On this episode of News World. The stunning collapse of more than fifty three years of Alasad family rule has been described as a historic moment. Nearly fourteen years after Syrian's rose in peaceful protest against the government that met them with violence that quickly spiraled into a bloody civil war. In the early hours of Sunday morning, December eighth, opposition forces declared Syria liberated from the rule of President Bashar al Assad as opposition forces surged into the capitol here to talk about the fall of Assad and what is next for Syria and the region. I'm really pleased to welcome my guest, Yakov Katz, the former editor in chief of the Jerusalem Post, author of Shadow Strike, Inside Israel's secret mission to eliminate Syrian nuclear power, somebody who I read constantly in regard as one of the shrewdest and wisest observers of the Middle East. And I'm just thrilled that he's here with us. Yakov, welcome and thank you for joining me on News World.

On this episode of News World. The stunning collapse of more than fifty three years of Alasad family rule has been described as a historic moment. Nearly fourteen years after Syrian's rose in peaceful protest against the government that met them with violence that quickly spiraled into a bloody civil war. In the early hours of Sunday morning, December eighth, opposition forces declared Syria liberated from the rule of President Bashar al Assad as opposition forces surged into the capitol here to talk about the fall of Assad and what is next for Syria and the region. I'm really pleased to welcome my guest, Yakov Katz, the former editor in chief of the Jerusalem Post, author of Shadow Strike, Inside Israel's secret mission to eliminate Syrian nuclear power, somebody who I read constantly in regard as one of the shrewdest and wisest observers of the Middle East. And I'm just thrilled that he's here with us. Yakov, welcome and thank you for joining me on News World.

Mister speaker, it's a great to be with you in a real honor.

Mister speaker, it's a great to be with you in a real honor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You know you've covered the ongoing Syrian civil war extensively. Can you start by talking about the history of the Assad family, how they came into power.

You know you've covered the ongoing Syrian civil war extensively. Can you start by talking about the history of the Assad family, how they came into power.

Definitely Pashar Alasad, who had led Syria for the last twenty four years and is now somewhere in Russia. He was the son of Hafeesa Sad. His father was a military officer who took over Syria in a violent way back in about nineteen seventy one or so and led it with an iron fist for over thirty years, almost till about two thousand when he passed away. Mike Hayden, who I know that you know well, was the former head of the CIA, once compared the Asad family to me to the Corleone family from the Godfather movie.

Definitely Pashar Alasad, who had led Syria for the last twenty four years and is now somewhere in Russia. He was the son of Hafeesa Sad. His father was a military officer who took over Syria in a violent way back in about nineteen seventy one or so and led it with an iron fist for over thirty years, almost till about two thousand when he passed away. Mike Hayden, who I know that you know well, was the former head of the CIA, once compared the Asad family to me to the Corleone family from the Godfather movie.

Right.

Right.

You had the father, the Godfather, who was Kafez, and then there was actually another brother, Basil, who was meant to be the heir to his father. He was killed in a driving accident somewhere in Syria a bunch of years ago. They actually blamed the Israeli Mo Sad for it, but when they had to look for somebody else, they went to Bashar.

You had the father, the Godfather, who was Kafez, and then there was actually another brother, Basil, who was meant to be the heir to his father. He was killed in a driving accident somewhere in Syria a bunch of years ago. They actually blamed the Israeli Mo Sad for it, but when they had to look for somebody else, they went to Bashar.

Bashar was not.

Bashar was not.

Believed to be necessarily a tough guy. He was an eye doctor, he had done some training. Actually in the United Kingdom, he was seen as somebody who might even be liberal, more progressive, would be willing to open up Syria to the modern age. But actually when he came into office, he was a huge disappointment to those who thought that he might be taking Syria in a new direction. And just to give you a sense, under Kafez the Father, who wasn't an arch nemesis of Israel, forget, he accumulated massive stockpiles of chemical weapons, built up a huge arsenal of scud missiles, not just scud bees and seas, but also the scud des, the longer range ones. He did this in cooperation with North Korea, with the Russians. But when Bashar took over, what Bashar did was he basically opened up the warehouses to his belah. And not only that, but he also did he mentioned my book earlier, he also decided to embark on a nuclear adventure and together with North Korea, build a nuclear reactor in northeastern Syria, by the way, in a place that today you have these rebels from hts from Kayata Kureal Shams who are there right in that area of Dirazor. So outside the sun really decided to even further solidify and strengthen the alliance between his regime with Iran, with his Belah with North Korea. He took things in a much more dangerous direction. Not to mention, as we all know what happened in the first iteration of the civil war about ten to eleven twelve years ago, when he was using chemical weapons against his own people, killing about five hundred thousand of his own people.

Believed to be necessarily a tough guy. He was an eye doctor, he had done some training. Actually in the United Kingdom, he was seen as somebody who might even be liberal, more progressive, would be willing to open up Syria to the modern age. But actually when he came into office, he was a huge disappointment to those who thought that he might be taking Syria in a new direction. And just to give you a sense, under Kafez the Father, who wasn't an arch nemesis of Israel, forget, he accumulated massive stockpiles of chemical weapons, built up a huge arsenal of scud missiles, not just scud bees and seas, but also the scud des, the longer range ones. He did this in cooperation with North Korea, with the Russians. But when Bashar took over, what Bashar did was he basically opened up the warehouses to his belah. And not only that, but he also did he mentioned my book earlier, he also decided to embark on a nuclear adventure and together with North Korea, build a nuclear reactor in northeastern Syria, by the way, in a place that today you have these rebels from hts from Kayata Kureal Shams who are there right in that area of Dirazor. So outside the sun really decided to even further solidify and strengthen the alliance between his regime with Iran, with his Belah with North Korea. He took things in a much more dangerous direction. Not to mention, as we all know what happened in the first iteration of the civil war about ten to eleven twelve years ago, when he was using chemical weapons against his own people, killing about five hundred thousand of his own people.

But why was his father able to keep an iron grip on the country with the single exception of Hams dramatically less violence than his son.

But why was his father able to keep an iron grip on the country with the single exception of Hams dramatically less violence than his son.

Well, as you mentioned, there was the massacre in nineteen eighty two in Hama where the father Hafez used chemical weapons against his own people, killed thousands. Some of the estimates put it up to forty thousand, with another twenty thousand or so civilians who disappeared. Were seeing even now the images that are coming out of some of these prisons inside Syria of people who have now been released and liberated by the HTS rebels, men and women who were sure that the people who were coming to rescue them were actually Saddam Hussein's soldiers. Right they were stuck in a time, and they were thrown into a dark hole and the key was thrown away, and they were beaten and tortured and just stolen of a life. This was a repressive, violent dictatorship and they have held back their country from being a country that can progress forward.

Well, as you mentioned, there was the massacre in nineteen eighty two in Hama where the father Hafez used chemical weapons against his own people, killed thousands. Some of the estimates put it up to forty thousand, with another twenty thousand or so civilians who disappeared. Were seeing even now the images that are coming out of some of these prisons inside Syria of people who have now been released and liberated by the HTS rebels, men and women who were sure that the people who were coming to rescue them were actually Saddam Hussein's soldiers. Right they were stuck in a time, and they were thrown into a dark hole and the key was thrown away, and they were beaten and tortured and just stolen of a life. This was a repressive, violent dictatorship and they have held back their country from being a country that can progress forward.

Listen, Syria is a.

Listen, Syria is a.

Big country, big in land, big in population, but it's also a country whose economy is completely failed. It is extremely dependent over the last few years on Iran and Iran's assistance. It has been extremely dependent over the last few years on Russia's assistance. And we remember in the First Civil War last decade, Bashar right needed his Blah fighters to come and fight on his behalf as well. So these are people who never really held back or restrained themselves from using any type of weapons or turning guns and even chemical weapon against their own people. That is how you rule through fear.

Big country, big in land, big in population, but it's also a country whose economy is completely failed. It is extremely dependent over the last few years on Iran and Iran's assistance. It has been extremely dependent over the last few years on Russia's assistance. And we remember in the First Civil War last decade, Bashar right needed his Blah fighters to come and fight on his behalf as well. So these are people who never really held back or restrained themselves from using any type of weapons or turning guns and even chemical weapon against their own people. That is how you rule through fear.

In their case, I think they are allow whites who are about five percent of the population, so they had to use fear to offset their extreme minority status.

In their case, I think they are allow whites who are about five percent of the population, so they had to use fear to offset their extreme minority status.

They had to use.

They had to use.

Syria, as you rightly point out, is a country that has long been fractured and splintered.

Syria, as you rightly point out, is a country that has long been fractured and splintered.

If we look even at.

If we look even at.

Syria today, What you have is the Kurds who are in the north east. You have the Drus who are in the southeast. You have the Alo Whites who still have a bit of a pocket in the coast on the western side, on the coast of the Mediterranean. You have Russia, which has two naval bases also on the coast, Tartus and Latakia. You have HHS now the rebel force funded by and supported by President der Dowan of Turkey, which is barreled through from the north west all the way down to the border with Israel. They used to be in the Lee Province, which was on the border with Turkey, but now they've taken over large swaths of land. You have a country that is like five different little countries of its own. You got the Kurds, the Drus, the Russians, the rebels supported by Turkey. This is a huge challenge for Israel because when Israel looks at this, it looks at what its interest is is, how do we get a country that's stable and not going to fall apart turning to a Libya or in Afghanistan and going to be on our border.

Syria today, What you have is the Kurds who are in the north east. You have the Drus who are in the southeast. You have the Alo Whites who still have a bit of a pocket in the coast on the western side, on the coast of the Mediterranean. You have Russia, which has two naval bases also on the coast, Tartus and Latakia. You have HHS now the rebel force funded by and supported by President der Dowan of Turkey, which is barreled through from the north west all the way down to the border with Israel. They used to be in the Lee Province, which was on the border with Turkey, but now they've taken over large swaths of land. You have a country that is like five different little countries of its own. You got the Kurds, the Drus, the Russians, the rebels supported by Turkey. This is a huge challenge for Israel because when Israel looks at this, it looks at what its interest is is, how do we get a country that's stable and not going to fall apart turning to a Libya or in Afghanistan and going to be on our border.

The militan group Hayatar Alsham HTS are they Sunni or Shia?

The militan group Hayatar Alsham HTS are they Sunni or Shia?

So they are Sunni. It's an interesting organization, right. You remember that during the first part of the Gulf War, in the so called Arab Spring, Syria fell apart, right, You had ISIS in Syria.

So they are Sunni. It's an interesting organization, right. You remember that during the first part of the Gulf War, in the so called Arab Spring, Syria fell apart, right, You had ISIS in Syria.

By the way.

By the way.

The American presence that remains, and I forgot to say this before, America is also in Syria. They're on the Eastern Front and near the border with Iraq. They're still there as part of that contingent and that force that was put into Syria to fight against ISIS. They even have a more strategic presence because they're on the Eastern Front, they're on the border between Syria and Iraq. They've been able to also at times prevent the flow of weapons or fighters, bad guys going from Iraq in to Syria and vice versa. So that just adds even more complexity to this.

The American presence that remains, and I forgot to say this before, America is also in Syria. They're on the Eastern Front and near the border with Iraq. They're still there as part of that contingent and that force that was put into Syria to fight against ISIS. They even have a more strategic presence because they're on the Eastern Front, they're on the border between Syria and Iraq. They've been able to also at times prevent the flow of weapons or fighters, bad guys going from Iraq in to Syria and vice versa. So that just adds even more complexity to this.

But HTS and they're sort of embedded with the Curds, aren't they.

But HTS and they're sort of embedded with the Curds, aren't they.

And they're embedded with the Kurds by the way. I mean, if we're opening up the Curds. That's going to be a big question here because the incoming president is going to have to make a big decision whether he stands with the Kurds. Because the Kurds are coming under attack now from HTS, which is operating under a bigger umbrella organization called the Syria National Army. They are coming under attack from them. They are lining up somewhere along the Euphrates River in an area near Diirazor, which is in the northeast of Syria. The Kurds are on one side, the HTS and Syria National Army on the other side, and Air Dowan wants to break the Kurds. He doesn't want them to have their own independence. There is a fierce competition and it's going to be a question for what the incoming administration is going to do. Is it going to stand with the Kurds, not just in verbally or rhetoric, but also in terms of supplies and weaponry and military advice and maybe even some air support. I mean, this is going to be a big one for the president to have to decide what he's going to do, because it's not just standing with the Kurds now, it's standing with the Kurds against Turkey essentially, or at least a proxy of Turkey. Turkey's a member of NATO. This makes things much more complicated.

And they're embedded with the Kurds by the way. I mean, if we're opening up the Curds. That's going to be a big question here because the incoming president is going to have to make a big decision whether he stands with the Kurds. Because the Kurds are coming under attack now from HTS, which is operating under a bigger umbrella organization called the Syria National Army. They are coming under attack from them. They are lining up somewhere along the Euphrates River in an area near Diirazor, which is in the northeast of Syria. The Kurds are on one side, the HTS and Syria National Army on the other side, and Air Dowan wants to break the Kurds. He doesn't want them to have their own independence. There is a fierce competition and it's going to be a question for what the incoming administration is going to do. Is it going to stand with the Kurds, not just in verbally or rhetoric, but also in terms of supplies and weaponry and military advice and maybe even some air support. I mean, this is going to be a big one for the president to have to decide what he's going to do, because it's not just standing with the Kurds now, it's standing with the Kurds against Turkey essentially, or at least a proxy of Turkey. Turkey's a member of NATO. This makes things much more complicated.

We abandon the Kurds in the seventies. They thought they had a whole set of promises and we sincerely meant them until he didn't. The whole saga. The Kurdish people's unbelievable, scattered as they are between Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran, somehow basically surviving for several thousand years, I guess by retreating into the mountains and just making it too expensive to come get them.

We abandon the Kurds in the seventies. They thought they had a whole set of promises and we sincerely meant them until he didn't. The whole saga. The Kurdish people's unbelievable, scattered as they are between Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran, somehow basically surviving for several thousand years, I guess by retreating into the mountains and just making it too expensive to come get them.

But as you know, what's known as the People's Defense Units or by its acronym YPG, which is one of the Kurdish fighting forces, they were very helpful in defeating ISIS over the last decade. They have prisons in their Kurdish controlled territory where there are many ISIS fighters, and you had we all remember, for example, the major victory that YPG had during the siege of Kobani in northern Syria back in twenty fourteen, when the Kurds went in and they did get some support from the US with air support, but it was their troops were on the ground who fought and defeated ISIS. So they are much more an ally of the United States and of the West and you probably know this as well. Israel has some interesting ties with them also, but much more than whatever HTS would be. But back to your question about HTS. They were born out of You remember the Nusra Front, right, which Jabat el Nusra, which was an al Kaeda offshoot that came about during the Syrian Civil War during the so called Arab Spring. And these were radical Islamic Salafi Sunni terrorists, right. Muhammad Abu al Jalani, the leader has a ten million dollar bounty on his head by the United States government. What happened was in twenty sixteen, after Syria had pretty much settled down with Russia's intervention his Milan i Ron, the rebels kind of went to their corner in need Lee Province, and then the Qataris sent some of their Al Jazeera media specialists sober and said, okay, guys, let's do a rebrand. They changed their names. They got rid of the New Surfront. They started to call themselves Kaya takreel Shams, the HTS, and then they trimmed their beards a bit and they started to sing a different tune, which made it seem like maybe they're a little more moderate, And you know, I could tell you new I was on a BBC interview last week and the anchor woman was asking me all about you know why is Israel bombing all these targets in Syria? Right? Israel last week forty eight hours destroyed advanced weapons like chemical weapons, scud missiles, air defense systems instead of really took off all these targets off the tables. They wouldn't fall into rebel hands. And I'm explaining this to her and she says, but why is Israel violating sirius sovereignty? And I said, I think you're missing the point. This isn't Kiir Starmer's labor party that has taken over Syria. These are radical Islamists who were just yesterday a direct subsidiary of al Qaida. So that's who they are.

But as you know, what's known as the People's Defense Units or by its acronym YPG, which is one of the Kurdish fighting forces, they were very helpful in defeating ISIS over the last decade. They have prisons in their Kurdish controlled territory where there are many ISIS fighters, and you had we all remember, for example, the major victory that YPG had during the siege of Kobani in northern Syria back in twenty fourteen, when the Kurds went in and they did get some support from the US with air support, but it was their troops were on the ground who fought and defeated ISIS. So they are much more an ally of the United States and of the West and you probably know this as well. Israel has some interesting ties with them also, but much more than whatever HTS would be. But back to your question about HTS. They were born out of You remember the Nusra Front, right, which Jabat el Nusra, which was an al Kaeda offshoot that came about during the Syrian Civil War during the so called Arab Spring. And these were radical Islamic Salafi Sunni terrorists, right. Muhammad Abu al Jalani, the leader has a ten million dollar bounty on his head by the United States government. What happened was in twenty sixteen, after Syria had pretty much settled down with Russia's intervention his Milan i Ron, the rebels kind of went to their corner in need Lee Province, and then the Qataris sent some of their Al Jazeera media specialists sober and said, okay, guys, let's do a rebrand. They changed their names. They got rid of the New Surfront. They started to call themselves Kaya takreel Shams, the HTS, and then they trimmed their beards a bit and they started to sing a different tune, which made it seem like maybe they're a little more moderate, And you know, I could tell you new I was on a BBC interview last week and the anchor woman was asking me all about you know why is Israel bombing all these targets in Syria? Right? Israel last week forty eight hours destroyed advanced weapons like chemical weapons, scud missiles, air defense systems instead of really took off all these targets off the tables. They wouldn't fall into rebel hands. And I'm explaining this to her and she says, but why is Israel violating sirius sovereignty? And I said, I think you're missing the point. This isn't Kiir Starmer's labor party that has taken over Syria. These are radical Islamists who were just yesterday a direct subsidiary of al Qaida. So that's who they are.

They're still on the American terrorist list.

They're still on the American terrorist list.

Yes.

Yes.

I noticed by the way that Abu Muhammad al Jilani now wears a Western jacket, which I think he's confident will be interpreted by the British government as a sign of his newfound moderation.

I noticed by the way that Abu Muhammad al Jilani now wears a Western jacket, which I think he's confident will be interpreted by the British government as a sign of his newfound moderation.

You know this world much better than I do, but sadly there are people who that's enough to get them to believe that everything's going to be okay.

You know this world much better than I do, but sadly there are people who that's enough to get them to believe that everything's going to be okay.

The Israelis played a major role you wrote about it in eliminating what was a North Korean delivered Syrian nuclear power program, and I have no idea who actually funded it, because I don't think it was Syria, but then a brilliant operation. The Israelis just got rid of it, which they had done generation earlier with the Iraqi nuclear program and may have to do sometime the next generation with the Iranian nuclear program. So there's always been this almost inevitable Israeli intervention for self protection into Syria. And I noticed that as soon as the Damascus government collapsed, not only did the Israelis occupy the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, there were reports of Israeli patrols within forty miles of Damascus. I'm assuming that it will be a very long time, if ever, before the Israelis pulled back from the Golan and allow the new government to have any presence close to Israel.

The Israelis played a major role you wrote about it in eliminating what was a North Korean delivered Syrian nuclear power program, and I have no idea who actually funded it, because I don't think it was Syria, but then a brilliant operation. The Israelis just got rid of it, which they had done generation earlier with the Iraqi nuclear program and may have to do sometime the next generation with the Iranian nuclear program. So there's always been this almost inevitable Israeli intervention for self protection into Syria. And I noticed that as soon as the Damascus government collapsed, not only did the Israelis occupy the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, there were reports of Israeli patrols within forty miles of Damascus. I'm assuming that it will be a very long time, if ever, before the Israelis pulled back from the Golan and allow the new government to have any presence close to Israel.

I think you're hitting out a number of elements here. The first is that, yes, Israel and Syria have a long history, and Syria has for a long time proven to be a fierce enemy of the state of Israel right to try to obtain nuclear weapons, as it did back in the mid two thousands, and Israel denied that of them by destroying the hell keep Our reactor as it was called. Was not only an illicit nuclear program by a rogue state, with the nuclear reactor being built for it by North Korea, another rogue state, but this was an attempt to obtain weapons of mass destruction that could have altered the balance of power. Now, let's imagine just for a moment, and I get a shiver down my spine thinking about this, But now you have these El Kaida offshoots barreling through Syria taking over imagine where there would be a nuclear actor had it not been discovered and destroyed. We'd be having a very different conversation right now, and the world would be looking at a very different reality right now. This has long been the issue with Syria. In recent years, I would say over the last ten, eleven, twelve years, Israel has operated quite frequently in Syria. And what it's done is it's really tried only from the air force, really from the air to deny Iran what we would call Iranian entrenchment. Iran which had come into Syria to help Ashar Alasa defeat the rebels back ten years ago, began to build up bases inside Syria to have another front against Israel. It had his ballot's greatest proxy in Lebanon. It wanted to have another base of operations in which to attack Israel. Israel carried out countless airstrikes all the time beneath the radar, not even really communicating them, being very quiet and hush hush, but to deny Iran that ability, and for the most part it succeeded. But now what we have is with the rebels there the Israeli concern is twofold. What is and the more immediate. And you mentioned the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. After the om Kepper War of nineteen seventy three, when Syria and Egypt together launched that surprise attack against Israel and the holiest Jewish day, the Day of Atonement, Israel was able to push back Syria and in the nineteen seventy four armistice agreement. In the ceasefire deal, there was the establishment of a peacekeeping force called undof the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, and basically their job was to keep a buffer zone on the Syrian side, it would stay demilitarized, right, so you wouldn't have armed Syrian soldiers up against the border with Israel. Israel was the victim in this attack, and therefore Syria had to stay back. And by the way, also under the agreement, Israel had to keep its forces and the number that it had in the Golan Heights also to certain limits. But anyhow, Israel's immediate concern is we don't want to see rebels along the border. We don't want to normalize that. And if the rebels think that they can come into the buffer zone, well we're going to show them that they can't. And that's why Israel has moved into this buffer zone. Israel's Prime minister in the Tanio, has made very clear by the way. He visited the Syrian side of the Hermone Mountain just the other day and he said very clearly, we're not here forever, but we're not going to leave without some sort of arrangement that ensures our security. Now what that arrangement is and what it looks like, we'll have to wait to see, but it's going to have to be something with some sort of multinational guarantee right now, which Israel doesn't have. So that's concern one. Concern two, more strategic is what does this mean for the future of the Middle East. I mean, you know, we have now a Syria, so let's say the strategic weapons have been taken off the table, but we have a Ciria that we mentioned before. We got America there, we got Russia there, we got Turkey there, we got the Kurds there. What's Erdan's play? What does he want to do? He's the big boss now in Syria, and he's no friend of Israel. And you know this right He is a vile anti Semite over the years and has really said some terrible things about Jews and about Israel, and he hasn't been a friend of the State of Israel. And I know he's a member of NATO, so that does give some sort of levers here. But Israel is very concerned with what his plans might be for Israel and what does he planned to do with Syria. So there's a lot of balls up in the air right now. And I'm going to go out on a limb and probably guess and be right here that this is going to be one of the first topics that Nizzanio is going to have to talk to Donald Trump about come January twentieth.

I think you're hitting out a number of elements here. The first is that, yes, Israel and Syria have a long history, and Syria has for a long time proven to be a fierce enemy of the state of Israel right to try to obtain nuclear weapons, as it did back in the mid two thousands, and Israel denied that of them by destroying the hell keep Our reactor as it was called. Was not only an illicit nuclear program by a rogue state, with the nuclear reactor being built for it by North Korea, another rogue state, but this was an attempt to obtain weapons of mass destruction that could have altered the balance of power. Now, let's imagine just for a moment, and I get a shiver down my spine thinking about this, But now you have these El Kaida offshoots barreling through Syria taking over imagine where there would be a nuclear actor had it not been discovered and destroyed. We'd be having a very different conversation right now, and the world would be looking at a very different reality right now. This has long been the issue with Syria. In recent years, I would say over the last ten, eleven, twelve years, Israel has operated quite frequently in Syria. And what it's done is it's really tried only from the air force, really from the air to deny Iran what we would call Iranian entrenchment. Iran which had come into Syria to help Ashar Alasa defeat the rebels back ten years ago, began to build up bases inside Syria to have another front against Israel. It had his ballot's greatest proxy in Lebanon. It wanted to have another base of operations in which to attack Israel. Israel carried out countless airstrikes all the time beneath the radar, not even really communicating them, being very quiet and hush hush, but to deny Iran that ability, and for the most part it succeeded. But now what we have is with the rebels there the Israeli concern is twofold. What is and the more immediate. And you mentioned the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. After the om Kepper War of nineteen seventy three, when Syria and Egypt together launched that surprise attack against Israel and the holiest Jewish day, the Day of Atonement, Israel was able to push back Syria and in the nineteen seventy four armistice agreement. In the ceasefire deal, there was the establishment of a peacekeeping force called undof the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, and basically their job was to keep a buffer zone on the Syrian side, it would stay demilitarized, right, so you wouldn't have armed Syrian soldiers up against the border with Israel. Israel was the victim in this attack, and therefore Syria had to stay back. And by the way, also under the agreement, Israel had to keep its forces and the number that it had in the Golan Heights also to certain limits. But anyhow, Israel's immediate concern is we don't want to see rebels along the border. We don't want to normalize that. And if the rebels think that they can come into the buffer zone, well we're going to show them that they can't. And that's why Israel has moved into this buffer zone. Israel's Prime minister in the Tanio, has made very clear by the way. He visited the Syrian side of the Hermone Mountain just the other day and he said very clearly, we're not here forever, but we're not going to leave without some sort of arrangement that ensures our security. Now what that arrangement is and what it looks like, we'll have to wait to see, but it's going to have to be something with some sort of multinational guarantee right now, which Israel doesn't have. So that's concern one. Concern two, more strategic is what does this mean for the future of the Middle East. I mean, you know, we have now a Syria, so let's say the strategic weapons have been taken off the table, but we have a Ciria that we mentioned before. We got America there, we got Russia there, we got Turkey there, we got the Kurds there. What's Erdan's play? What does he want to do? He's the big boss now in Syria, and he's no friend of Israel. And you know this right He is a vile anti Semite over the years and has really said some terrible things about Jews and about Israel, and he hasn't been a friend of the State of Israel. And I know he's a member of NATO, so that does give some sort of levers here. But Israel is very concerned with what his plans might be for Israel and what does he planned to do with Syria. So there's a lot of balls up in the air right now. And I'm going to go out on a limb and probably guess and be right here that this is going to be one of the first topics that Nizzanio is going to have to talk to Donald Trump about come January twentieth.

Does the chaos in Syria make it a little harder to focus on Iran?

Does the chaos in Syria make it a little harder to focus on Iran?

You know, I actually think that it creates a unique opportunity to focus on Iran. I think we have to stay vigilant on Syria. We have to ensure that our sovereignty is a country is not violated, that the rebels don't think that they can be up against the border and potentially launch attacks from Syria into Israel. But let's look at what's happened over the last fifteen months. You know, October seventh, when Kamas launched its surprise attack mass occurring twelve hundred Israelis, abducting another two hundred and fifty one. You still have one hundred hostages in comas captivity. Hopefully a deal will come soon. But that was a dark day, terrible day for the state of Israel. Really one of the worst, if not the worst, in history. What we've seen since is a reshaping of the Middle East. Now over the last twenty years, and you mentioned this before, Israel has destroyed O c Raq, Iraq's reactor in nineteen eighty one, Serra's reactor in two thousand and seven. Why hasn't that done the same to Iran? A greater nemesis, a bigger threat, the country that says we want to wipe you off the map. Why hasn't Israel done it? Two main reasons why. Number one, doubts of whether Israel could carry out the operation, could get the job done. Well, we now know after Israel attacked Iran in October and destroyed its air defense systems with one hundred aircraft. Israel has free reign today if it wants over Iranian airspace, so it can get there, It can operate, it can target, it can strike with accuracy and precision. Now, yes, some of the facilities in Iran are underground and are fortified. Israel has developed some capabilities over the years to be able to penetrate. It might not be able to destroy everything, but it can cause enough damage to set them back for a number of years. That was reason one why Isral didn't do it until now no longer relevant. Reason two why is Rel didn't do it until and that was the fear of the retaliation. What do I mean by that his ballot had one hundred and fifty thousand rockets and missiles. Commas had forty to fifty thousand, Asad had chemical weapons, scud missiles, and a conventional army. Well they don't exist anymore. So Israel can potentially attack Iran and not face the repercussions of what it thought it would face once upon a time. This is a unique moment in history, and it's a window that won't stay open forever. And I really think that this is something from what I hear within the government, this is something that the government right now is thinking very hard about how to do it, what to do how much. Also, do you want to coordinate with your American friends there you kind of know the behind the scenes on some of this. But do you want to go to the Americans and ask for permission or do you want to operate without asking for permission Sometimes plausible deniability is good for both sides. Or do you want to ask the Americans for some help, but what if the Americans then say no? Or do you want to ask the Americans to do it themselves? In other words, there's a lot of different options that could be on the table and in the mix here right now. But I think everyone recognizes that this moment is historic, potentially for finally dealing with Iran the blow that it needs to receive, not only because of its illicit nuclear activity, but because of this terrible role that it has been playing in stoking violence and terrorism all across the world and thinking that it has immunity.

You know, I actually think that it creates a unique opportunity to focus on Iran. I think we have to stay vigilant on Syria. We have to ensure that our sovereignty is a country is not violated, that the rebels don't think that they can be up against the border and potentially launch attacks from Syria into Israel. But let's look at what's happened over the last fifteen months. You know, October seventh, when Kamas launched its surprise attack mass occurring twelve hundred Israelis, abducting another two hundred and fifty one. You still have one hundred hostages in comas captivity. Hopefully a deal will come soon. But that was a dark day, terrible day for the state of Israel. Really one of the worst, if not the worst, in history. What we've seen since is a reshaping of the Middle East. Now over the last twenty years, and you mentioned this before, Israel has destroyed O c Raq, Iraq's reactor in nineteen eighty one, Serra's reactor in two thousand and seven. Why hasn't that done the same to Iran? A greater nemesis, a bigger threat, the country that says we want to wipe you off the map. Why hasn't Israel done it? Two main reasons why. Number one, doubts of whether Israel could carry out the operation, could get the job done. Well, we now know after Israel attacked Iran in October and destroyed its air defense systems with one hundred aircraft. Israel has free reign today if it wants over Iranian airspace, so it can get there, It can operate, it can target, it can strike with accuracy and precision. Now, yes, some of the facilities in Iran are underground and are fortified. Israel has developed some capabilities over the years to be able to penetrate. It might not be able to destroy everything, but it can cause enough damage to set them back for a number of years. That was reason one why Isral didn't do it until now no longer relevant. Reason two why is Rel didn't do it until and that was the fear of the retaliation. What do I mean by that his ballot had one hundred and fifty thousand rockets and missiles. Commas had forty to fifty thousand, Asad had chemical weapons, scud missiles, and a conventional army. Well they don't exist anymore. So Israel can potentially attack Iran and not face the repercussions of what it thought it would face once upon a time. This is a unique moment in history, and it's a window that won't stay open forever. And I really think that this is something from what I hear within the government, this is something that the government right now is thinking very hard about how to do it, what to do how much. Also, do you want to coordinate with your American friends there you kind of know the behind the scenes on some of this. But do you want to go to the Americans and ask for permission or do you want to operate without asking for permission Sometimes plausible deniability is good for both sides. Or do you want to ask the Americans for some help, but what if the Americans then say no? Or do you want to ask the Americans to do it themselves? In other words, there's a lot of different options that could be on the table and in the mix here right now. But I think everyone recognizes that this moment is historic, potentially for finally dealing with Iran the blow that it needs to receive, not only because of its illicit nuclear activity, but because of this terrible role that it has been playing in stoking violence and terrorism all across the world and thinking that it has immunity.

Well, a couple months ago, when I come in, he went on national television and reassured people that when we say death to Israel, death to America, it's not a slogan, it's a policy. I thought that was about as clear as you could get. And if somebody says openly they want to destroy you, you have some reason to eliminate that possibility.

Well, a couple months ago, when I come in, he went on national television and reassured people that when we say death to Israel, death to America, it's not a slogan, it's a policy. I thought that was about as clear as you could get. And if somebody says openly they want to destroy you, you have some reason to eliminate that possibility.

One hundred percent. I think you're right.

One hundred percent. I think you're right.

My guess is that on January twentieth, the range of options will widen because I have a hunch that Trump is going to ultimately say, you know, I'm perfectly happy for you to take out all their nukes and there'll be literally no blowback, and might, as you point out, might all have the assistance, and frankly, a handful of B two bombers could make a pretty big difference and completing that campaign. Are you surprised that the one hundred and fifty thousand missiles, and what seemed to be this enormous threat from Hesbellah has collapsed as decisively as it has.

My guess is that on January twentieth, the range of options will widen because I have a hunch that Trump is going to ultimately say, you know, I'm perfectly happy for you to take out all their nukes and there'll be literally no blowback, and might, as you point out, might all have the assistance, and frankly, a handful of B two bombers could make a pretty big difference and completing that campaign. Are you surprised that the one hundred and fifty thousand missiles, and what seemed to be this enormous threat from Hesbellah has collapsed as decisively as it has.

I think that the surprise is quite remarkable because the belief originally was that his Blah has this arsenal that can strike anywhere inside Israel, some of it with precision guide in munitions PGMs, and we saw throughout the war, the last fourteen to fifteen months of which his Belah was attacking Israel with hundreds of rockets every day, they didn't have that ability. Now what happened is is I think what we saw was Israel really had amazing intelligence on his Belah. You know, everyone now knows about the Pager operation and the Beeper operation, which is really the stuff of like a Hollywood film, but it also had the location of their long range and more precise and accurate strategic missiles, and it was able to take those out and remove them and deny his Billow the ability to use them. So the intelligence penetration that is had over his Blah was something that I think no one really knew except for a handful of people, and that's why we were all surprised. Now the question is, okay, if the leaders of the government and the leaders of Israel public, political leaders, military leaders knew that they had this, why were they scaring the public for so long? And we all thought, you know, I remember new Friday night, Hassan Astrala is eliminated. Eighty tons are dropped on a bunker in a suburb of Beroots and he's killed. Fast forward to Saturday morning, it's the Sabbath. I'm walking to synagogue with my son, and I'm looking up and it's sunny, and I'm saying to myself, I can't believe I'm just able to walk outside. If you had told me a year ago, Yakov, what will happen when Hassan Asrala has killed, I would say we're going to be in bomb shelters for the next three weeks, right, But we weren't. We were walking outside. So something. Israel had really achieved a remarkable success with his Belah. Sadly, when you contrast that with Kamas and Gaza, there we completely failed. Here we had a remarkable success. It shows that when you're focused and you're gathering the intelligence that you need, and you're focused on your threat and your adversary, Israel has remarkable capabilities.

I think that the surprise is quite remarkable because the belief originally was that his Blah has this arsenal that can strike anywhere inside Israel, some of it with precision guide in munitions PGMs, and we saw throughout the war, the last fourteen to fifteen months of which his Belah was attacking Israel with hundreds of rockets every day, they didn't have that ability. Now what happened is is I think what we saw was Israel really had amazing intelligence on his Belah. You know, everyone now knows about the Pager operation and the Beeper operation, which is really the stuff of like a Hollywood film, but it also had the location of their long range and more precise and accurate strategic missiles, and it was able to take those out and remove them and deny his Billow the ability to use them. So the intelligence penetration that is had over his Blah was something that I think no one really knew except for a handful of people, and that's why we were all surprised. Now the question is, okay, if the leaders of the government and the leaders of Israel public, political leaders, military leaders knew that they had this, why were they scaring the public for so long? And we all thought, you know, I remember new Friday night, Hassan Astrala is eliminated. Eighty tons are dropped on a bunker in a suburb of Beroots and he's killed. Fast forward to Saturday morning, it's the Sabbath. I'm walking to synagogue with my son, and I'm looking up and it's sunny, and I'm saying to myself, I can't believe I'm just able to walk outside. If you had told me a year ago, Yakov, what will happen when Hassan Asrala has killed, I would say we're going to be in bomb shelters for the next three weeks, right, But we weren't. We were walking outside. So something. Israel had really achieved a remarkable success with his Belah. Sadly, when you contrast that with Kamas and Gaza, there we completely failed. Here we had a remarkable success. It shows that when you're focused and you're gathering the intelligence that you need, and you're focused on your threat and your adversary, Israel has remarkable capabilities.

In your judgment, was the failure of October a failure of intelligence gathering or a failure of interpretation.

In your judgment, was the failure of October a failure of intelligence gathering or a failure of interpretation.

I think it's much more a failure of interpretation. You just said it. Kamanae goes on live television and says, you know, we want to kill you, right, You got to take what these guys say at face value. They mean it well. Hamas was telling us this for years. They were saying, we're coming to kill you. We don't recognize as was right to exist. We want to push you all out into the sea. We want to murder you all. And what did we say, now, you don't You just want some money, You just want some jobs, You just want some economic presparity. And we believe that. I'd call it believing a fairy tale. I just finished a new book which will come out in the fall, called Waal Israel Slept, which looks at what led up to that October seventh massacre by Kamas. And we fell into a belief that containment can work with an enemy. And I think that we all know in the world it's hard for us, though I get it. It's hard for us everywhere in the world, anyone in the West to accept that, no, we have to fight, because we don't want to fight. We all want to live a good life. But sadly, these people are not the same as we are. They might look like us, two arms, two legs, two ears, two eyes, but they don't think like us. And therefore, when Yahiah Cinoir, the leader of Kamas, was saying to us, We're coming to kill you, and our intelligence officials were saying, nah, we think they're actually deterred. They don't really want war, they want quiet. It wasn't a question of intelligence, It was a question of really understanding what are their real and true intentions. And I'll just tell you one last thing on that. In the twenty four hours per seating the Kammas invasion, we had unbelievable intelligence of what they were doing. Many different alarms were going off, and there were phone calls all throughout the night with the chief of Staff of the IDF, these real defense forces, and as head of operations and the head of the command in charge of Gaza, and they were just torn, is this real? What exactly are they doing? Is it a drill? Is it an invasion? And they read the whole thing wrong, and look at what happened right now.

I think it's much more a failure of interpretation. You just said it. Kamanae goes on live television and says, you know, we want to kill you, right, You got to take what these guys say at face value. They mean it well. Hamas was telling us this for years. They were saying, we're coming to kill you. We don't recognize as was right to exist. We want to push you all out into the sea. We want to murder you all. And what did we say, now, you don't You just want some money, You just want some jobs, You just want some economic presparity. And we believe that. I'd call it believing a fairy tale. I just finished a new book which will come out in the fall, called Waal Israel Slept, which looks at what led up to that October seventh massacre by Kamas. And we fell into a belief that containment can work with an enemy. And I think that we all know in the world it's hard for us, though I get it. It's hard for us everywhere in the world, anyone in the West to accept that, no, we have to fight, because we don't want to fight. We all want to live a good life. But sadly, these people are not the same as we are. They might look like us, two arms, two legs, two ears, two eyes, but they don't think like us. And therefore, when Yahiah Cinoir, the leader of Kamas, was saying to us, We're coming to kill you, and our intelligence officials were saying, nah, we think they're actually deterred. They don't really want war, they want quiet. It wasn't a question of intelligence, It was a question of really understanding what are their real and true intentions. And I'll just tell you one last thing on that. In the twenty four hours per seating the Kammas invasion, we had unbelievable intelligence of what they were doing. Many different alarms were going off, and there were phone calls all throughout the night with the chief of Staff of the IDF, these real defense forces, and as head of operations and the head of the command in charge of Gaza, and they were just torn, is this real? What exactly are they doing? Is it a drill? Is it an invasion? And they read the whole thing wrong, and look at what happened right now.

I'm putting in a bid to do another podcast with you when your new book comes out.

I'm putting in a bid to do another podcast with you when your new book comes out.

I appreciate that.

I appreciate that.

Do you think that had a Wan wance Iran to survive as a competitor or at Awan would be relatively happy if Iran was basically demilitarized.

Do you think that had a Wan wance Iran to survive as a competitor or at Awan would be relatively happy if Iran was basically demilitarized.

I think Urdwan in Turkey at the end of the day, would not be unhappy if Iran was weakened to an extent that it wouldn't be able to pose a challenge to the supremacy that he's after. You see, we got it, and you're touching on the real important question. What does he want right What is his interest right now in Syria? I think it's threefold. First is, let's not forget since the civil war in Syria happened, He's got millions of Syrian refugees living in Turkey. He wants to get rid of them. Right, They're a toll on his economy, They're stealing jobs from real Turks. By the way, we're already seeing some European countries that are offering us. I think I saw it was Austria or something like that offering a thousand euros incentive to Syrian refugees that they have to go back to Syria. Now outside's gone, go home, take a thousand bucks with you. So everybody wants to try to get rid of some of these Syrian refugees, and millions have been scattered now, mostly in Turkey and throughout mainland Europe. So that's interest one. Interests two. He wants to defeat the Kurds. He views the PKK as a terrorist organization. They're a threat to him. He wants them taken off the table, and he doesn't want them to get any independence or have any autonomy in the region. Number three though, and I think this falls into a bigger dream and vision that he has. He wants to maybe reassert or recreate the Ottoman Empire. And he goes back to looking and it wasn't that long ago, right about one hundred years ago, it was the Turks who ruled this entire territory, this whole land right including where Israel is.

I think Urdwan in Turkey at the end of the day, would not be unhappy if Iran was weakened to an extent that it wouldn't be able to pose a challenge to the supremacy that he's after. You see, we got it, and you're touching on the real important question. What does he want right What is his interest right now in Syria? I think it's threefold. First is, let's not forget since the civil war in Syria happened, He's got millions of Syrian refugees living in Turkey. He wants to get rid of them. Right, They're a toll on his economy, They're stealing jobs from real Turks. By the way, we're already seeing some European countries that are offering us. I think I saw it was Austria or something like that offering a thousand euros incentive to Syrian refugees that they have to go back to Syria. Now outside's gone, go home, take a thousand bucks with you. So everybody wants to try to get rid of some of these Syrian refugees, and millions have been scattered now, mostly in Turkey and throughout mainland Europe. So that's interest one. Interests two. He wants to defeat the Kurds. He views the PKK as a terrorist organization. They're a threat to him. He wants them taken off the table, and he doesn't want them to get any independence or have any autonomy in the region. Number three though, and I think this falls into a bigger dream and vision that he has. He wants to maybe reassert or recreate the Ottoman Empire. And he goes back to looking and it wasn't that long ago, right about one hundred years ago, it was the Turks who ruled this entire territory, this whole land right including where Israel is.

By the way.

By the way.

So he looks back at this and says, one second, something went wrong. We were a superpower. Now we are definitely a regional superpower, but we used to be a global superpower. How can I get back into that space? And now moving into Syria is a big step in that direction because it puts him in the real big leagues now, right, he's going to be the main player. He's got the Russians to the left, the Americans to the right, Israel to the south. This is the big leagues and er doan If he wants to achieve whatever his ambitions might be on a more globalistic level, this is one big way to do it.

So he looks back at this and says, one second, something went wrong. We were a superpower. Now we are definitely a regional superpower, but we used to be a global superpower. How can I get back into that space? And now moving into Syria is a big step in that direction because it puts him in the real big leagues now, right, he's going to be the main player. He's got the Russians to the left, the Americans to the right, Israel to the south. This is the big leagues and er doan If he wants to achieve whatever his ambitions might be on a more globalistic level, this is one big way to do it.

I mean, as one such you could argue he wants a rerun of Lawrence of Arabia with the Turks winning. About two years into his presidency, it hit me he really wants to replace at Turk. He wants to roll back the Westernism that at Turk brought in and become a bigger symbol of Turkish nationality than at a Turk was. And a lot of this is driven by an almost personal sense of destiny.

I mean, as one such you could argue he wants a rerun of Lawrence of Arabia with the Turks winning. About two years into his presidency, it hit me he really wants to replace at Turk. He wants to roll back the Westernism that at Turk brought in and become a bigger symbol of Turkish nationality than at a Turk was. And a lot of this is driven by an almost personal sense of destiny.

Yeah, I think you're right.

Yeah, I think you're right.

I was fascinated to note that Asad has posted that he really didn't mean to leave for Russia, and I'm very curious why do you think he did that?

I was fascinated to note that Asad has posted that he really didn't mean to leave for Russia, and I'm very curious why do you think he did that?

Look aside, Yeah, put out the statement where he basically said it wasn't my decision. I didn't want to leave the Russians and you know told me I have to go, and I was coerced and against man will. He does want to I think, and we kind of mentioned this. He wants to leave open potentially a return one day to Syria. Lots of political leaders and even as violent and repressive and murderous as him, look to the future and say, one second, if this all goes sideways inside Syria, maybe I do have a path back, and I don't want to be seen like I fled the country. So it's the legacy, and it's the potential path forward. Who knows what tomorrow will bring when it comes to us being able to come back to Syria. There's a lot of people who are talking about whether the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know, and that maybe Israel, in America and others should have tried to help ash O a last sad because now we have these radical and you know what I say to that, and I see you kind of shaking your head to me, this man, I don't know what HTS will bring us. I don't know what will come, and we'll have to be vigil. But this was a murderer. This was a man who committed the greatest war crimes possible, who pursued weapons of mass destruction. This was no friend, not of Israel, not of America, not of anyone in the West. It's a good day when bad guys are toppled.

Look aside, Yeah, put out the statement where he basically said it wasn't my decision. I didn't want to leave the Russians and you know told me I have to go, and I was coerced and against man will. He does want to I think, and we kind of mentioned this. He wants to leave open potentially a return one day to Syria. Lots of political leaders and even as violent and repressive and murderous as him, look to the future and say, one second, if this all goes sideways inside Syria, maybe I do have a path back, and I don't want to be seen like I fled the country. So it's the legacy, and it's the potential path forward. Who knows what tomorrow will bring when it comes to us being able to come back to Syria. There's a lot of people who are talking about whether the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know, and that maybe Israel, in America and others should have tried to help ash O a last sad because now we have these radical and you know what I say to that, and I see you kind of shaking your head to me, this man, I don't know what HTS will bring us. I don't know what will come, and we'll have to be vigil. But this was a murderer. This was a man who committed the greatest war crimes possible, who pursued weapons of mass destruction. This was no friend, not of Israel, not of America, not of anyone in the West. It's a good day when bad guys are toppled.

He wasn't a friend of Syrian's.

He wasn't a friend of Syrian's.

That's for sure.

That's for sure.

As well.

As well.

I'll be curious how long he lasted Moscow. I'm not sure he's that rich.

I'll be curious how long he lasted Moscow. I'm not sure he's that rich.

I'm not sure he's that rich. And I saw some reports also that Putin is saying, I have no plans to meet him. We're giving him sanctuary or asylum, but we're not making him some king now in some Moscow suburb.

I'm not sure he's that rich. And I saw some reports also that Putin is saying, I have no plans to meet him. We're giving him sanctuary or asylum, but we're not making him some king now in some Moscow suburb.

But I have to ask you about one painful topic, which is Prime Minister net Yahoo the trial. How does that work out in your judgment?

But I have to ask you about one painful topic, which is Prime Minister net Yahoo the trial. How does that work out in your judgment?

I have to tell you I have a lot of criticism of Prime Minister in Ntenia over the years. I think there's also an inherent problem when you have a prime minister who's been indicted and now standing trial and now giving testimony twice three times a week for six hours at a time. I mean, while we're fighting literally a war of existence for the State of Israel. When he asked to postpone his testimony, I came out very strongly in support of that request. This is not the time. You know, we're talking about a trial that's been going on for five years already. Like, give the guy another six months. Nothing's going to happen, But let him stay focused. I mean, at the end of the day, it can't always be yes, BB no BB.

I have to tell you I have a lot of criticism of Prime Minister in Ntenia over the years. I think there's also an inherent problem when you have a prime minister who's been indicted and now standing trial and now giving testimony twice three times a week for six hours at a time. I mean, while we're fighting literally a war of existence for the State of Israel. When he asked to postpone his testimony, I came out very strongly in support of that request. This is not the time. You know, we're talking about a trial that's been going on for five years already. Like, give the guy another six months. Nothing's going to happen, But let him stay focused. I mean, at the end of the day, it can't always be yes, BB no BB.

Do I like him? Do I not like him?

Do I like him? Do I not like him?

There's a country that we have to take care of and we have to preserve. And we could argue about his policies and does he put his personal survival first? Does he put the nation's interests first? When I look at the big picture. Since October seventh, I can't say it's all Natian Yahoo, but he is our prime minister and with his government and with his military leadership, Israel has achieved something remarkable. Now we have to see how to preserve these successes in Gaza, hopefully we get back the hostages in his Bila where his Bila has been beaten. Back in Syria, we now we have to be vigilant. But Asad toppled and the weapons taken off the table, Iran vulnerable and weak and more exposed than ever before. This is a remarkable achievement that he's the prime minister who gets to take the credit for that. So he owns the failures of October seventh, those were his policies that led to that disaster, but he also owns the success that has come since then. And I think that we as a country, we got to stop with the strife, the polarization, the populism. There's a lesson here for us. We're not safe.

There's a country that we have to take care of and we have to preserve. And we could argue about his policies and does he put his personal survival first? Does he put the nation's interests first? When I look at the big picture. Since October seventh, I can't say it's all Natian Yahoo, but he is our prime minister and with his government and with his military leadership, Israel has achieved something remarkable. Now we have to see how to preserve these successes in Gaza, hopefully we get back the hostages in his Bila where his Bila has been beaten. Back in Syria, we now we have to be vigilant. But Asad toppled and the weapons taken off the table, Iran vulnerable and weak and more exposed than ever before. This is a remarkable achievement that he's the prime minister who gets to take the credit for that. So he owns the failures of October seventh, those were his policies that led to that disaster, but he also owns the success that has come since then. And I think that we as a country, we got to stop with the strife, the polarization, the populism. There's a lesson here for us. We're not safe.

Why are the judges so uninterested in the larger picture?

Why are the judges so uninterested in the larger picture?

Hard for me to speak for them, but I think that there is a movement in this country, and I think you see that in your country as well, that people cannot move beyond the politics. They can't move beyond the disdain for the politician, and any means are necessary and legitimate in this political battle. And you know, the way I see it, we have a process in this where we're still a democracy, right, We're a proud democracy. You want to bring him down, you want to replace him, take it to the people. We got a way to vote. But when the people vote for him, that's what the people decided. And if the people want him to be their prime minister, then I respect that whether I want him or I don't want him, right, and they should be able to implement those policies and to control and to rule and run the government. Now, with that said, when you have huge failures and huge disasters, you should be also be held accountable. But there's a way to be held accountable again, go to an election, right. There is a system to process this, just like America has, just like European countries have. Israel has same system, so we should be working through that. I don't like this intervention of the courts, which seems to want at times to be replacing what should be me is the people, our decision of what we should be doing. With the prime minister again, and I'll say just once again, I'm not his biggest fan, But with that said, I think that at this time to be going into court for six hours a day when we have such huge, mega issues, existential issues to deal with, is insane.

Hard for me to speak for them, but I think that there is a movement in this country, and I think you see that in your country as well, that people cannot move beyond the politics. They can't move beyond the disdain for the politician, and any means are necessary and legitimate in this political battle. And you know, the way I see it, we have a process in this where we're still a democracy, right, We're a proud democracy. You want to bring him down, you want to replace him, take it to the people. We got a way to vote. But when the people vote for him, that's what the people decided. And if the people want him to be their prime minister, then I respect that whether I want him or I don't want him, right, and they should be able to implement those policies and to control and to rule and run the government. Now, with that said, when you have huge failures and huge disasters, you should be also be held accountable. But there's a way to be held accountable again, go to an election, right. There is a system to process this, just like America has, just like European countries have. Israel has same system, so we should be working through that. I don't like this intervention of the courts, which seems to want at times to be replacing what should be me is the people, our decision of what we should be doing. With the prime minister again, and I'll say just once again, I'm not his biggest fan, But with that said, I think that at this time to be going into court for six hours a day when we have such huge, mega issues, existential issues to deal with, is insane.

I agree. I'm very curious, as you know, Jake Sullivan has said in a press conference that the Biden administration is very confident and pushing very hard to have the hostages released before January twentieth. Do you think it actually matters in the context of the Middle East that anybody looks at the American inauguration date or do you think Hamas will decide when Hommage decided.

I agree. I'm very curious, as you know, Jake Sullivan has said in a press conference that the Biden administration is very confident and pushing very hard to have the hostages released before January twentieth. Do you think it actually matters in the context of the Middle East that anybody looks at the American inauguration date or do you think Hamas will decide when Hommage decided.

Well, I think it definitely makes a difference. And the reason it makes the difference is because of what I call the Trump effect, right, Donald Trump coming into office has everybody a little uneasy here, the bad guys at least, right. We saw that with Iran, which was threatening to attack Israel still at the end of October, beginning of November. Donald Trump wins the election, they walk that back, We're not going to attack Israel. We saw his ballat playing very hard with the ceasefire agreement with Israel. Donald Trump wins the election quite quickly, Suddenly there's a cease fire agreement that's actually favorable in some of its terms towards Israel. Camas had been holding out on a hostage deal for months. For months, suddenly Donald Trump is back in. He's also tweeting out something along the lines of all hell will break loose if the hostages are not returned by January twentieth. Now we're told a deal might be just weeks away. Now. Biden wants to get this also as his success, so he wants be able to take credit for it. Trump will be able to say say, listen, it's because of me coming in that was able to engineer and make this happen. But I think that at the end of the day, when I do think of the hostages, though, I'd have to put politics aside for a moment and just say we have to bring these people home. There are one hundred people who are being held in Gaza for already fifteen months. Almost about half of them are believed to still be alive. They are there. They were sent to live on the border by Israel. They were sent to fight on the border by Israel. And we have responsibility to bring them back. And you know why. The most important reason, of course, we have to save lives, and that's obviously paramount, but it's also we as a country won't be able to heal if we don't get back the hostages. Because if we end the war, and let's say we could say, oh we won Hamas has been decimated, they're no longer going to control of Gaza, but our people remain in Gaza, we won't be able to move on as a people and we need that closure. So we need to get them back. So whether it's Trump or Biden or BB or whoever where it might be, I'm hoping that on this issue, these are lives at stake, including a number of Americans who are still being held US citizens who are being held by Kamas. We got to do everything we can to wrap this up as quickly as possible and hopefully get it done before January twentieth.

Well, I think it definitely makes a difference. And the reason it makes the difference is because of what I call the Trump effect, right, Donald Trump coming into office has everybody a little uneasy here, the bad guys at least, right. We saw that with Iran, which was threatening to attack Israel still at the end of October, beginning of November. Donald Trump wins the election, they walk that back, We're not going to attack Israel. We saw his ballat playing very hard with the ceasefire agreement with Israel. Donald Trump wins the election quite quickly, Suddenly there's a cease fire agreement that's actually favorable in some of its terms towards Israel. Camas had been holding out on a hostage deal for months. For months, suddenly Donald Trump is back in. He's also tweeting out something along the lines of all hell will break loose if the hostages are not returned by January twentieth. Now we're told a deal might be just weeks away. Now. Biden wants to get this also as his success, so he wants be able to take credit for it. Trump will be able to say say, listen, it's because of me coming in that was able to engineer and make this happen. But I think that at the end of the day, when I do think of the hostages, though, I'd have to put politics aside for a moment and just say we have to bring these people home. There are one hundred people who are being held in Gaza for already fifteen months. Almost about half of them are believed to still be alive. They are there. They were sent to live on the border by Israel. They were sent to fight on the border by Israel. And we have responsibility to bring them back. And you know why. The most important reason, of course, we have to save lives, and that's obviously paramount, but it's also we as a country won't be able to heal if we don't get back the hostages. Because if we end the war, and let's say we could say, oh we won Hamas has been decimated, they're no longer going to control of Gaza, but our people remain in Gaza, we won't be able to move on as a people and we need that closure. So we need to get them back. So whether it's Trump or Biden or BB or whoever where it might be, I'm hoping that on this issue, these are lives at stake, including a number of Americans who are still being held US citizens who are being held by Kamas. We got to do everything we can to wrap this up as quickly as possible and hopefully get it done before January twentieth.

Yeahkov, I want to thank you for joining me in helping us better understand both Syria and the region. We're going to feature a link to your book, Shadow Strike, Inside Israel's Secret Mission to eliminate Syria and nuclear power. It's available now on Amazon. Our listeners can follow your work and I recommend it very highly by visiting your website at yakovcuts dot com. And I've already put in a bid for you to come back and do another podcast when your next book comes out.

Yeahkov, I want to thank you for joining me in helping us better understand both Syria and the region. We're going to feature a link to your book, Shadow Strike, Inside Israel's Secret Mission to eliminate Syria and nuclear power. It's available now on Amazon. Our listeners can follow your work and I recommend it very highly by visiting your website at yakovcuts dot com. And I've already put in a bid for you to come back and do another podcast when your next book comes out.

You got it, mister speaker.

You got it, mister speaker.

It's always a huge honor and privilege to be able to speak to you.

It's always a huge honor and privilege to be able to speak to you.

Thank you to my guest, Jakov Cuts. You can get a link to buy his book Shadow Strike on our show page at nutsworld dot com. Neitchwell is produced by Gaming three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is Guernsey Sloan. Our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the team at Gingish three sixty. If you've been enjoying Nutsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcasts and both rate us with five stars and give us a review so others can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners of Newtsworld consign up for my three freeweekly columns at ginglishtree sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm Newt Gingrich. This is Nutsworld.

Thank you to my guest, Jakov Cuts. You can get a link to buy his book Shadow Strike on our show page at nutsworld dot com. Neitchwell is produced by Gaming three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is Guernsey Sloan. Our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the team at Gingish three sixty. If you've been enjoying Nutsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcasts and both rate us with five stars and give us a review so others can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners of Newtsworld consign up for my three freeweekly columns at ginglishtree sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm Newt Gingrich. This is Nutsworld.