation room
[00:22:35] as it unfolded.
[00:22:39] Reporter of Columbus says a senior US
[00:22:41] intelligence official says the US
[00:22:42] provided real-time reconnaissance
[00:22:44] support to Israel before, during, and
[00:22:45] after the ongoing strikes using secure
[00:22:47] channels to coordinate every step. And
[00:22:48] again, what that means is that the
[00:22:51] United States was not directly involved
[00:22:53] in the attacks. The United States has
[00:22:55] plausible deniability. The United States
[00:22:57] was involved in negotiations. But the
[00:22:58] idea that Israel went without any sort
[00:23:00] of prior American knowledge, that seems
[00:23:02] unlikely at best based on the
[00:23:03] information that is currently emerging
[00:23:05] and also based on the way that this week
[00:23:07] went. Again, this week there was
[00:23:10] obviously a shift in the assessment of
[00:23:11] the Trump administration of the
[00:23:13] possibility of coming to some sort of
[00:23:15] actual serious nuclear agreement that
[00:23:18] would disarm the Iranian nuclear
[00:23:20] program.
[00:23:21] And so it's it appeared clearer and
[00:23:24] clearer this week that the Trump
[00:23:25] administration was taking a far more
[00:23:27] skeptical position than they had just a
[00:23:28] few weeks ago. Here was President Trump
[00:23:31] just last night. He was at the Kennedy
[00:23:32] Center and here he was explaining that
[00:23:35] Iran cannot have a nuke and he said
[00:23:37] things are going to happen and well
[00:23:38] things did happen. And again, the United
[00:23:40] States did not have to be directly
[00:23:41] involved. Now it is in the United
[00:23:43] States's interest to shoot down
[00:23:44] ordinance that's going the other way.
[00:23:47] I read Secretary Rubio's statement in a
[00:23:48] moment. I'll get back to a moment.
[00:23:50] President Trump 48 hours ago.
[00:23:53] Well, they are being moved out because
[00:23:54] it could be a dangerous place and uh
[00:23:57] we'll see what happens. But they are
[00:23:59] been we've given notice to move out.
[00:24:01] We'll see what happens. Is there
[00:24:04] anything that could be done to dial the
[00:24:05] temperature down in the region?
[00:24:08] They can't have a nuclear weapon. Very
[00:24:10] simply, they can't have a nuclear
[00:24:12] weapon. Uh we're not going to allow
[00:24:14] that.
[00:24:17] Now again, something changed this week
[00:24:19] in the way that the United States was
[00:24:20] assessing the situation. That is not a
[00:24:21] shock. Iran began becoming extremely
[00:24:24] aggressive in its statements about the
[00:24:25] United States, about its desire for a
[00:24:27] nuclear weapon, about its desire to take
[00:24:29] out American troops. Those threats were
[00:24:31] overt. They were not covert. That's why
[00:24:34] it always seemed like a bit of a pipe
[00:24:35] dream that Steve Whit was going to
[00:24:37] negotiate something on Sunday in Oman.
[00:24:39] Again, the statement from Secretary of
[00:24:41] State Marco Rubio provides the United
[00:24:43] States with the plausibly deniable
[00:24:45] position that it was not involved, which
[00:24:47] it wasn't. And the United States was not
[00:24:49] directly involved in this action. Again,
[00:24:51] there are reports that intelligence
[00:24:53] sharing may have occurred here. That
[00:24:54] would not be a surprise. The United
[00:24:56] States shares intelligence with a wide
[00:24:57] variety of our allies, ranging from
[00:24:59] Great Britain to Saudi Arabia to Israel.
[00:25:01] Secretary of State Rubio, however, said,
[00:25:03] "Tonight, Israel took unilateral action
[00:25:05] against Iran. We are not involved in
[00:25:06] strikes against Iran. Our top priority
[00:25:08] is protecting American forces in the
[00:25:09] region. Israel advised us they believe
[00:25:11] this action was necessary for its
[00:25:12] self-defense. President Trump and the
[00:25:14] administration have taken all necessary
[00:25:15] steps to protect our forces and remain
[00:25:17] in close contact with our regional
[00:25:18] partners. Let me be clear. Iran should
[00:25:20] not target US interests or personnel.
[00:25:22] That last part is the important part. If
[00:25:23] Iran were to come back at the United
[00:25:25] States, their oil fields would be gone
[00:25:26] tomorrow and the Ayatollas would be
[00:25:27] dead. That is a point made openly by
[00:25:30] Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas. quote,
[00:25:31] "Iran is the world's worst state sponsor
[00:25:33] of terrorism, has the blood of thousands
[00:25:35] of Americans on its hands and is rushing
[00:25:36] to build not only nuclear weapons, but
[00:25:38] also missiles that can strike the United
[00:25:39] States. We back Israel to the hilts all
[00:25:41] the way. And if the Ayatollas harm a
[00:25:43] single American, that will be the end of
[00:25:44] the Ayatollas." By the way, that is
[00:25:46] certainly true of President Trump.
[00:25:47] President Trump is not going to sit
[00:25:49] still. If Americans die in response to
[00:25:51] this because Iran decides for some odd
[00:25:53] reason that they wish to provoke the
[00:25:55] sleeping tiger, that is the Trump
[00:25:57] administration and the American
[00:25:58] military, good luck to them. That'd be
[00:26:00] the worst move they ever made.
[00:26:02] Seriously, that is why all of the talk
[00:26:04] about the loose talk from all the same
[00:26:07] people who are constantly suggesting
[00:26:09] nuclear war is on the brink. From whom
[00:26:12] and between whom would be the question.
[00:26:14] Iran is not nuclear. That's the whole
[00:26:15] point of destroying their nuclear
[00:26:17] capacity right now. Israel is doing the
[00:26:19] world an enormous favor. An Iranian
[00:26:21] nuclear capacity would threaten not only
[00:26:23] Israel but Europe, Saudi Arabia, UAE,
[00:26:27] Bahrain. And for people in the United
[00:26:28] States who believe that geopolitics
[00:26:30] doesn't matter, hey, we're oil
[00:26:31] independent. Let's be clear. The
[00:26:33] international oil markets are
[00:26:34] international oil markets. What does
[00:26:38] that mean? It means that if the price of
[00:26:39] oil spikes in Europe and spikes in Asia
[00:26:43] and spikes all around the world because
[00:26:44] of what's going on in the Middle East or
[00:26:45] because Iran destabilizes the entire
[00:26:47] region, well, American oil producers are
[00:26:50] going to start exporting that oil to
[00:26:51] different parts, which means it's more
[00:26:52] expensive in the United States, too. Cuz
[00:26:54] that's how markets work and that's how
[00:26:55] shipping works and that's how oil supply
[00:26:57] works. Well, joining us on the line in
[00:27:00] Israel right now, Josh Hammer. Josh, of
[00:27:04] course, is the author of a wide variety
[00:27:07] of fantastic columns and books. He also
[00:27:10] is the author of a brand new book titled
[00:27:13] Israel and Civilization. Josh was woken
[00:27:16] up in the middle of the night by uh by
[00:27:18] the latest. Josh, how are things on the
[00:27:20] ground? This is not exactly how you
[00:27:21] thought that your trip to Israel was
[00:27:22] going to go this week. Uh no, to put it
[00:27:24] mildly, no. Ben, we woke up at 3:00 a.m.
[00:27:27] here uh to national sirens. Essentially,
[00:27:30] this this is our first time, my wife and
[00:27:32] I, traveling with our with our new baby.
[00:27:34] So, this is not exactly how we thought
[00:27:36] things would play out. It's actually the
[00:27:38] second time just this week that we had
[00:27:39] something happen. Ben, we were getting
[00:27:40] dinner the other night in in Jaffa in
[00:27:42] the Tel area. Beautiful dinner right on
[00:27:44] the ocean there and there was a Houthy
[00:27:46] ballistic missile. The sirens were loud.
[00:27:48] We ran took the stroller down a flight
[00:27:50] of stairs in the middle of dinner into
[00:27:51] the emergency room, then went up,
[00:27:53] finished our dinners. It's the second
[00:27:54] time in one week that that our trip has
[00:27:56] been interrupted. We're supposed to
[00:27:57] drive to Jerusalem in a few hours to
[00:27:59] spend Shabbat there, the Jewish Sabbath.
[00:28:01] We you mentioned my book. We're supposed
[00:28:02] to have a an adventure for my book in
[00:28:04] Jerusalem this Sunday night. I think I
[00:28:05] think suffice to say everything right
[00:28:07] now is certainly in flux right now.
[00:28:10] Well, you know, speaking of of your
[00:28:12] experiences a little bit earlier, I
[00:28:13] think that that folks need to understand
[00:28:14] that the level of attack to which Israel
[00:28:16] has been subjected since October 7th, it
[00:28:18] is relentless and unseasing. I mean, the
[00:28:20] Houthies have been attacking nearly
[00:28:21] every day. And when when I was in Israel
[00:28:23] just a few weeks ago, my my family was
[00:28:25] woken up at 6:25 a.m. by what we called
[00:28:28] the Houthy alarm clock because the
[00:28:30] sirens went off in Jerusalem. And what
[00:28:31] that means is you got to take all your
[00:28:32] kids and you got to shove all your kids
[00:28:34] into a fairly small room and and then
[00:28:36] essentially take these iron window
[00:28:38] shades and close them in case shrapnel
[00:28:41] were to were to hit the house. Now,
[00:28:43] given the fact that that you're on the
[00:28:45] ground right now, what is the attitude
[00:28:46] of people there toward all of this? We
[00:28:48] just spoke with the former prime
[00:28:49] minister Napali Bennett about what's
[00:28:51] going on. and he says that this may be
[00:28:52] the one area of Israeli life where
[00:28:54] actually there is no argument where
[00:28:55] there's pretty much unimity.
[00:28:58] Yeah, Ben, I've been to Israel many
[00:29:00] times over the years, as I know you have
[00:29:01] as well, and and I think back in
[00:29:02] particular to this one trip that I took
[00:29:04] in 2016. So, it was actually my final
[00:29:06] year of law school at the University of
[00:29:07] Chicago, and I I was one of the student
[00:29:09] leaders in a law school delegation, and
[00:29:10] we met with this very far-left member of
[00:29:12] the of the Israeli Knesset, their their
[00:29:14] legislature here. I can't remember the
[00:29:16] guy's name. Mimar, his party, but it the
[00:29:18] point is it was 2016 in the context of
[00:29:20] that presidential election. I kid you
[00:29:22] not, this Knessa member was so far left,
[00:29:24] Ben, that that his preferred
[00:29:25] presidential candidate that cycle was
[00:29:27] was Bernie Sanders himself. Having said
[00:29:29] that, and the reason I bring it up right
[00:29:31] now in this very moment is because the
[00:29:32] Iran issue came up in that conversation
[00:29:35] and he basically sounded as hawkish as
[00:29:37] it gets on Iran. So, so essentially no
[00:29:39] matter how far left you are, unless
[00:29:40] you're one of the Arab parties here, if
[00:29:42] you are if you are a Jewish Israeli, no
[00:29:45] matter where you fall on on the Israeli
[00:29:46] domestic political spectrum from the
[00:29:48] quote unquote far right to the to the
[00:29:50] far left, you're you're pretty much of
[00:29:52] one mind on on the Iranian issue. I
[00:29:55] mean, this is this is not the the one
[00:29:56] state, two-state solution. This is not
[00:29:58] Judea and Samaria, the so-called West
[00:30:00] Bank. This is not the the Karedi, the
[00:30:02] so-called ultraorththodox draft issue.
[00:30:04] These this is not one of the more
[00:30:05] divisive issues here in Israel. Iran is
[00:30:08] is is by far by orders of magnitude the
[00:30:10] number one threat here and Israel is
[00:30:13] going to do what it what it has to do.
[00:30:15] But you know it's your commentary
[00:30:16] earlier here. I think the thing to to
[00:30:18] remember for the folks back home this is
[00:30:21] the entire purpose Ben and and you
[00:30:23] obviously know this but this is the
[00:30:24] entire purpose of the US Israel alliance
[00:30:26] is that America and the the rest of
[00:30:28] Western civilization benefits from
[00:30:31] Israel doing their dirty work for them
[00:30:33] there. Yes, it beggars belief that
[00:30:35] America did not have advanced warning.
[00:30:37] Maybe there was even a little more op
[00:30:38] operational or tactical support than we
[00:30:40] know at this time. It's possible there's
[00:30:42] something like midair refueling over
[00:30:43] over Iraqi or Kuwaiti airspace. We don't
[00:30:46] know. We'll probably find out in due
[00:30:48] time. But the point is, no matter what
[00:30:49] it was, the United States will be a
[00:30:52] safer nation on the other side of this
[00:30:54] on the relative cheap. on the relative
[00:30:56] cheap because Israel is not just doing
[00:30:57] what any sovereign nation state would do
[00:30:59] to protect its citizens and its way of
[00:31:01] life, but it really is doing a
[00:31:02] tremendous favor to the United States
[00:31:04] and all of the Western world, I would
[00:31:05] argue.
[00:31:07] Yeah. And of course, Israel has done
[00:31:08] this before when they took out the Ora
[00:31:09] reactor in Iraq in 1981. They were
[00:31:11] condemned by large swats of the world,
[00:31:13] including the United States actually
[00:31:14] under the Reagan administration. At the
[00:31:16] time, Israel also in the mid-200s took
[00:31:17] out what appeared to be a nent Syrian
[00:31:20] nuclear reactor. Imagine if that had
[00:31:22] fallen into the hands of HTS for example
[00:31:25] or ISIS in Syria if Israel had not done
[00:31:27] that. So there's always sort of
[00:31:29] condemnation from certain wings in
[00:31:30] preemptively destroying nuclear
[00:31:32] facilities that are to be run by some of
[00:31:34] the world's scariest and worst people.
[00:31:36] But it turns out the world seems to take
[00:31:37] some comfort in the fact that Israel is
[00:31:39] always there to to do the word dirty
[00:31:41] work. That includes, by the way, nations
[00:31:42] like Saudi Arabia. I guarantee you that
[00:31:44] the Saudis tonight are sleeping more
[00:31:46] secure in their beds because Israel is
[00:31:48] doing what Israel is doing. Saudi has
[00:31:50] always allowed Israel to do its dirty
[00:31:51] work against the Iranians. That's also
[00:31:53] true of UAE. It's true of Bahrain. It's
[00:31:55] true of Egypt. It's true of Jordan.
[00:31:57] There are all these regimes that are
[00:31:58] overtly unfriendly to Israel that are
[00:32:01] constantly living off of the laress of
[00:32:03] the fact that Israel is the tip of the
[00:32:05] spear in attacking many of their
[00:32:06] enemies. I mean, the Egyptian regime is
[00:32:08] just as much in danger from Iran and the
[00:32:10] Jordanian regime is more in danger from
[00:32:12] Iran than than the Israeli government,
[00:32:14] actually.
[00:32:16] Yeah. Saudi Arabia literally they they
[00:32:19] didn't actively shoot down or intercept
[00:32:20] the Iranian ballistic missiles, but they
[00:32:22] allowed their airspace to be used for
[00:32:24] American and Israeli air air defense
[00:32:26] missile interception during the October
[00:32:28] 2024 barrage, the the 180 missiles or
[00:32:31] whatever it was the largest pri prior to
[00:32:33] now at least the largest missile barrage
[00:32:35] in in global history actually. So the
[00:32:37] Saudis actually have shown that that
[00:32:39] when push comes to shove, they they are
[00:32:40] willing to side or on the side of of
[00:32:44] lowering the threats of the Iranian
[00:32:46] regime. And and this this is not a
[00:32:48] particularly well-kept secret. I mean
[00:32:50] essentially every Arab country in the
[00:32:52] world other than Qatar and maybe some of
[00:32:54] the northern African countries, Algeria,
[00:32:56] Tunisia come to mind. Those are
[00:32:58] essentially both Muslim Brotherhood
[00:32:59] adjacent uh you know rogue states at
[00:33:01] this point there. But with with very few
[00:33:03] exceptions, most of the Arab world, I
[00:33:05] guarantee you, is very, very, very happy
[00:33:07] at this moment. They can't say it
[00:33:08] because the Arab world, it's a very
[00:33:09] cultural thing. They're quite cowardly
[00:33:11] people in many ways. Not always. I'm
[00:33:12] painting with broad brushes here there,
[00:33:14] but they're not going to go out and put
[00:33:15] out a shiny press release praising the
[00:33:17] men and women of the IDF to put a mildy
[00:33:19] there. But I guarantee you that that
[00:33:21] that that back home, you know, Crown
[00:33:23] Prince Muhammad bin bin Salam bin
[00:33:25] Salman, excuse me, MBZ over in Abu
[00:33:28] Dhabi, all all the various highranking
[00:33:30] Amirs and shakes there in the Gulf
[00:33:32] States. Again, other than perhaps Doha,
[00:33:34] uh they they are definitely very happy
[00:33:36] with what with what the IDF is currently
[00:33:37] doing on the ground in Iran.
[00:33:40] We're speaking with Josh Hammer. is the
[00:33:41] author of Israel and Civilization, host
[00:33:42] of the Josh Hammer Show, syndicated
[00:33:44] columnist at Newsweek. And of course, he
[00:33:46] is live from Israel right now. It is
[00:33:48] quite early in the morning, but I'm sure
[00:33:50] not many people in Israel are getting a
[00:33:51] lot of sleep tonight as they await the
[00:33:53] response from the Iranians. Presumably,
[00:33:56] they're expecting some sort of
[00:33:57] large-scale missile barrage from the
[00:33:59] Iranians sometime in the near future. So
[00:34:02] Josh, obviously there have been a lot of
[00:34:03] people who are in the online world, we
[00:34:05] should say the very online world, who
[00:34:07] have fun suggesting that all of this is
[00:34:09] going to lead to World War II,
[00:34:10] neglecting of course the fact that if
[00:34:12] Iran actually had a nuclear weapon, a
[00:34:14] World War II would likely be nuclear.
[00:34:15] And number two, when they suggest that
[00:34:17] there is going to be either a ground
[00:34:19] invasion of Iran or a broader regional
[00:34:21] or or global war over this, I don't
[00:34:24] understand, frankly, how they get from
[00:34:26] point A to point B on that one. Who
[00:34:28] would be doing the invading precisely?
[00:34:30] who has even called for a ground
[00:34:31] invasion of Iran. If if the idea is the
[00:34:34] Israelis are going to do that, that
[00:34:35] would be a little bit weird considering
[00:34:37] that the population of Israel right now
[00:34:39] is approximately 10 million people and
[00:34:40] about only 7.5 million of those people
[00:34:42] are Jewish and the population of Iran is
[00:34:44] 91 million people. So that'd be a very
[00:34:46] strange ground invasion, especially
[00:34:48] given the fact that the distance from
[00:34:50] Israel to Iran is somewhere around
[00:34:55] 2300 km, something like that. So, I'm
[00:34:58] not sure how they get from point A to
[00:35:00] point B, but I don't think they need to.
[00:35:01] It seems to be just a gigantic scare
[00:35:03] tactic. Again, that can really only be
[00:35:05] justified by a peculiarly isolationist
[00:35:07] view of American policy that suggests
[00:35:09] that American interests are in and of
[00:35:10] themselves bad or that suggests that any
[00:35:13] sort of peace through strength activity
[00:35:15] is is more likely to lead to to war.
[00:35:20] Yeah. Look, I I think history here is
[00:35:21] instructive. So, you mentioned Osarak
[00:35:23] 1981. That's when that's when Israel
[00:35:25] took out the Iraqi nuclear reactor.
[00:35:27] There was Syria 2007 where something
[00:35:29] very similar happened. The Bush
[00:35:30] administration was not happy about that.
[00:35:32] But both times Israel ended up going
[00:35:34] with not exactly the the the full
[00:35:37] endorsement, shall we say, of the
[00:35:38] president. And those were actually
[00:35:40] Republican presidents both times. It was
[00:35:41] Ronald Reagan 1981 at Osarak and it was
[00:35:43] George W. Bush in 2007 with the Syrian
[00:35:45] operation there. And both times Israel
[00:35:48] was essentially belatedly thanked for in
[00:35:50] retrospect having done the right thing
[00:35:52] there. So look, the politics of these
[00:35:54] things are always very sticky in the
[00:35:55] moment. Americans are are are are a
[00:35:58] warweary people in many ways there. But
[00:35:59] this is this is clearly and this is
[00:36:01] obviously not going to be a major global
[00:36:03] conflict or anything or more like that.
[00:36:05] The notion that the notion that that
[00:36:07] China or a secondary power like Russia
[00:36:10] would would swoop to the to the defense
[00:36:12] of Iran, which is a ramshackle country
[00:36:15] that has essentially nothing whatsoever
[00:36:17] going for it other than a lot of decent
[00:36:18] people, a lot of actually secular
[00:36:20] westernized Persian people. you know,
[00:36:22] they have decent human capital, but
[00:36:24] other than that, as far as their
[00:36:25] capital's concerned, they they have
[00:36:26] petroleum, and that's essentially it
[00:36:28] there. The notion that China or Russia
[00:36:30] would lift a finger would lift a finger
[00:36:32] to defend Iran and try to escalate
[00:36:34] against Israel and and its many allies,
[00:36:36] including foremost the United States.
[00:36:38] It's ludicrous. It It is an absolutely
[00:36:41] ludicrous, laughable suggestion there.
[00:36:44] Again, it's it's fear-mongering tactics
[00:36:46] there, but I think it just misses the
[00:36:48] game as far as the global line
[00:36:50] structure, as far as rail politique is
[00:36:52] concerned there, because they're they're
[00:36:53] significantly overweighting the
[00:36:55] significance of the Iranian regime as
[00:36:57] far as the the the bad guys are
[00:36:59] concerned there. I I don't think China
[00:37:01] particularly cares about Iran to be
[00:37:02] honest with you. You know, you know,
[00:37:03] China was playing nice with Bin Salman
[00:37:05] and the Saudis during the Biden
[00:37:06] administration, too. Now, Trump has kind
[00:37:08] of swooped the Saudis back in there, but
[00:37:10] no one no one particularly cares about
[00:37:11] Iran. Iran, Iran is in many ways a
[00:37:13] deeply rogue state there and and Israel
[00:37:15] when push comes to shove, they do have
[00:37:17] drastically superior military power in
[00:37:19] virtually every way.
[00:37:21] Not not only that, I mean the reality is
[00:37:23] that if things were to escalate, the
[00:37:24] first thing that goes to the Iranian oil
[00:37:25] fields, which takes away legitimately
[00:37:27] their only economic asset whatsoever,
[00:37:29] and as you say, the people of Iran have
[00:37:30] not liked the regime for a very long
[00:37:32] time. In many ways, the people of Iran
[00:37:34] are sort of the opposite of the people
[00:37:35] of of Gaza. The people of Gaza are very
[00:37:37] fond of the terror groups that ran them
[00:37:39] by polling data. And the people of Iran
[00:37:41] hate the people who run them. And if
[00:37:43] they actually had their brothers, that
[00:37:44] would be a moderate secularized regime.
[00:37:47] That's Josh Hammer. He's author of
[00:37:48] Israel and Civilization, host of the
[00:37:49] Josh Hammer Show. And he is live with us
[00:37:52] from Israel tonight. Well, it looks like
[00:37:54] morning is breaking over there. So,
[00:37:56] we'll see if you are able to escape the
[00:37:58] MMA for any part of the day and and
[00:38:00] maybe enjoy a little bit of sunshine in
[00:38:02] the interim between missile attacks.
[00:38:03] Josh, really appreciate the time. God
[00:38:05] bless, Ben. Thank you.
[00:38:08] Stay safe. Meanwhile, the defense
[00:38:10] minister, Israel Katz, has now issued a
[00:38:11] statement to members of the general
[00:38:12] staff forum. Says this is a defining
[00:38:14] moment in the history of the state of
[00:38:15] Israel and the history of the Jewish
[00:38:17] people. The IDF is launching an
[00:38:18] operation against the head of the
[00:38:19] Iranian octopus to thwart its
[00:38:21] capabilities and remove the threat of
[00:38:23] destruction from the state of Israel.
[00:38:24] Iran is more determined than ever to
[00:38:26] realize its vision of destroying Israel,
[00:38:27] and we are at a key point where if we
[00:38:28] miss it, we'll have no way to prevent
[00:38:30] Iran from developing nuclear weapons
[00:38:31] that will threaten our existence. Over
[00:38:33] the years, especially over the past few
[00:38:35] months, the IDF has built exceptional
[00:38:36] capabilities in the fields of
[00:38:37] intelligence and operations, in defense
[00:38:40] and offense that enable us to cope well
[00:38:42] with the great challenges facing us. And
[00:38:44] again, one of the things that I find
[00:38:46] quite bizarre about all of this is this
[00:38:48] line that's being taken that that we
[00:38:50] were on the verge, the United States, of
[00:38:52] an agreement with the Iranians. No, we
[00:38:55] were certainly not. No, we were
[00:38:57] certainly not. Okay. The fact of the
[00:38:59] matter is that every statement that came
[00:39:00] out from the Trump administration over
[00:39:02] the course of the last two weeks was
[00:39:03] directly opposed by the statements from
[00:39:05] the Iranian regime. The Israeli
[00:39:08] ambassador to the UN, Dan Danny Denon,
[00:39:11] he says Israel has dialogue with the US,
[00:39:12] but the attack against Iran was an
[00:39:14] independent Israeli decision for what it
[00:39:16] is worth. So that's kind of best
[00:39:17] available situation for the United
[00:39:19] States, frankly, is that Israel ends up
[00:39:20] doing the dirty work. The United
[00:39:22] States's obligations are effectively
[00:39:24] minimal, limited presumably to knocking
[00:39:26] down missiles going the other way at
[00:39:28] Israeli population centers and the
[00:39:30] nuclear facilities go bye-bye. That
[00:39:32] seems like a pretty good outcome. And
[00:39:34] again, it is Steve Whit who earlier this
[00:39:36] week was saying that Iran could never
[00:39:38] get a nuclear capability. Here was WhitF
[00:39:40] a little bit. This is like a couple of
[00:39:42] days ago.
[00:39:44] Must never be permitted to enrich
[00:39:46] uranium or develop any nuclear
[00:39:48] capabilities. an existential threat to
[00:39:51] Israel as does an Iran with a large
[00:39:55] amount of missiles. That is as big an
[00:39:58] existential threat as the nuclear
[00:40:00] threat. And this is an existential
[00:40:02] threat to the United States and the free
[00:40:04] world and the entire GCC.
[00:40:08] Yarm Hzone who is a philosopher and also
[00:40:11] a charter member of sort of the national
[00:40:13] conservatism community, one of the
[00:40:15] founders of the National Conservatism
[00:40:17] Conference, he writes from Israel
[00:40:18] tonight. Israel attacks Iran because we
[00:40:20] believe Iran is assembling nuclear
[00:40:21] weapons to be used against us. This is
[00:40:23] not an assessment of one Israeli
[00:40:24] political figure or party, it represents
[00:40:26] a consensus here in Jerusalem. Anyone
[00:40:28] saying this attack is an affront to the
[00:40:29] United States is serving Iranian regime
[00:40:31] propaganda, whether out of gullibility
[00:40:33] or malice. Israelis love the United
[00:40:34] States and especially rever President
[00:40:36] Trump and his administration. By the
[00:40:37] way, by polling data, that is 100% true.
[00:40:40] And again, as a frequent visitor to
[00:40:41] Israel, I can tell you the feeling when
[00:40:43] President Trump was elected was
[00:40:44] overwhelming love and joy. overwhelming
[00:40:47] like nonstop like they cannot wait to
[00:40:50] welcome President Trump to Israel.
[00:40:52] They'll name half the country after him.
[00:40:54] No one has been better to us than
[00:40:55] President Trump says Yarmi. Israelis are
[00:40:56] grateful for all he has done. But
[00:40:58] President Trump understands what some
[00:40:59] clearly do not. It is Israel's
[00:41:00] responsibility to protect its people
[00:41:02] against a fanatical regime that has
[00:41:04] sought to destroy us using every means
[00:41:05] at at its disposal. If we choose to
[00:41:07] attack a potential arsenal of between 10
[00:41:08] to 15 nuclear weapons before they can be
[00:41:10] ready for use, we are only doing what
[00:41:12] any other nation would do in our shoes,
[00:41:14] protecting our country and our people
[00:41:15] against a clear and present danger that
[00:41:17] cannot be dealt with in any other way.
[00:41:19] We are all of us brothers in a war
[00:41:20] against forces that openly and
[00:41:21] shamelessly seek our annihilation. What
[00:41:23] happen whatever happens in this Israeli
[00:41:25] Iranian war, we'll still be brothers and
[00:41:26] we'll still have much work to do
[00:41:27] together when it has ended. That of
[00:41:30] course is true. Also, I think that you
[00:41:32] can look forward to seeing in the
[00:41:33] protest against President Trump this
[00:41:35] weekend many, many flags of the Iranian
[00:41:37] regime because if there is an evil
[00:41:39] regime on planet Earth, the protesters
[00:41:41] who are protesting the military and
[00:41:43] President Trump and America, they will
[00:41:45] certainly be flying that flag.
[00:41:47] Meanwhile, confirmation that Israel has
[00:41:51] taken out General Hussein Salami, the
[00:41:54] former commander-in-chief of the IRGC,
[00:41:57] as well as a general Kam I don't want to
[00:42:00] get his name correct. Incorrect. K
[00:42:02] Lamali Kamali Rashid. Kamali Rashid is a
[00:42:06] high-ranking Iranian military officer as
[00:42:09] well as two of the top nuclear
[00:42:11] scientists in Iran.
[00:42:14] Additional explosions have also just
[00:42:15] been reported at the nuclear facility in
[00:42:18] Natans.
[00:42:19] So for for those who um are deeply
[00:42:22] concerned about the prospect of nuclear
[00:42:23] war, you should be very very happy that
[00:42:25] Iran appears not to be on the verge of
[00:42:29] achieving it quite so quickly anymore.
[00:42:32] In just a moment, we are going to be
[00:42:35] joined
[00:42:38] by Amit Seal who is a reporter from
[00:42:41] Israel. Also, again, the the fact is
[00:42:44] that what Israel just did is very much
[00:42:45] in keeping with what President Trump
[00:42:47] wanted to happen, meaning no Iranian
[00:42:49] nuclear weapon. And whether that is
[00:42:51] achieved by American diplomatic leisure
[00:42:54] domain, which was not going to happen.
[00:42:55] I've said this from the beginning. It
[00:42:57] was not going to happen. Iran was never
[00:42:58] going to voluntarily give up its pathway
[00:43:00] to a nuclear bomb. It was not going to
[00:43:02] happen. Iran could have done it at any
[00:43:04] time. Just remember, in the same way
[00:43:06] that the war in Gaza could be over today
[00:43:07] if Hamas went into exile and gave up the
[00:43:09] hostages, Iran could have re-entered the
[00:43:11] world economy at any time for the past
[00:43:13] several decades simply by giving up its
[00:43:15] nuclear regime and has decided not to do
[00:43:17] that. President Trump has said over and
[00:43:19] over and over again, Iran can't have
[00:43:21] nuclear weapons over and over and over
[00:43:22] again that a JCPOA 2.0 would not cut it.
[00:43:26] And Israel simply reified what the on
[00:43:29] the ground situation was.
[00:43:32] So again, for for those who are just
[00:43:33] tuning in, Israel has been spending the
[00:43:35] evening striking Iran's nuclear
[00:43:37] facilities as well as the head of the
[00:43:39] Iranian Revolutionary Guard who was
[00:43:41] killed in the attack.
[00:43:44] The videos emerging from Tahran. Videos
[00:43:47] emerging also from Natans. There's smoke
[00:43:50] coming from the Natans Iran nuclear
[00:43:51] facility.
[00:43:53] President Trump, according to the Wall
[00:43:54] Street Journal, is scheduled to
[00:43:56] participate in a National Security
[00:43:57] Council meeting Friday at 11:00 a.m. at
[00:44:00] the White House, according to his
[00:44:01] official schedule. The White House
[00:44:02] offered no other information about the
[00:44:04] meeting,
[00:44:06] and we will see just how deeply Israel
[00:44:09] is able to damage the nuclear
[00:44:10] facilities. But this is only step one.
[00:44:12] Israel has already announced that they
[00:44:14] are going to continue these attacks.
[00:44:16] This is not a one-off.
[00:44:19] This is the largest attack on Iran since
[00:44:21] the Iran Iraq war of 1990.
[00:44:26] And again,
[00:44:28] the the it would let's put it this way,
[00:44:30] I would be very very surprised if there
[00:44:31] was no intelligence cooperation between
[00:44:33] Israel and the United States on this.
[00:44:35] This obviously did not come as a
[00:44:37] full-scale surprise to the United
[00:44:39] States.
[00:44:43] So, we'll continue bringing you updates
[00:44:45] all evening long.
[00:44:49] And the the
[00:44:51] the fact that President Trump spent
[00:44:53] months, weeks, months trying to get the
[00:44:55] Iranians to take a deal and they would
[00:44:57] not for hell or high water take the deal
[00:45:00] is why this is happening. That is why
[00:45:02] this is happening right now. Joining us
[00:45:03] on the line is maybe the most connected
[00:45:05] reporter and political analyst in
[00:45:07] Israel, Amit Seel. Of course, you can
[00:45:09] watch him on channel 12 when you're in
[00:45:10] Israel. And I highly recommend his
[00:45:12] Telegram channel, which is excellent.
[00:45:14] Amid, thanks so much for joining the
[00:45:15] program. Thanks, Ben. Good morning from
[00:45:18] Jerusalem.
[00:45:20] Yeah. So, first of all, yeah, I see that
[00:45:22] you're broadcasting from a booklined
[00:45:24] room. I assume that that is, if not a
[00:45:26] mammad, close to a mammad, given the
[00:45:28] situation in Israel. I expect that there
[00:45:30] the expectations are in Israel that
[00:45:32] there will be a barrage of incoming
[00:45:33] Iranian ordinance sometime this morning,
[00:45:35] I would assume. Yes. Actually, I think
[00:45:38] it it should have happened already. Uh
[00:45:40] but the Iranians are shocked. Israel
[00:45:42] just
[00:45:44] um killed
[00:45:46] give or take two dozens of its
[00:45:48] leadership including the ide the
[00:45:52] many senior officials um and the nuclear
[00:45:56] scientists. But yes, we do expect a a a
[00:46:00] harsh Iranian response. Last time uh on
[00:46:03] October 1st, 2024, it was more than 200
[00:46:06] ballistic missiles. So I would say it's
[00:46:09] it can be even more than this which
[00:46:12] means we are going to um tough days.
[00:46:17] So Am obviously there have been a
[00:46:20] long-standing debate in Israel over when
[00:46:21] to do this. There is virtual unonymity
[00:46:23] in Israel that this needed to be done.
[00:46:25] What do you think were the factors that
[00:46:26] led to Prime Minister Netanyahu finally
[00:46:28] pulling the trigger? Because obviously
[00:46:30] there were a lot of people advocating
[00:46:31] that he do this months and months and
[00:46:33] months ago specifically after Israel
[00:46:34] cleared the skies above Iran.
[00:46:37] Well, Israel, Israel's Netanyahu's res
[00:46:41] was attacking Iran, preventing Iran from
[00:46:43] obtaining a nuclear weapon. What
[00:46:45] happened here began on October 7th, the
[00:46:48] moment that two Iranian supported the
[00:46:51] commando divisions invaded Israel from
[00:46:53] Gaza led to a full-scale war in the
[00:46:56] Middle East. And there is an
[00:46:59] understanding in Israel that Iran, the
[00:47:02] head of the snake, the head of the
[00:47:04] octopus must be cut. Now, here's the
[00:47:06] thing. Prior to October 7th, and this is
[00:47:09] something that no one could have seen
[00:47:12] back then, uh there was a fear in Israel
[00:47:15] to attack Iran because uh the fear was
[00:47:18] that Kamas andbalah would reiterate,
[00:47:21] thus leading to a regional war. Now,
[00:47:24] attacking Iran is the end of the
[00:47:25] regional war. Kamas is give or take
[00:47:27] eliminated. Is paralyzed. The Houthis is
[00:47:30] are not a real risk. So, it's Iran
[00:47:33] alone. And if you bear in mind that
[00:47:36] Israel already destroyed Iran's
[00:47:40] anti-aircraft systems like S300, you see
[00:47:44] that I don't know what I mean I I'm in
[00:47:46] terms of sucker. There is no goalkeeper
[00:47:50] in the in the Iranian team. And I think
[00:47:53] this what led to the Israel decision by
[00:47:55] the way coordinated with President Trump
[00:47:58] to attack Iran.
[00:48:00] So you say they're coordinated with
[00:48:02] President Trump. Obviously, the Trump
[00:48:03] administration has said that they were
[00:48:04] not involved in the strikes. There was
[00:48:06] supposed to theoretically be a
[00:48:07] negotiation between Steve Wickoff, the
[00:48:09] special envoy, and Iranian envoys on
[00:48:12] Sunday. Ron Durmer, who of course
[00:48:13] special adviser to to the prime minister
[00:48:15] in Israel, was going to brief Wickoff
[00:48:17] and discuss with Wikov before that
[00:48:18] meeting actually happened. What do you
[00:48:20] make of all the talk about what was
[00:48:22] supposed to happen in Oman on Sunday?
[00:48:23] Was that a misdirect? Was that the
[00:48:25] Israelis basically deciding, listen,
[00:48:27] these talks are going nowhere and the
[00:48:28] Americans may as well keep their hands
[00:48:30] clean? What do you think was happening
[00:48:31] here? I I I think it's fully coordinated
[00:48:33] and I'll explain. President Trump on on
[00:48:36] April 12th gave had given Iran 60 days
[00:48:40] for negotiations. Today, June 13 Israeli
[00:48:43] time marks the 61st day, which means
[00:48:47] that Trump actually
[00:48:50] did what he had promised. So, this is
[00:48:52] one thing. The second is that it's quite
[00:48:54] smart in my opinion from Secretary Rubio
[00:48:57] and the US administration to say that
[00:48:59] this is an Israeli an an Israeli strike
[00:49:03] which is of course correct because they
[00:49:06] don't want Americans to be hit by
[00:49:08] Iranians
[00:49:10] across the Middle East. But I do think
[00:49:13] and I know that it is fully coordinated
[00:49:16] including the misleading I I would call
[00:49:18] all the last weeks as a campaign of what
[00:49:22] was defined in Sherlock Holmes books
[00:49:25] hide in plain sight. You cannot actually
[00:49:28] disguise uh such preparations for
[00:49:31] attacks. Israel is a small country and
[00:49:33] when dozens of air aircrafts are taking
[00:49:37] off from military bases across Israel,
[00:49:39] every Israeli hears it. So the idea was
[00:49:43] to actually externalize it, to actually
[00:49:46] give it publicity, thus giving Iranians
[00:49:50] the thought that uh if it's such a
[00:49:53] secret, it doesn't make any sense that
[00:49:55] that they are going to to to attack us.
[00:49:58] I mean they cannot attack us after they
[00:50:00] announced. Well, they could. You see
[00:50:03] that the leadership of the Iranian
[00:50:04] regime, the Iranian military
[00:50:08] senior figures didn't understand, didn't
[00:50:12] see it coming. They were sleeping in
[00:50:14] their beds while killed by Msada agents,
[00:50:17] by Israeli missiles, and by other secret
[00:50:21] weapons.
[00:50:24] So Ami, you know, looking at the course
[00:50:26] of the next few days, we've heard from
[00:50:27] the IDF, this is going to be a multi-day
[00:50:28] operation. This is not a one-off. This
[00:50:30] is not one bombing run. And we also know
[00:50:32] that, as you say, Iran is likely to fire
[00:50:34] back a large barrage of missiles.
[00:50:36] There's also been some talk about Iran
[00:50:38] activating terror cells in the so-called
[00:50:40] West Bank, Judea, and Samaria, the
[00:50:41] possibility of attacks across the border
[00:50:43] from Lebanon. What are you expecting in
[00:50:45] Israel? Well, here is the Iranian
[00:50:47] tragedy. They they have done all of this
[00:50:50] for the last decades. which means that
[00:50:53] they now don't have any weapons that
[00:50:56] they've not that they have not used so
[00:50:58] far. They tried to actually initiate
[00:51:01] terrorist attacks in Israel prior to
[00:51:03] October 7th. They actually helped and
[00:51:05] funded October 7th. They funded the
[00:51:08] Houthis and Kamas. So now they are
[00:51:10] alone. Yes, they can fire hundreds of
[00:51:13] ballistic missiles, but Israel has
[00:51:16] interceptors. I guess there is going to
[00:51:18] be damage, but it's not something
[00:51:20] permanent or devastating.
[00:51:22] And and I guess and I even more than
[00:51:25] guess that the US would help Israel to
[00:51:29] actually defend itself as it did under
[00:51:32] the Biden administration in April 2024.
[00:51:38] So yeah, again, looking at at where you
[00:51:40] think this is going. So it's it's
[00:51:42] unclear at this point. There was a lot
[00:51:43] of talk before this attack that Israel,
[00:51:46] did they have the capacity to actually
[00:51:48] take out the nuclear facilities? What
[00:51:49] kind of damage could they do? And so,
[00:51:52] obviously, Israel has extraordinary
[00:51:53] intelligence penetration of Iran. I
[00:51:55] mean, their ability to take out top
[00:51:57] leaders in Iran is astonishing. I mean,
[00:51:59] we're now learning that perhaps two
[00:52:01] dozen senior figures at the top,
[00:52:03] including possibly Ali Shamhani, who's
[00:52:05] the head of the Iranian nuclear program
[00:52:06] and a senior adviser to the Supreme
[00:52:08] Leader Kamei, may have been taken out
[00:52:10] tonight. Now that Israel has always been
[00:52:12] very good at the question was always a
[00:52:14] question of ordinance when it came to
[00:52:15] Natans, Fordau, some of the nuclear
[00:52:17] facilities that were supposedly very
[00:52:19] heavily protected, heavily cemented.
[00:52:20] What do you make of that? Okay, so two
[00:52:22] things. First, what we see here is only
[00:52:24] the first phase in a a quite a long
[00:52:30] attack. Um, this was only the first
[00:52:33] round. um eliminating the leadership
[00:52:36] then eliminating the rest of the
[00:52:38] anti-aircraft systems and then comes the
[00:52:41] nuclear the Iranian nuclear program. We
[00:52:44] already see smoke coming from Natans and
[00:52:47] K and other nuclear facilities. As far
[00:52:51] as I know, Israel can take the nuclear
[00:52:53] program 18 to 24 months back. And here
[00:52:56] is the American question. Would
[00:52:59] President Trump say we do not we have
[00:53:03] not taken part in this Israeli attack?
[00:53:06] But now if you try to recover your
[00:53:09] nuclear abilities, you have business
[00:53:12] with us. We would attack. This is the
[00:53:15] question. So there is an Israeli attack
[00:53:18] and the question to follow is that would
[00:53:21] will there be an American stick?
[00:53:26] So the Israelis have said so far that
[00:53:28] there is no regime change in progress
[00:53:30] that they that they're not looking for
[00:53:31] regime change at this point. They
[00:53:33] however did take out the entire top
[00:53:34] echelon it appears of the IRGC and
[00:53:37] obviously they they have taken out the
[00:53:40] the nuclear facilities or at least
[00:53:41] severely hampered them or will this
[00:53:43] week. Now given that fact does Israel
[00:53:46] does Israel have an assessment of the
[00:53:48] stability of the Iranian regime? Are
[00:53:51] they are they in trouble or are they
[00:53:52] still stable despite all of their
[00:53:55] economic limitations and now severe
[00:53:56] military limitations?
[00:53:59] There are military limitations. Iran is
[00:54:01] a uh sick country with extremely
[00:54:04] unpopular, corrupt regime. And the
[00:54:07] sentiment in Israel over the last few
[00:54:09] months was that following the the the
[00:54:11] billions of dollars wasted from the
[00:54:14] Iranian taxpayer money on projects like
[00:54:18] Hamas, uh it would require uh only a
[00:54:22] small
[00:54:25] another small step to actually topple
[00:54:27] the Iranian regime. Now, we don't know
[00:54:29] how to tackle regimes. It never happens
[00:54:31] as you expected. Americans are fully
[00:54:34] aware of it. Israelis are aware of it.
[00:54:36] So, I can't predict what is going to
[00:54:38] happen to the Iranian regime. I just
[00:54:40] know that when millions of Iranians woke
[00:54:43] up in Thran in the middle of the night,
[00:54:46] in the dead of the night to hear
[00:54:47] explosions, to hear the death of of
[00:54:51] senior figures, it's actually not going
[00:54:54] to strengthen the Iranian regime.
[00:54:58] Well, that is Amid Seal. Again, one of
[00:54:59] the best reporters in Israel. You should
[00:55:01] check out his Telegram channel, Amit
[00:55:03] Seagel. Amid really appreciate the time
[00:55:05] and stay safe. Thank you so much.
[00:55:09] Well, in just a few minutes, Senator Ted
[00:55:11] Cruz is scheduled to join us as well. We
[00:55:14] are covering obviously soup to nuts,
[00:55:15] what's going on in Iran tonight. Iranian
[00:55:18] sources are now reporting that the
[00:55:21] commander of the KM alia compound in
[00:55:24] Tehran, Major General Kulam Ali Rashid
[00:55:26] was also killed. According to sources,
[00:55:29] Dr. Fdawan Abbasi, who previously headed
[00:55:31] the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran,
[00:55:33] is dead as well. So, a huge number of
[00:55:36] top officials in Iran have now been
[00:55:39] killed by the Israelis. That is an
[00:55:41] astonishing achievement. And one of the
[00:55:44] top commanders, the chief commander of
[00:55:46] the IRGC, this Major General Hussein
[00:55:48] Salami, literally two days ago said,
[00:55:50] quote, "Our next confrontation with the
[00:55:52] Israelis will be far more crushing,
[00:55:53] devastating, and destructive." Well,
[00:55:55] he's not going to live to see it since
[00:55:56] he's now dead. And what we are watching
[00:55:58] is again a a a truly sophisticated
[00:56:02] military operation carried out by the
[00:56:04] Israelis. Iranian television has already
[00:56:06] added a black ribbon of mourning onto
[00:56:09] their posts on television. So far, CNN
[00:56:13] is reporting no US involvement and no US
[00:56:15] assistance. Again, there's a lot of
[00:56:16] different information that's coming out
[00:56:18] at this point. Here was CNN reporting
[00:56:20] this just a few moments ago.
[00:56:23] In terms of a uh US involvement, no
[00:56:27] indication of US involvement at this
[00:56:29] point or or is there what are you
[00:56:32] hearing?
[00:56:34] Anderson, it's an excellent question
[00:56:36] because there's normally very close
[00:56:37] coordination between the US and Israel,
[00:56:39] especially when it comes to Iran and
[00:56:41] threats in the region and we have seen
[00:56:43] that in previous rounds when it comes
[00:56:45] to, for example, the air defense of
[00:56:47] Israel against Iranian ballistic missile
[00:56:49] and drone attacks. This time it it seems
[00:56:51] like there's at least some kind of shift
[00:56:53] here. We have uh just heard from a US
[00:56:56] official that the US is aware of the
[00:56:58] strikes, but crucially there is no US
[00:57:00] involvement and no US assistance. an
[00:57:03] indication that Israel may well have
[00:57:05] moved on its own here. Uh a key
[00:57:07] question, how much if any notification
[00:57:09] did they give the United States? Uh it's
[00:57:12] a significant statement from that US
[00:57:14] official uh because it shows the
[00:57:16] different tracks here as the US at least
[00:57:19] at least from what we understand was
[00:57:20] trying to pursue diplomacy. Israel had
[00:57:23] other intents preparing a strike over
[00:57:25] the course of the past several weeks.
[00:57:27] That's something the US was watching
[00:57:28] closely and now ultimately making the
[00:57:31] decision uh to carry out that strike
[00:57:33] here at least from what we understand
[00:57:35] without US involvement and without US
[00:57:38] assistance. There is normally a
[00:57:40] tremendous amount of cooperation
[00:57:41] especially on the intel and preparation
[00:57:43] side of these but here it doesn't seem
[00:57:45] like there was that level uh that we
[00:57:47] have seen in the past. Perhaps it
[00:57:50] shouldn't be too much of a surprise. We
[00:57:51] have seen the US act on its own without
[00:57:55] uh Israel several times. Specifically
[00:57:57] Trump making decisions on his own and
[00:57:59] that would be for example here a
[00:58:01] ceasefire deal with the Houthis sort of
[00:58:03] surprising Netanyahu in the Oval Office
[00:58:05] with with talks on Iran. And there have
[00:58:07] been several other instances for example
[00:58:09] when Trump came to the region. There is
[00:58:10] conflicting reporting regarding the
[00:58:13] coordination between America and Israel
[00:58:15] over this particular strike. Suffice it
[00:58:18] to say that President Trump said no
[00:58:20] nuclear Iran and Israel took that
[00:58:22] seriously. Joining us on the line
[00:58:24] tonight, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
[00:58:26] Senator, thanks so much for taking the
[00:58:27] time. Pen, good, good to be with you.
[00:58:30] So, just a few moments ago, you tweeted
[00:58:32] out, "President Trump has been clear
[00:58:33] that Iran must completely dismantle
[00:58:34] their nuclear capacity. Iran has given
[00:58:36] President Trump the middle finger.
[00:58:38] Israel is acting to defend themselves
[00:58:39] and we should stand with them." What
[00:58:41] What do you make of the administration's
[00:58:43] position on this so far? So, Secretary
[00:58:45] Rubio said that Israel acted on its own.
[00:58:47] Also said that if you touch American
[00:58:48] soldiers, we will essentially pummel
[00:58:50] you. You will not exist anymore, which
[00:58:52] is absolutely correct. What What do you
[00:58:55] make of the the current status of
[00:58:56] relations there? Well, listen, there are
[00:58:58] two messages that are critical to be
[00:59:00] heard tonight. Number one, America
[00:59:02] stands unequivocally with Israel.
[00:59:05] Period. The end. That is critically
[00:59:07] important. Israel is acting to defend
[00:59:10] herself to defend herself against the
[00:59:12] existential threat of an Iranian nuclear
[00:59:14] weapon. But number two, and this is
[00:59:16] equally important, look, we have a very
[00:59:19] large number of American servicemen and
[00:59:21] women in bases in the Middle East that
[00:59:23] are in harm's way. And and and I want to
[00:59:26] ask every one of your listeners, every
[00:59:28] one of your viewers, if you're a person
[00:59:30] of faith, pray for Israel tonight. Pray
[00:59:33] for Israel. Pray for Jerusalem. and pray
[00:59:36] for our servicemen and women, the
[00:59:37] Americans in harm's way. A and a message
[00:59:40] that I think is critically important I
[00:59:42] want the Ayatollah to hear. If you
[00:59:44] attack American military bases, if you
[00:59:47] kill even a single American serviceman
[00:59:50] or woman, I am absolutely confident that
[00:59:53] President Trump will respond with
[00:59:56] overwhelming force.
[00:59:59] Understand that every serviceman and
[01:00:00] women we have in the Middle East is at
[01:00:02] risk tonight. They are in harm's way.
[01:00:04] And millions of Israelis, I spoke
[01:00:06] earlier this evening, Ben, with with the
[01:00:08] Israeli ambassador to the United States.
[01:00:10] He described some incredible successes
[01:00:12] they're winning in this war tonight.
[01:00:14] Successes taking out the head of the
[01:00:16] IRGC, taking out the successor to the
[01:00:19] head of the IRGC, doing massive damage
[01:00:22] to Natans, the the nuclear facility that
[01:00:25] that Iran is building. All of those are
[01:00:27] incredibly important. But at the same
[01:00:28] time, the people of Israel are standing
[01:00:31] either in bomb shelters or near bomb
[01:00:34] shelters because Iran has a massive
[01:00:36] ballistic missile arsenal and there is a
[01:00:40] very real risk in the coming hours that
[01:00:42] we will see a massive ballistic missile
[01:00:44] strike on Israel. Now, Israel will keep
[01:00:46] trying to get the job done. Prime
[01:00:48] Minister Netanyahu understands that. He
[01:00:50] understands that there may be a a
[01:00:52] significant number of Israelis whose
[01:00:54] lives are lost tonight. But the reason I
[01:00:56] believe he did this I is his judgment
[01:00:59] that an Iranian nuclear weapon risks
[01:01:02] millions of Israelis being murdered.
[01:01:04] Because if if the Ayatollah acquires
[01:01:08] nuclear weapons, I think there's a very
[01:01:09] real possibility we could discover it
[01:01:12] through a detonation over the skies of
[01:01:14] Tel Aviv or New York or Los Angeles. And
[01:01:16] and so Israel is acting to defend
[01:01:19] herself and to keep her citizens safe.
[01:01:22] Now, you've mentioned several times
[01:01:24] there, Senator Cruz, what is absolutely
[01:01:26] true, which is that obviously we do have
[01:01:27] an enormous number of troops in this
[01:01:29] area. Iran has been threatening those
[01:01:31] troops. It would be the worst mistake
[01:01:32] they ever made. I mean, truly the worst
[01:01:34] mistake they ever made would be touching
[01:01:35] American troops because not only would
[01:01:37] they themselves, theas be at severe risk
[01:01:39] of physical harm, but also the the oil
[01:01:42] fields, which are the remaining asset of
[01:01:44] the Iranian regime, are wide open at
[01:01:46] this point. And that is the that that's
[01:01:48] the dog that's not biting yet. Israel so
[01:01:49] far has struck military targets. They've
[01:01:52] struck nuclear targets. They've struck
[01:01:54] nuclear scientists and military leaders,
[01:01:56] but they've not touched the final
[01:01:57] remaining domino in the Iranian economy
[01:01:59] and the only earning part of the Iranian
[01:02:02] economy, which is the oil fields. If the
[01:02:03] oil fields were to go up in flames,
[01:02:05] there's no way the regime could possibly
[01:02:06] survive that gi given, you know, the
[01:02:08] current situation there. And so, when
[01:02:10] you talk about the fact that the
[01:02:12] Iranians better not screw with the
[01:02:15] United States, I mean, that obviously is
[01:02:16] true. And and again, I think that the
[01:02:17] way this worked out for the United
[01:02:19] States is actually quite quite
[01:02:20] taliatory. I think this is quite
[01:02:21] wonderful for the United States. The
[01:02:22] Israelis went and did this on their own.
[01:02:24] The United States was not directly
[01:02:25] involved, not implicated in this attack.
[01:02:28] And and that means that if the Iranians
[01:02:30] decide to try and take it out on the
[01:02:31] United States, that's on their head.
[01:02:33] Yeah. Look, I I think that's exactly
[01:02:35] right. I think there will be two
[01:02:36] consequences if Iran attacks America. I
[01:02:39] think number one, you're right that
[01:02:40] their their oil facilities will be taken
[01:02:43] out. That is devastating to the economy
[01:02:45] of Iran. But I think there's a very real
[01:02:47] possibility if they attack and murder US
[01:02:49] service men and women that the Ayatollah
[01:02:51] may not live through the night. And and
[01:02:53] and so the consequences of of attacking
[01:02:56] Americans are massive. And in in this
[01:02:58] case, and I want to say something else.
[01:03:00] Look, Israel is in a very real sense
[01:03:02] doing a favor to America tonight.
[01:03:06] The Ayatollah regularly in front of mobs
[01:03:09] chants death to America and death to
[01:03:11] Israel. If history teaches anything, it
[01:03:15] is that if someone tells you they want
[01:03:17] to murder you, you should believe them.
[01:03:20] The Ayatollah tonight, Israel took out
[01:03:23] the head of the IRGC. The IRGC is
[01:03:25] responsible for murdering over 600 US
[01:03:28] servicemen and women. And so, in a very
[01:03:30] real sense, Israel has struck back at at
[01:03:34] at a regime that has actively murdered
[01:03:37] Americans, that is the leading state
[01:03:38] sponsor of terrorism. And by the way,
[01:03:41] Iran's war of terror was financed by the
[01:03:45] over 100 billion dollars that that the
[01:03:48] Biden administration and Democrats
[01:03:50] flooded into Iran. And this is Israel
[01:03:53] reacting to defend themselves from the
[01:03:55] billions of dollars that Joe Biden and
[01:03:57] the Democrats allowed the Ayatollah to
[01:04:00] use to develop nuclear weapons.
[01:04:04] You know, President Trump is the right
[01:04:05] president for this unique moment in
[01:04:06] time. I mean, it takes a real level of
[01:04:08] moral clarity to understand the threat
[01:04:09] that Iran poses. It's something that he
[01:04:11] has been absolutely 100% clear on since
[01:04:13] the first day he ran for office that the
[01:04:15] JCPOA put in place by President Obama
[01:04:17] was a disaster area. He was the the
[01:04:19] president who pulled us out of the
[01:04:20] JCPOA. And he has maintained
[01:04:22] consistently despite all of the supposed
[01:04:24] media coverage from right and left that
[01:04:26] he had changed any position. He has
[01:04:28] never changed his position on the idea
[01:04:29] that Iran could never go nuclear and
[01:04:30] that their nuclear program had to be
[01:04:32] completely dismantled. And so the fact
[01:04:34] that he continued to convey that that
[01:04:36] that gave Israel for sure the breathing
[01:04:38] room to be able to go and do this attack
[01:04:39] on its own. Well, Bana, as you know, I I
[01:04:42] led a letter of 52 Republican senators
[01:04:45] that that we all came together and we
[01:04:47] said we agree with President Donald J.
[01:04:49] Trump. President Trump has said
[01:04:51] repeatedly the red line is that Iran
[01:04:54] must have complete dismantlement of its
[01:04:57] enrichment capacity. That every
[01:04:59] centrifuge must be shut down. They must
[01:05:02] have no capacity to enrich uranium at
[01:05:04] all. Now what President Trump said is
[01:05:07] you can either do that nicely through
[01:05:09] diplomacy or you can do that through
[01:05:11] warfare. And I will say Iran I think
[01:05:15] what happened tonight was inevitable. Uh
[01:05:17] Iran this morning announced they were
[01:05:20] not going to shut down any centrifuge
[01:05:22] and indeed they were going to build more
[01:05:24] that they were moving full speed ahead.
[01:05:26] And and that announcement was
[01:05:27] effectively a middle finger to President
[01:05:30] Trump. And it was also telling Israel,
[01:05:33] you better attack us now because we're
[01:05:35] going to keep going till we get a
[01:05:37] nuclear weapon. And once we get a
[01:05:39] nuclear weapon, millions of Israelis are
[01:05:41] at risk. And so this was a decision the
[01:05:43] Ayatollah provoked. I will also note
[01:05:46] that President Trump said on April 12th,
[01:05:48] he told Iran, you have 60 days to
[01:05:52] negotiate.
[01:05:53] Today is the 60th day. And so Iran
[01:05:57] decided we don't want to negotiate. We
[01:05:59] don't want peace. We want a nuclear
[01:06:01] weapon. Because when the Ayatollah says
[01:06:04] death to Israel and death to America, I
[01:06:08] believe him. And that's why Israel is
[01:06:10] acting tonight.
[01:06:13] Senator Cruz, the spokesman for the
[01:06:14] general staff of the Iranian Armed
[01:06:15] Forces, put out a statement, and I will
[01:06:17] I will see how well you parse this text
[01:06:19] because it it's sort of fascinating what
[01:06:20] it doesn't say. Says, "The Zionist enemy
[01:06:22] and the United States will pay a hefty
[01:06:24] price. Iran will respond harshly to the
[01:06:25] Zionist regime. The Zionist attack on
[01:06:27] civilian areas has been verified and our
[01:06:29] response will be certain. Iran is at
[01:06:31] 100% military capability and the enemy
[01:06:33] will suffer a painful blow." Well, I
[01:06:35] mean, number one, they are certainly not
[01:06:36] at 100% military capability and they
[01:06:39] like to talk this way all the time. the
[01:06:40] the the parsing of the text that I
[01:06:42] noticed was the spokesperson said the
[01:06:45] Zionist enemy and the United States will
[01:06:46] pay a hefty price. Iran will respond
[01:06:48] harshly to the Zionist regime. I noticed
[01:06:50] that they didn't say that they'd respond
[01:06:52] to the United States because I think
[01:06:54] that they know precisely what you are
[01:06:55] talking about that it's a lot of empty
[01:06:57] verbiage with regard to the United
[01:06:58] States because it is one thing to poke
[01:07:00] at Israel. It is a very different thing
[01:07:02] to poke at the greatest fighting force
[01:07:04] in literally the history of planet
[01:07:05] Earth. Yeah, I I think that's right. The
[01:07:07] most laughable statement element of that
[01:07:10] statement was that that the Iranian
[01:07:12] military force is at 100%. Iran is badly
[01:07:16] and deeply weakened. You look at Israel.
[01:07:18] Israel has utterly decimated Hamas.
[01:07:20] Hamas is a proxy force for Iran. Iran
[01:07:23] provides over 90% of the funding for
[01:07:25] Hamas. Israel has also utterly destroyed
[01:07:29] Hezbollah. uh including through the
[01:07:31] incredible operation with pagers and
[01:07:33] walkie-talkies where where Hezbollah
[01:07:35] gave pagers to their terrorists. The
[01:07:37] pagers blew up and killed and wounded a
[01:07:40] vast number of those terrorists.
[01:07:43] Israel also and and and Iran saw uh uh
[01:07:47] Bashar Assad, the the the dictator of
[01:07:49] Syria and and a puppet for Iran being
[01:07:52] toppled. All of those have weakened Iran
[01:07:55] dramatically, as have uh the the attacks
[01:07:58] taking out the Iranian air defenses. All
[01:08:01] of which means the Iranian military is
[01:08:03] in an incredibly weakened state. Now,
[01:08:05] that being said, Iran has a vast arsenal
[01:08:09] of ballistic missiles and and
[01:08:11] unfortunately what I expect is they are
[01:08:14] going to launch a major attack on
[01:08:16] Israel. Israel knows this. Israel has
[01:08:19] instructed Israelis, be in bomb
[01:08:21] shelters, be near bomb shelters. Um but
[01:08:23] but there is going to be a strike back
[01:08:25] on Israel. My prayers tonight, Heidi and
[01:08:28] I are lifting up the people of Israel
[01:08:30] because I think you will see Israelis
[01:08:32] sadly killed in the coming hours. But
[01:08:36] what is important about the leadership
[01:08:38] of Israel is they have a clarity of
[01:08:40] understanding even though they know that
[01:08:43] this action will endanger some lives in
[01:08:45] Israel, it is far far less dangerous
[01:08:48] than a nuclear Iran that could detonate
[01:08:51] a nuclear weapon and murder millions of
[01:08:54] Israelis. you know, the former head of
[01:08:56] of of Iran's uh nuclear research who who
[01:09:00] went to meet his maker and many say at
[01:09:02] the hands of the MSAD, the Israeli
[01:09:04] intelligence services, he had written
[01:09:07] into his last will in testament that he
[01:09:09] wanted written onto his tombstone, here
[01:09:13] lies a man who seeks the annihilation of
[01:09:16] Israel. That's the level of billious
[01:09:19] hatred on behalf of of the Ayatollas and
[01:09:22] the Mullas and Iran. And Israel
[01:09:24] understands that with a very cleareyed
[01:09:26] reality. I believe President Trump does
[01:09:28] too. And so we're going to stand up and
[01:09:30] defend ourselves uh against these very
[01:09:33] real threats.
[01:09:36] Well, that of course the Senator Ted
[01:09:37] Cruz of Texas. Senator Cruz. Appreciate
[01:09:39] as always your insight and your moral
[01:09:40] clarity.
[01:09:42] Thank you, man. I appreciate you
[01:09:44] particularly tonight.
[01:09:47] Well, folks, we've been covering this.
[01:09:48] We'll continue to cover this tomorrow on
[01:09:50] the show. It appears that Israel's
[01:09:52] attacks are ongoing. It is the it is
[01:09:55] full day in in Iran right now. The time
[01:09:57] in Thran is now 6:29 a.m.
[01:10:01] It is approximately an hour earlier in
[01:10:04] the state of Israel. Israel is
[01:10:06] apparently expecting some sort of
[01:10:09] response presumably in the next couple
[01:10:11] of hours.
[01:10:13] We will see whether that response
[01:10:17] amounts to hundreds of missiles, what
[01:10:18] that looks like. The bottom line is that
[01:10:22] Israel's operation thus far has been
[01:10:24] extraordinarily successful by all
[01:10:26] available metrics.
[01:10:29] Israeli sources are telling Amid Seel
[01:10:30] that the attack on Iran was preceded by
[01:10:32] a deception operation that included
[01:10:34] media and political components
[01:10:36] domestically and internationally with
[01:10:37] participation of a wide variety of
[01:10:39] parties.
[01:10:42] So far what we know is that Israel has
[01:10:44] taken out perhaps the entire top layer
[01:10:46] of the IRGC.
[01:10:49] They have taken out top nuclear
[01:10:50] scientists and there is smoke rising
[01:10:52] over the nuclear facilities in Natans
[01:10:55] and this is the beginning. So we'll
[01:10:57] continue to watch this as all of it
[01:10:58] unfolds. For now, good night. We'll see
[01:11:01] you tomorrow morning here on the Bench
[01:11:03] Bureau
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