Hey, guys, ready or not, twenty twenty four is here and we here at breaking points, are already thinking of ways we can up our game for this critical election.
We rely on our premium subs to expand coverage, upgrade the studio ad staff, give you, guys, the best independent coverage that is possible. If you like what we're all about, it just means the absolute world to have your support. But enough with that, let's get to the show everything. Good morning everybody, it is Tuesday. We have a bread show for everyone today. What are we apping?
Indeed, we do a lot to get into this morning. Bb Netanya who's speaking out taking questions really from the first time extensively since October seventh, So some pretty noteworthy comments there will bring you all of that. This comes as an internal government document from an Israeli ministry was released which gives some indication of what they might want to do after this GASA offensive is finished. So we'll break all of that down for you. We'll also have
new revelations about how AID may roll out. Republicans sort of making their opening bid, wanting to tie support for Israel together with cutting money from the IRS from the agents that would go after a wealth tax sheet, So we'll talk about that and it's process. I actually genuinely don't know what its prospects are. We can debate all
of that, debate all of that. We also have some new US government state sponsored censorship efforts that we want to tell you about and break down for you, and also some global censorship as well around the issue of
Israel and Palestine. New pull out of IO with some very good news for Donald Trump, good news for Nikki Haley, actually very bad news for viag Ramaswami and Ron De Santis confronted over the conspiracy which has swept the Internet of which I am a true believer, which is that he is wearing secret heels within those really weird and ugly boots that he wears all.
I will hold my commentary.
I have a full analysis an investigation for you in that block. We also are very honored to have the brother of one of the Israeli citizens who is thought to have been taken hostage by Hamas. He is joining
us in study. We actually just recorded the interview. I really hope that all of you take the time to listen to what this man has to say about how he wants the hostages to remain front and center, and also about how he continues to hold on to hope for peace, which is just, you know, an extraordinary testament
to his human spirit. So I really hope you guys stick around for all of that, because it's just so important as we cover these big picture geopolitical machinations to remember the innocent human beings that are caught in the middle of this and are suffering so greatly.
Yeah, he was a real reminder for that for both of us. You know, probably why we're in a somber mood right now. Just please take a listen. You should watch it. He talks about his sister, he talks about some of the bigger pictures stuff, and he brings it back to what's the most important to the humanity at the all of it. So anyway, let's start with Benjamin Netzenya, who finally facing some questions from the Western press. We've picked out three separate bites that we thought were the
most important. The first was about asking him about calls for ceasefire. Here's what he had to say.
I want to make clear Israel's position regarding the ceasefire, just as the United States would not agree to a cease fire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack of ninety eleven. Israel will not agree to a cessation of facilities with Ramas after the horrific attacks of October seventh. Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen, Ladies and gentlemen.
The Bible says that there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is a time for war, a war for our common future. Today we draw a line between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism. It is a time for everyone to decide where they stand. Israel will stand against the forces of barbarism until victory. I hope and pray that civilized nations everywhere will back this fight because Israel's fight is your fight. Because if Ramas and Iran's access of evil win, you will be
their next target. That's why Israel's victory will be your victory. But make no mistake, regardless of who stands with Israel, Israel will fight until this battle is won.
There's a lot to be said there.
I would say that this is why with Neta Yahu you can, honestly at a certain point you just need to respect his wiliness. That is one of the most calibrated message for American audiences by a foreign leader I've ever seen, as delivered in basically perfect, near accent lists English. Second, we talk about Pearl Harbor nine to eleven, why don't we just pluck those two events, you know, out of
thin air. Axis of these are all things which the American public and specifically the constituencies in the US that are most supportive of Israel.
This is purely activating for all of them.
Integrating the Bible, you know, into that discussion, a nod to the evangelical supporters. I mean, and again we always say it's like when something's released in English, it's talked about in English, it is purely calibrated mostly for a US audience. That's entirely how I read that, Crystal.
Yeah.
One of the things that I noted is they've long been making comparisons with nine to eleven Yes, and that cuts in both directions, because on the one hand, it's like yes, that takes Americans very clearly, you know, especially Americans at a certain age back to that day the whore they felt, the you know, desire for revenge and the patriotism and the nationalism that's what the country at that time. But it's a double edged toward too, because the way we've reacted was foolish and it just sewed
more chaos, more destruction. It did not make us safer or make anyone safer, and not to mention, you know, led to the mass killing of so many civilians. So I think that's why there's now the addition of let's also talk about World War Two and you know, the Nazis and the attack on Pearl Harbor as a further justification. And Sagara is actually curious of what you make of that historical comparison, because you know, when I think about it, like there is no diminishing the horror that Israel and
Israeli citizens suffered on that day. I mean, far be it, especially after we just talked a gilly to diminish the suffering from those people in the whoror they felt the way that it shook them to their core. But to compare that to the extermination of millions of Jews and a Nazi Germany, which was incredibly powerful versus Hamas, which is, you know, ragtag Israel is a much more powerful position backed up by the most powerful superpower on the planet.
I don't think the analogy.
Quite holds well, and that's where the difficulty of it and every situation is unique. I mean, really, what I thought I were to guess one of the reasons why you want to bring up Pearl Harbor is because of the bombing campaigns that the US and the Western Allies undertook against Nazi Germany and against Japan. However, it's not they're not exactly looked upon the most kindly, even though they probably were necessary in order to win and to
fight the war. However, you know, you would say at that time, it's a little bit different because the Japanese Empire is not like a ragtag group of dudes with rockets.
Inside of Gaza.
The Nazi regime, you know, the Nazi Colossus, at least as it was at one point, is certainly not the same.
So, yeah, it's a little bit different.
All of these things, as you said, come back to you can read into it whichever one you want. You could say that there's a lot of people who would even just beat what I said, they would say that the fire bombing of Tokyo wasn't necessary, that the only thing that really capitulated the Japanese was the atomic bomb.
A lot of there's a lot of alternative historians. It might even be the mainstream view now that the bombing of Dresden and all of that was totally unnecessary in order to win the war and actually counterproductive.
Is it analysis of a lot of historians.
I'm not really entirely sure where I fall on that. I think some of it is hindsight and all of that, but we're not in hindsight right now. We're in today, and we get to decide how and what with the way we conduct ourselves. In general, the world came together post World War Two and just said, hey, this type of response, let's just make sure that never happens again,
and let's outlaw it for all time. Of course, there's been many hypocrisies, but I think to your point, and this is where I found it interesting that the Western press was able to ask bebe about collective punishment. I could not imagine President Bush three and a half weeks into the War on Terror ever being asked something like that. So to me, it was a change in that. This is where a reporter asked BB about it. Let's take a listen to.
What he said.
People can't understand why so many have people civilians have to die in this process. You argue that Amas is putting them up as human shields. He's had a good enough excuse. Are you inflicting here collective punishment on the people of Palestine?
Not assume civilian has to die. Tramas merely has to let them go to the safe zone that we created in southeastern Gaza Strip. There's a safe zone there. Not a single civilian has to die, but Ramas is preventing them from leaving, keeping them in the areas of conflict. So I think that you should direct your questions to Hamas. But I can tell you one thing. We're going out of our way to prevent civilian casualties.
So he says that there's a safe zone there in the south.
I mean, this is where it's a little bit difficult because we know that there have been multiple air strikes that have happened.
I mean, it's just a blatant lie. They told people to move south, you know, which is Reignine. And we'll get into some of the potential plans for Gaza after the invasion and what that might look like. But you know, has obviously read nine a lot of fears about a second Nakba. That southern part has not been free bombing. It's not like it has been a safe zone, not what whatsoever. So that part is just a total lie.
Is Hamas preventing them from leaving? I don't know, because you did have close to, you know, somewhere around a million people who did leave the North for the South.
Yeah, they've been displaced internally exactly where it's very difficult to actually get a report out since there's no journalists in there, which Israel is not allowing them.
But we know for sure many, you know, probably close to a million people have fled the North now that has left quite a number still remaining in the North. But you know, if Hamas is trying to prevent them from leave, they're not doing a very effective job.
So there's that.
There's also this, you know, question of collective punishment, and even if you buy all of the Israeli propaganda, which I don't about, how they're doing everything they can to avoid targeting civilians, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, when you look at this just mass, indiscriminate bombing campaign of civilian infrastructure that's been happening for weeks now at this point,
I think it's very hard to take that seriously. But even if you do, the fact that you have imposed a complete siege, complete with including at one point telecon, an internet blackout on this population, no food, no water, no fuel, et cetera, there is no other way to
define that than collective punishment. The last thing I will say here on this, You know this question, even if you again buy into the idea of like all Hamas is using civilians as human shields, is imagine if Hamas was operating in Tel Aviv and was using Israeli citizens in a hospital, let's say, or in a school or
in a marketplace as human shields. Do you think the Israeli government would think it was an appropriate response to then just go in and blow up that hospital and say, well, to hell with those Israeli citizens because Hamas was using them as human shields.
Of course they would. Of course they wouldn't.
And so it really exposes the very disparate treatment and view of civilian lives depending on whether they are Israeli loves or whether they are Palestinian lives. And I also just think, you know this logic that he offers of well, it's really all Hamas's fault, and any civilian who dies it's one hundred per percent Hamas's fault. That's equivalent of the logic that like the Harvard students used when they said it's israel sole responsibility that those Israeli citizens were massacred.
That is completely morally bankrupt. Of course, the Israeli government, there's some responsibility, and they are not.
Supposed to be a terrorist organization. They are supposed to.
They're holding themselves out as this beacon of the civilized world. So act like it, don't lower yourself to their standards. But you know obviously that that ship has sort of sailed.
Yeah, I honestly would just appreciate it if they were a little bit more honest. And actually I look to their defenders here in America, and their defenders are in America are basically like, yeah, they have to do it, that's what they should do.
That's the only way in order to wipe it out.
And they're like, sure, it's not in compliance with the Internet, I mean international law is fake, right, because you know, what is it? Possession is nine tenths of the laws. Like, if you can do it, then is it really the law? Well, not really, uh, And.
They're certainly exposing that international law is completely faked.
I've no doubt about that.
I've always believed that. It's part of the reason I don't often use it.
So my thing for Israel and them is that they need to just be honest about what they are doing. Part of the reasons why they won't is because they're actually partied in some cases to some of the Geneva Conventions, to the United Nations and others, which would put them
up for censure. But in the way that they're conducting the war, I mean, they've come under criticism by the US, by all these other organizations, and yet it does just expose like the fundamental divide of you know, we're backing our ally, so is most of the Western world, and then we try and reverse it and turn it around on Russia and Ukraine. Everyone's like, wait, what are you
talking about? And so for me, it's like, let's all just be very honest about what's going on here, about interest, about allies, about who we support, and about how we don't because that's what confuses the entire game and honestly just makes a mockery whenever we try to use it against somebody else. So the last thing that he was actually asked about, which is especially fascinating, was are you going to take responsibility for what happened?
Are you going to resign? And he had a very interesting defense.
Let's take a listen, sir, it seems that the level of support that you have amongst the Israeli public has dropped considerably. So the question is how can you continue to lead this country effectively during a very difficult time, And have you at all considered stepping down.
The only thing that I intend to have resign is Kamas. We're going to resign them to the dust benef history. That's my goal, that's my responsibility. That's what I'm leaving the country to do.
That's the only thing I'm going to resign.
Okay, but the Israeli public definitely feels a certain different kind of way. Let's go and put this up there on the screen. Just for example, even from the Wall Street Journal, Netsagnah, who fights for his political survival in the face of a devastating intelligence failure, the hostage crisis,
and the launch of a brutal and grinding war. The Israeli Prime Minister is struggling to rally the public to his side, and they just show, I mean, we've played for you, you know, videos and instances of people in the Israeli public or Sha outing out his own ministers out of hospitals. In some cases, people are smearing red paint on the headquarters of the Leakud party to look like blood, the message being that you have blood on
your hands. And that question highlights one that crystal. He keeps getting a Hebrew where they're like, hey, what are we going to do about this investigation? He's like, first, we'll fight the war, then we'll have the investigation. And it kind of reminds me, honestly of nine to eleven, where in the immediate aftermath we never asked the big question.
We're like, how did this happen? We just reacted. By the time the nine to eleven Commission report came out, we were in Iraq, it was like nine to eleven was forgotten. And then we had an even more stunning
intelligence failure just to back that up. So I'm coming back to what you said, which is, let's actually remember and honestly, you know, you'll rarely hear me say this something good that President Biden said, where he said, look, you know, after nine to eleven, we were filled with rage and we did a lot of things which we
eventually came to regret. And I would urge you don't go down that same path, because when you do, you'll find yourselves just like us seven trillion dollars or whatever, bankruptcy, thousands of American servicemen who are dead who knows untold millions and others who've been touched by the war suffering PTSD not to mention all the civilians that died in the process, but honestly, it just seems like we're going
right down the same thing. And the worst part is that we have a politician here who has the incentive to keep the war going as much as possible, or to keep the Supreme Commander in this case, has the utmost incentive not to rally the nation, but to preserve himself.
It's a very bizarre alignment of interest, and honestly, he should resign, like from a if you really believe it, if you believe in the integrity of the State of Israel, Like, how can you have a politician with misaligned interests who is up there at the top, especially in a coalition style government like in Israel with the parliamentary system, I mean, switching people in and out is not that difficult compared to like a president and yeah, compared to a president
in four year election. So there's these parliamentary systems of government are actually designed to be anti fraph jut to move quickly in situations like this, as we saw during Second World War or even the First World War in some instances in the British system. And yeah, I mean, just to see how that is for the public, it
must be intolerable. I cannot imagine, you know, being in a similar situation trying to be a citizen who wants to rally to my cause and then having a prime minister who you know, you were sketched out about but at this point both is responsible at least in some form for the failure, but now has a direct interest not necessarily in the same as everybody in the public, which we're going to talk about in a little bit.
Yeah, I mean, he is incredibly constrained by his desire to hold on to power. And there's a variety of ways that that influence operates on him. One is, even though he's formed this quote unquote unity government, et cetera, very telling that he refused the calls to push out some of his most extreme coalition partners like Ben Gavere, because he still has his eyes on I got to be able to form a coalition after this is all over.
And it's not an accident that he ended up in this coalition with these absolute extremists and true genocidal lunatics, because it was very difficult for him to be able to form a government at all. So he forced into this position of building this coalitional government that has these
incredibly extreme elements. And so the fact that even in this moment when it was necessary to form this war cabinet in this unity government, he refused those demands to push out those elements because he's thinking down the road, I got to get them back in if I'm going
to hold on to power. The other piece is when you have a prime minister who, even before this dramatic failure, was already really unpopular, extremely divisive, under fire for corruption, under fire for his attempts to basically take over the judiciary to get out of his corruption troubles.
That leaves you very little room to maneuver.
So if there is something that is in the best interests of long term peace that maybe the Israeli public is not super excited about because right now they understandably just want revenge, you're not going to have the bandwidth to do that. So he is under tremendous pressure and he has no room to navigate, and that really constrains and really impacts what he is doing here in the way that he is prosecuting this war.
And as you already pointed out, Soger, he.
Also because he put out this like, yeah, well I'll have to answer questions including me, but not till after the war is over. Every incentive to keep this war dragging out as long as possible. You know, there was a very interesting incident that really ignited a firestorm within Israel of controversy around him, where he put out this tweet, and this was detailed in the Wall Street Journal piece.
He put out this tweet publicly blaming the security failures not on not taking any responsibility himself, but on Israel's defense and intelligence services. He says he hadn't been warned of Hamas's intention to start a war. This hascounter to a lot of reporting at this point. He said that defense and intelligence officials had assessed that Humas was deterred. There was such an uproar he actually deleted the tweet
and apologized. But this is clearly trying to plant the seeds of how he wants to try to pass the buck and you know, try to delay until perhaps memories have faded and perhaps the rawness of emotion has faded to say, well, it really wasn't me, It was those guys. They're the ones that failed. They're the ones that led you astray. In spite of the fact that his whole claim to power and justification for his position as prime minister, for his government, etc. Was I am mister security, I
will keep you safe. So the fact that this happened on his watch, in spite of the way he had framed himself, I mean, this is incredibly politically devastating.
Yeah, and just to highlight again how difficult and different, you know, public opinion in Israel may be than to how you might hear in the US press. Put this up there on the screen. This is just from two days ago, and Reuters from an internal poll, almost half of Israelis want to hold off on any invasion of Gaza, in what may indicate a major dip in support for
the planned next stage of the operation. They Israel has vowed to support it now from the actual breakdown quote asked if the military should immediately escalate to a large scale ground defensive, only twenty nine percent of Israelis agreed, forty nine percent said quote it would be better to wait. Twenty two percent were undecided. And I think a huge reason for that is the hostages. These hostages are at the center of the minds of a lot of the
Israeli public around how to respond. And then furthermore, Crystal, we have some even more polling which is really interesting around how the actual Israeli public is feeling and also about the actual calls for Netanyahu. So we've always been trying to highlight here the Israeli voices like Hairetz, which is like a center left publication. They publish an editorial just yesterday. Put this up there please on the screen
that highlights exactly what we're talking about here. They say, this is the headline, Natagna Who's coalition must remove him?
Immediately.
The message at netanaw who posted on his social media accounts in which in the midst of the war he blamed those heads of the Defense establishment, necessitates his immediate removal as Prime Minister after this post, notwithstanding the fact that he deleted it and apologized weekly. Every Israeli, the President of the State and others once and for all, they need to continue at his faithful time is to gamble with Israel's future. So what they continue to say is,
you know, this isn't just our analysis. This is quite a few people who are inside of the country. However, we do want to make sure that people understand. You know, people in Israel are not just like kumbay a piece. It's not that they want to hold off on an invasion because they're so concerned about Palestinians or Palestinian lives. They want to hold off an invasion because they want to make sure that their citizens are safe. Understandable sentiment.
We just want to be very clear about what they actually think. Let's put this up there please on the screen. This is from a poll of the Israel Democracy Institute. So for example, they ask to what extent do you trust each of the following institutions on the government, it is forty eight point seven percent. The vast majority of people not at all, do not trust the government on
not so much, it's twenty nine point nine. It's interesting too, you can look at the breakdown between Jews and Arab citizens of Israel in terms of people who actually trust the government quite a lot. In Israel, it's thirteen percent and an additional five don't know at three So people are very decided on the issue. That's interesting. So that does highlight netsa Nau's problem. But let's go to the
next one here. Please, to what extent do you think that Israel should take into consideration the suffering of the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza when planning the next phases of the operation there, not at all. You have forty percent of the general public. However, there's a big breakdown between Jews and Arabs. Forty seven point five percent of Jews say not at all, one point two percent of Arabs on not so much. It's an additional thirty five
point nine percent. So the vast majority of Israeli Jews saying they should not take into consideration civilian population of the Palestinian people. But you do have four percent of Arabs who vehemently disagree. Now in terms of the flip, in terms of people who say we should very much take into consideration they're suffering. It's a vast majority of the Arab Israeli population which says that they should. There is a big, big flip there.
It's basically a complete reversal. Keep this up on the screen because I want to highlight these other pole questions as well. You can just see very clearly here the sectarian divide between these are Jews and these are Arab Israelis. So these are not you know, people who are living in the West Bank, are living in the Gaza strip. These are Arab Israelis their view of what's going on.
And so here you see eighty three percent of Jews saying basically like, don't really care about the civilian Palestinian population, and it's completely reversed for Arabs eighty three percent say I care quite a lot, or I care very much about the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza visa VI this war.
Keep this up on the screen.
The next question here, do you agree or disagree that when undertaking military operations the IDF should ensure it is not breaking international laws and rules of war. So basically like, how do you feel about war crimes? And you've got a very large split here as well. In terms of Jewish Israelis, you have it split more or less fifty to fifty whether they care much about international law or
rule of war. With Arabs completely different story. Again, it's about eighty three percent who say, yes, you should be caring about whether you're breaking international law and rules of war.
And the last one we wanted to highlight here, which is very relevant both to the next conversation we're about to have and also to our conversation that we had with Gilly Roman, whose sister is in Israeli hostage, and your opinion, should the State of Israel conduct negotiations with Hamas for the release of kidnapped Israelis in return for the release of Hamas prisoners from Israeli prisons. Here there's a real you know, there's a real divide among Jewish Israelis.
You have the first first responses, Yes, they should do these negotiations immediately, even if it means halting the fighting. Not a lot of take us there with Jews. Overwhelmingly that's the position with Arabs at sixty percent. The next response is yes immediately, but don't stop the fighting. That's the place where the plurality of Jewish.
Is rallies stand.
And I would say, based on our conversation with Gilly, that's what he thinks. Basically, thirty seven percent say continue to negotiate, but also don't stop the fighting. Only six percent of Arabs hold that view. The next position is not right now, only at the end of the fighting. That is a relatively fringe position even among Jewish is
rallies at only fifteen percent. And then the just flat out no, don't negotiate at all is actually pretty popular among Jewish is rallies about twenty six percent, So that's the most popular position. So the bulk of the public there, in terms of Jewish Israelis say either negotiate, we keep fighting, or don't negotiate at all, just fight and we'll see what happens later.
Yeah, I mean, look, unfortunately, I think it mostly tracks with US public opinion. Post nine eleven would if you would ask people in the United States, be like, should we care at all about Iraqi civilians? In October of two almost what twenty one years ago to almost to the day. At this time when we were deciding all these things, everyone what ninety some percent would have been like, absolutely not wipe them out. I mean, I'm sure you remember too. Course, I grew up in Texas, so I
heard this one a lot. They're like, I don't care. You know everything I need to know about Islam I found out in September eleventh, two thousand and one, like all of these dumb refrains, which you know, to be honest, And I even heard this from Darryl Cooper who was on our podcast. He's like a lot of the guys who had heard that from He's like, they ended up, you know, going to serve in the military and then finding themselves just like either reversed or just really hopeless
and sad about how the entire situation turned out. So again, you know, history certainly does seem to rhyme in this situation. I guess the entire point of this is just to show you that Israel is in a complex place in terms of how it's people feel, in terms of what
they want. But I think one thing that they all are pretty much united around is they don't trust their government and nets and Yahoo is at the center of all of that, and unfortunately, I guess for us is he is our number one negotiating partner and or messaging person, you know, to the American public around all of this. It's very dangerous, I think, for that country to have him at the helm at this time whenever. He's going to be so controversial to so many people inside his
own country and so many people inside of ours. Let's move on, Ben to some just basic news around the actual invasion and one of the preeminent goals for a lot of the Israeli public, which is the return of the hostages. Let's go and put this up there on the screen. The IDF said yesterday that a female Israeli soldier who had been kidnapped by Hamas was quote released during IDF ground operations. The IDF is saying that the soldier was medically checked, is doing well and is met
with their family. The details of this are a little weird actually, because it appears that she was not being held in a tunnel. She was being held in an area very close to where some of these really military operations were, didn't have a lot of military guard around her. And this isn't just an Israeli a hostage. This is an IDF soldier who was taken captive by Hamas. So I don't know, maybe it was a screw up or something like that by Hamas. Clearly they had some intelligence
to that effect. They went in and they rescued her. It came at the same time of the release of a new video of some of these hostages. Of course, let's keep this in mind before we even play it. These hostages are being held against their will and under duress. So it's not like we can take everything that they
say as truth or how they are actually feeling. But we wanted to play it just to give you the at least, this is the message that Hamas wants the hostages to project to the Israeli public, which is going to have some sort of impact. So take the caveat and now let's put this up there on the screen and I'll read some of the tough subtitles.
They say.
Biby Nechayahu, we are in Chevy Chevy Hamas twenty three how many days? It's been twenty three days, she says to the two people sitting next to her. Yesterday there was a press conference with the kidnap to families. We know that there was supposed to be a cease fire. You were supposed to free us all. You had to free us all, and instead we are driving in your
political security, military and political chaos. And there's nods there from some of the people who are next her because of the mess that quote you made on the seventh of October, Because there was no army there, no one came, no one listened to us. And we, innocent citizens, citizens who pay taxes to the State of Israel, are in Chevy in conditions, not conditions. This one is a difficult one. You are killing us. You want to kill us ally, You want to find a way to kill us all.
Not enough, you killed everyone. Not enough Israeli citizens were killed. Free us, Free us, now, free their citizens, free their prisoners, free us, free all of us, and give us, give us to return to our families.
Now.
Really horrible situation there. I can't imagine what these women are going through.
Again.
Who knows whether any of that is true, whether they have guns pointed at their heads, but it's clear that Hamas wants to exploit that message and to hammer at home something that you would talk to almost immediately crystal about the divisions in the Israeli public around the moving of IDF soldiers from the border with Gaza to the West Bank in order to protect settlers, leaving people there feeling very exposed. Many of them are really more like
Israeli leftists, they're like peace activists in some cases. Those two old ladies who were released, Ryan did a great job of kind of talking about them and their their peace legacy.
People haven't gone.
They've been into Gaza before to provide medical services to Palestinian people.
So these women, we.
Don't know much about them, but of course they're being exploited and they're being projected here. But the message that they are trying to get across is that Hamas is desirable at this point of a ceasefire, but obvious to take advantage or at least, you know, for whatever purposes. But you know, it also gets to the difficulty of the hostage situation and what they are then demanding. It seems that they are saying, we want the release of
all of our prisoners in exchange. Now, the details of any sort of hostage swap and all of that are very you know, the nebulous in some cases, like sometimes they're saying well, we want the release of all Hamas people who were taken on October seventh, or actually want all Palestinian prisoners who are being held by Israel or in some cases have been held now for decades in
Israeli prison. And then all of this is of course being negotiated in Katar, where the reports indicate that the head of the Israeli Masad actually just traveled to may not have met with Hamas directly, but as meeting with other representatives where Hamas has representation.
There as well, a group of the family members of Israelis who are being held hostage release that their position is they support a swap of all prisoners for all prisoners, or all hostages for all hostages. So at least some portion of the hostage family members like that is their position. They want to negotiate, they want to make that deal. I also want to mention the fact because I think this is really significant as well in understanding you know,
this entire dynamic. There were a lot of Palestinian day laborers from Gaza who are actually in Israel on the day of October seventh. They were there, you know, on a work permit to work. They usually work in you know, the very difficult, dirty, low paying industries that Israelis don't want to do, so they give.
Gazens work permits.
This was part of the idea to sort of like placate this area and try to keep tensions and security concerns at bay. Thousands of them are missing, a number of them have been confirmed taken I would say, basically hostage by the Israelis as well. So when we're talking about Palestinian prisoners who could be part of some theoretical deal, which again you have to consider you're dealing with mas here, so how much you.
Take them at their word, etc.
But when you're thinking about Palestinian prisoners, I just want people to understand the type of people that could be involved in that. You know, some of them are undoubtedly you hardened Hamas terrorists, no doubt about it, but some of them are also just regular Palestinian day laborers who are being held now in indefinite detention in this very sort of like Guantanamo Bay type system that Israel has set up exactly for you know, this type of situation.
So that's sort of the bigger picture of the potential swap that is being discussed.
Here.
Yeah, that's right. So that's the context for the current hostage situation in terms of the military operation. So I've been checking military operations obviously continue. The tanks remain inside of Gaza. It appears that they are doing some sort of movement to encircle the city, Gaza City. We broke a lot of that down yesterday, but there hasn't been anything significant that's happened in the last twenty four hours.
Of course, we will keep you guys all updated.
Part of what we've tried to keep the focus on here from the beginning is not only what is happening right now and the horrors of it and the details of it and the geostrategic importance of it, but okay, what's the plan for after? And to make the nine to eleven comparison again, you know, I mean, going into a rock at all was foolish, But we also went in without a real plan for after, at least not
when one that made any damn sense. The Israeli government has been very insistent under net and Yahoo that like, we haven't really thought about that. First, We're going to go in and do this thing, and then we'll figure that out down the road. The US has reportedly in one of these you know, handwringing dispatch is very concerned about that, trying to pressure them to come up with
a plan. So we are starting to get some leaks and some details about some of the plans which are being crafted and floated in what I would describe as basically like a domestic and international kind of trial balloon. Put this up on the screen from Haretz. The Israeli Intel Ministry suggests relocating Gaza to Sinai after the Hamas War, so completely pushing Gazans out of the Gaza strip and
into the Egyptian Sinai desert after the Hamas War. Again, this was a leaked document that gave a number of possible suggestions, but this was the one that they felt was like the best idea.
They say.
A draft document prepared by the Israeli Intel Ministry suggests an option to initially relocate Gaza's population to tense cities in northern Sinai. This is the first indication of a possible exit strategy to the war by the political leadership. Among a number of suggestions in this new document drafted by the ministry is the possible relocation in the current wars aftermath. It suggests Israel mite initially relocate them to ten cities, to be followed later by the establishment of
permanent communities in northern Sinai. So this is a permanent relocation, is what's being floated here. Document presents two additional alternatives. One would permit the Palestinian Authority, which has partial control of the West Bank and which was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in two thousand and seven, who control Gaza
with its current residents remaining. Another option would have Israel established local Arab rule by Gaza's residents, who remain in their home offices in their homes after the collapse of the Hamas regime. The Prime Minister's Office said in response to this article is an initial document of the kind that can be found in dozens of iterations at all
levels of the government and the security services. The issue of the day after has not been discussed at any official forum in Israel, which is now focused on eliminating Kamas's governmental and military capabilities in Saga. As you know, I've long thought that it was complete bullshit that they're like, we haven't even thought about that, because even before this war they had thought about it. There had been position papers,
there had been articulated political positions. You know, Netnyahu famously, as the head of Lakud, has been totally opposed to any sort of Palestinian statehood. That's why he was interested in propping up Hamas because he knew it Hamas could not be negotiated with, there would be no appetite for peace with Hamas. He also knew that keeping the residents of the West Bank versus the Gaza strip was also
good for thwarting Palestinian statehood. So that's why they prefer this idea of let's be honest, what it would amount to the textbook definition of an ethnic cleansing. They prefer that because if you allow the Palestinian authority control over Gaza, then you have this little glimmer of a possibility at Palestinian statehood. And the reason we should take this seriously Number one, the reporting is that this was intentionally leaked to a group of basically like right wing activists to
try to get it out into the press. Again, that's why I call this as sort of like trial balloon to see how the Israeli population responds to it, but more importantly to see how we respond to it. Yes, and we also have some indications from your recall, we covered Tony Blinken's discussion with President CC of Egypt, and one of the things that he said really stood out to me about how, you know, oh, they put off the table like any relocation of Gazans. Let's put this
up on the screen from Reuter's Egypt. CC rejects transfer of Gosen's discusses aid with Biden, and so it was a real red flag to me that that had even been seriously discussed from the US Secretary of State with the President of Egypt and was again an indication that this whole oh, we don't know what we want to do thing was a bluff and they actually had some ideas behind the scenes of what they wanted to do. They just want to really come out and say it publicly.
Yeah, I think it's I agree that it's probably a trial balloon, and it is one where the I would even say the less importance is us is how the Arab world will react to this. And I think it's interesting that CC, it seems, had had some sort of inkling around this. I mean, let's also remember CC has
a pretty good intelligence network. It helps whenever you are a dictator of your entire country, and they're the ones who actually warned the Israelis about October seventh, just a couple of days before, just like just so you know, clearly probably had some heads up that something like this was being planned. I just don't think it's honestly even feasible. They can try and trial balloon in all they want.
If they were to try and forcibly relocate a million people or so into the Sinai it would absolutely spark regional war.
There's no question.
It also flies in the face of all US policy, bipartisan US policy now for multiple administrations. I believe even since the Bush administration, whenever it came to the policy of the United States government it has been now for almost two decades. Is we believe in a two state palicy
and solution. This is the opposite of that. Also, it flies in the face of the previous way that we thought about Sinai, about the removal of Israeli troops about I think even to this day, they're still US peacekeepers at least in the region or nearby, because I know that sometimes they had to run in with isis my point being is that this is dead on arrival for the entire international community. And it is, though I think dangerous, especially if it's dangerous if it's came about the way
that you said. It's one thing to be leaked because people are concerned about it. It's way of the thing to be leaked because they're like, no, no, no, guys, let's let's float this and let's see. Yeah, what their response is. This would set up. I believe this actually would set up a complete showdown with the Arab world. Where is this is the plan and this is what they actually want to commit themselves too.
That's it, We're going to work. There's no question.
They also included in here details about the way they would sell the international community and the Arab world and the US in particular on this idea. And I mean it's unfolding. The plan lays out. Some of these phases have already unfolded. So the ideas, Okay, first we push them out of northern Gaza for their safety. For southern Gaza also not safe, but we'll put that aside for a moment. Then we do the ground invasion. We push them out of the strip altogether, again for their safety.
You remember early on with the Biden administration, there was a lot of talk of these humanitarian corridors. That is, the idea of like, oh, we're going to open these humanitarian corridors so that people can flee the fighting and keep them safe with of course we'll let them return, and then after that basically making the case that actually be better off for them. And you know this is so destroyed now on Gaza they can't possibly return home.
So there's a whole strategy here laid out of the type of propaganda that would be used and the way it would unfold to try to effectuate this outcome.
Now, I agree with you.
I think the fact that Blinken made those comments publicly, that we haven't been hearing similar language about humanitarian corridors in tense cities, etc. From the Biden administration, I think is also another indication. But just a couple other pieces on this, So just to give you an insight into how the net Nyahu government thinks about this issue and how different it is from the US typical conception of like, oh, we're in this peace process and working to a two
state solution, et cetera. The option of reinstating the Palestinian Authority rule in Gaza is described in this report as the least desirable desirable because quote, the division between the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza is one of the main obstacles today preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
So again, the reason they.
Don't like the idea of the Palestinian Authority being in Gaza is because that would open up the possibility of a potential to state or some sort of peace solution. So just so you have an insight into how they're thinking. And one last piece that I'll put out here, which came out maybe last week, which also shows that the seriousness and the thought that's being put into this plan.
Very similar plan.
Was craft and put out publicly by an Israeli think tank that has ties into this government. Let's go and put this up on the screen. This is a report from this I actually wasn't familiar with this New Lines magazine.
It seems like.
Sort of like a neoliberal my vibe in terms of their ideology. The headline here is as the Middle East reels and new Option takes shape, expulsion. Years of careful diplomacy have been overturned by the current wave of violence, forcing major powers in the region and beyond to look for new policies, however extreme. So they go on to
report put this up on the screen. Just this week, a right wing Israeli think tank headed by the country's former national security advisor publish a report on various scenarios for the future of Gaza, including a detailed plan for
the expulsion of its Palaestinian population to Egypt. In the paper by the Jerusalem based Miskov Institute for resign As, Strategy and Natural Security, only one suggestion for a Postmas future is deemed viable for Israel's long term security, the quote transfer of the Gazia population to Sinai or other countries. Author of the report says that Washington can play a crucial role by pressuring these countries to either contribute resources
or taken displaced Palestinians themselves. Although international law says forced his placement of civilians as a war crime, the author of this report argues transferring Gazins to Sinai could be legally justified as self defense in a time of war. So again just shows you this is something that's being
seriously considered. I think being floated as a trial balloon both of the air world to us, to the Israeli population, and is very much part of the thought process and consideration of what the Israeli government would like to do. The last thing I'll say about them, I mean putting aside. I know people feel a certain way when you use these terms. I mean, if you look up the definition of ethnic cleansing, this f it's the definition. So put
that aside. If you don't care about the morality of it, how are you going to be more secure if you just push these people out done a complete knappa. They're in Egypt, like you no longer even have your like, you know, blockade and your deep surveillance, et cetera. That's part of why I actually think that this won't fly is because I don't know that these really public even if they don't care about the civilians and any of that, are going to feel safe under this certain area.
I just think this is not going to happen.
This might be their wildest dream and like if they had total power, they could, but because there's no way the international community will ever allow the.
Same thing, is I can't totally put it off the table just because of you know, these multiple reports coming on, it's clearly being floated behind the scenes, et cetera.
And also because it's not.
Like any of the potential post war strategies makes a lot of sense, like there are no good options.
I agree with you.
I mean, here's why I think it is gonna happen. I think they're gonna set up some sort of DMZ. This is why they're in the northern part of the country. That's where they're doing everything. They're going to go into Gaza City, They're basically going to level it. Then they're
gonna take minimal casualties as much as possible. They're gonna set up some multiple kilometer demilitarized zone which is mine to all of hell, and then they're basically going to say they dismantled Hamas, but let's be honest, like it didn't actually happen, and then they're gonna pull out there. You take minimal casualties, you quote unquote send a message.
Nothing actually fundamentally changes. Hamas will still remain like quasi and power, which means that the right wing government can always be like say, we don't have every serious negotiating power. The problem in all of that is the hostages of course. And also, and that's another thing where you almost want to take them at their word when they say it's a months long military operation.
You can read it two ways.
You could be like, whoa, they're really gonna go into hand to hand combat. But the more that I see the way that they're conducting themselves, I don't see it.
I mean, they're barely getting out of these tanks.
You have very special forces rates, they are very very concerned about Israeli casualties. So if you are that concerned about it, there's no scenario where you're going to be seriously engaged in what it would take to militarily accomplished a subjective. The best thing you could do is just, like I said, set up some sort of DMZ and you probably, unfortunately, because this is one of one of the best things that was really was between the two groups.
They're probably end the guestworker program completely and not allow Palestinians to even cross the border for anything in the future. I think that just seems like the most likely sum there.
Think about the Israeli public, So the idea of they're going to eliminate hamas.
I mean, it's not going to happen. It's just not possible.
It's not gonna happen.
Right, they know that they're not fools, right, there's no way, and there's no other government structure in place, and you know, I mean there haven't any elections there in what seventeen years or whatever like, Yes, it's not like there's some thriving democratic society that can put up together another government. So the idea of we're going to root out Hamas, no, you're not, okay, So how is Israeli public going to react?
Even with Okay, we have this DMZ and we have these additional security procedures, etc. But we're gonna let Hamas remain in control. I just can't imagine the Israeli public supporting that. So, like I said, the reason I don't think you can rule it out is because number one, we've already seen them executing a number of these phases.
Number two, you know, even prior to this war, this was clearly like the desire of especially certain elements of Natna Who's coalition, if not him himself, but I think also himself based on prior support and comments. There is no good other option. And I just don't know. I don't know how it plays out. I don't know where it does. I don't know what the Israeli public will accept.
And I really want people to fit with the fact that, according to this official government ministry report, they would actually rather keep Hamas there than let in Palestinian authority because that would open up the possibility of peace. So they would rather have Hamas in charge than have a possibility of a Palestinian state. I just want you to understand that's the ideology we're dealing.
With, definitely, especially if the current government, and the other possibility is the Israeli public it gets sick of war and then they're like, look, let's actually get serious about this. If anybody, if any public could do it, it would be people whose grandfathers died in the Holocaust, whose fathers had to fight in the nineteen seventy in nineteen sixty seven, in nineteen seventy three wars, and men whose current generation has had to live now with debilitaring terror attacks.
That can go two different ways.
You know, you can go one way where you want complete revenge, but if that doesn't become politically sustainable, then you turn to the other. So I would hope that we can bet on that prevailing, but of course that is not something that we can count on in the future.
Well, the last thing to say on potentially more hopeful or moderate note or whatever is I mean there aren't really like there aren't real leftists left in the kanessid Like it's this whole society has shifted dramatically, right, which is how Nniahu ends up in power. But you know he is and his coalition is the most extreme in history,
and he's hanging out to power by his fingernails. So it's not even close to clear that he and his government would be the ones coming up with and implementing whatever the strategy is for the day after.
Yes, exactly right. Let's move on to the AID part. This is kind of a fascinating conversation. There was a new plan that's been revealed, so of course Speaker Mike Johnson, the new Speaker, said his first act was passing a resolution in support of Israel. The second thing that they really wanted to do was get some Israel AID on the floor. Well that Israel AID, as I brought you guys in news yesterday. They're breaking it apart from Ukraine AID.
Now it's going to be fourteen billion. Now instead of just paying or just I guess borrowing that additional fourteen billion, they wanted to do an offset, and so the way they've decided to pay for it is by cutting funding for the IRS, which was included in the Inflation Reduction Act. Here's Speaker Johnson in an interview that just yesterday describing the strategy. Let's take a listen.
This is a matter of good versus evil.
I think what Prime Minister dot Yahu said just a couple of days ago is exactly right. It's good versus evil, it's light versus darkness. I spoke with him on the telephone. I think it's Saturday night. I've known him for some time, and we spoke in those very clear terms, and we understand what's at stake here, and I hope that everyone will put politics aside.
Get that bill over the line. We're going to have pay fors in it.
We're not just going to print money and send it overseas, because the other concern we have that is overwriting this is our own strength is a nation which is tied to our fiscal stability. My desire in the first draft of this bill is to take some of the money that has been set aside for the building and bulking up the IRS. Right now, they have about sixty seven billion dollars in that fund, and we'll try to take the fourteen point five necessary for this immediate and urgent need.
We'll deal with the rest of that issue later.
Do you think that will drive away some Democrats in the Senate even or here in the House.
It may, but my intention is to call Leader Shumer over there and have a very direct and thoughtful conversation about this.
I understand their.
Priority is to bulk up the IRS, but I think if you put to the American people and they weigh the two needs, I think they're going to say, standing with Israel and protecting the innocent over there is in our national interest and is a more immediate need than IRS agents.
All right, he's setting up a showdown over the IRS. Let's put this on the screen. We got some of the bill text here just to show you guys, so as you can see, the House GOP wants to offset the fourteen point three billion israel A supplemental with IRS funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.
We've got the bill text there that lays it all out.
So Chrystal, I know that you disagree with this on a policy, but I got to be honest, I think it's a brilliant play because they're basically daring the Senate and Biden to choose IRS funding over funding for Israel, which at the very least is politically popular.
For now.
IRS funding is certainly not politically popular. You can try and phrase it in different ways, but especially with no protections inside of the bill to make sure that they are not going after poorer people. It's one of those where they are setting things up I think for a difficult headline in the future. That said, Chuck Schumer has already rejected the plan. Schumer says not because of the IRS thing, although it's obviously the reason. He's like, well,
it doesn't have Ukraine, we have to do it together. Yeah, And then President Biden has rejected it out of hand for the similar reason.
Neither of them doing though for the IRS funding.
So if this is the sole thing that moves from the House floor, it will be quite a dare.
And they already have.
A Democratic vote, at least one Democratic vote said you would join.
Them, Well, I don't want funding going to Israel.
So if this screws that up. I'm in support of it, but can he talk for a.
Second about how stupid this is because the money that they're talking about stripping from the IRS not only is to go after wealthy tax cheats, it's also to finance a free tax filing system, this one for ordinary people, which is something I know even you support. It's like one of the few good things that the government is actually planning to do for us. And it's like, all right, let's make sure Turbo tax can still extract their pound of flesh from every American when it comes to tax time.
Way to go, GOP.
But the other level makes it so stupid is because the money you spend on IRS agents actually like returns more than the money you're spending, So it's not like this is a pay for This would actually further increase the deficits.
So anyway, it's.
Just obviously political political gimmick. I thought Matt Stoller had a good take. He said, so the new speaker wants to finance a foreign nations war by cutting a free tax filing program for Americans and eliminating tax audits of the wealthy ladies and gentlemen America. First, how does this all plan on? I really have no idea because you know, Speaker Johnson is very interested in Israel funding as well. Yes, mean Bebe is like his buddy. He's already talked to him.
He's very ideologically, he's very like personally religiously committed to Israel. So he also is extremely committed to Israel funding. You know, he has already signaled that he accepts the basic argument in favor of Ukraine funding. So I don't know how this all plays out. Ultimately, my guess is that, you know.
The things that I would want to happen, which is no way.
To Ukraine or Israel, are probably not going to happen. They probably find some way to shoehorn both of these things through, So we'll see. But this is clearly, like, you know, an attempt to I even think the congressman, who's the Democratic congressman who said that he would vote for this, he said it's like politics by political mail, or like they're trying to phrase like the way they would go after Democrats, which is precisely what it.
Is going on.
It definitely is what happening.
That's why I'm like, well, honestly, I think it's kind of smart Will it work again, I don't know. Let's put the next one up there on the screen. As I said about Chuck Schumer saying that actually it's the Ukraine exemption. He says that exclusion of Ukraine and the inclusion offsets is going to quote make it much harder to pass the Senate. Obviously, it's up to him on whether it comes to the floor. But Israel is a massive priority for Chuck Schumer and for a lot of
Senate Democrats and for Republicans. I don't think the Senate Republicans would have any issue, and then you only need a couple of Dems actually to join. But Schumer, of course would have to bring it to the floor. Now I don't know how that will come about. Already, the sole objection I've seen so far from Joe Manchin says, I'm fine with the IRS funding cut, but we got to have Ukraine in there too. Susan Collins also saying effectively the same thing.
It's a showdown. We'll see how it goes.
The House is going scheduled to vote on it at least sometime in the next week or so. Then it will make its way over to the Senate. They're going to have to decide if they outright rejected or not, and then the two bodies will come to a head, and obviously the President is going to be on the side of Chuck Schumer. So we'll keep you guys updated. But it is an interesting little political wrinkle that the
GOP was able to get in there for their headline. Now, speaking of Ukraine, aid, there was a remarkable per new profile of President Zelenski in Time magazine that we just had to bring you. I found with this quote Crystal buried forty five paragraphs in all the way at the bottom, which is job dropping, honestly whenever you read it out loud. So let's please put it up there on the screen.
I'm gonna read it to everybody in full. This is a quote from this reporter who was embedded with President Zelenski and his team both during their US trip and then in Kiev and also critically after the October seventh attack on Israel. Quote, amid all of the pressure to root out corruption, I assumed, perhaps naively, officials in Ukraine would think twice before taking a bribe or pocketing state funds.
When I made this point to a top presidential advisor in early October, he asked me to turn off my audio recorders so he could speak more freely. Quote Simon, you are mistaken. Simon is the profiler, he says.
Quote.
People are stealing like there's no tomorrow. Even the firing of the Defense minister did not make officials quote feel any fear, he says, because the purge took so long to materialize. The president was warned in February the corruption has grown rife inside the ministry. He dithered for more than six months, giving his allies multiple chances to deal with the problems quietly or explain them away. By the time he had acted ahead of his US visit, quote,
it was too late, says another senior presidential advisor. Ukraine's Western allies are already aware of this scandle by then, and soldiers at the front have begun making off color jokes about Resnikov's eggs a new metaphor for corruption.
Quote.
The reputational damage was done. You know things are bad whenever the freaking guys on the front line are aware of an egg scandal as something that is a standalone. There's so much more in this piece, but to me, it's just like the hubris. They think they can just admit this out loud and get another sixty billion dollars. I mean, this is one of the most corrupt nations in the entire world ahead of this warp, openly acknowledged
by the Western government and by many others. We have now reports that the Biden administration held off for over a year on raising corruption to the Ukrainian government.
We knew it was real, we decided not.
To raise it. And what's shocking to me is that inside the regime itself they are completely fine with it. And not only fine, they are openly stealing everything that's not nailed down to the floor because now they're like, oh well now the funding might dry up, so we got to steal as much as we can. I mean, these people look that make the Afghans look like charitable NGO operators or something. It's crazy to me that they'll just admit this.
There's a lot that comes through in this piece as well, in terms of like reality sort of setting in, but it's not really setting in. They have this line, they say Zelenski the usual sparkle of his optimism, a sense of humor, his tendency to liven up a meeting in the war and with a bit of banter, a body joke, body joke. None of that has survived into the second year of an all out war. Now he walks in,
gets the updates, gives the orders, and walks out. They have left him without the means to win the war, only the means to survive it. On the contrary, his belief in Ukraine's ultimate victory over Russia has hardened into a form that worries some of his advisors. It is immovable, verging on the messianic, he deludes himself. One of his closest aids tells me in frustration, we are out of options, we are not winning.
But try telling him that.
So there's a sense like he is very aware, and this is you know, comes through in the piece that Western support is kind of crumbling, you know, especially now with Israel has stolen the spotlight, so it's really been put on the back burner. The counter offensive didn't go well, and there's a reckoning internally within Ukraine about like why didn't go well and whose heads need to roll because it didn't.
Go well, et cetera.
So you've got that they're facing another brutal winter where there are likely to be blackouts and electricity failures, and you know, potentially civilian infrastructure targeted by the Russians, et cetera. And there's this quote in here too about like last winter they blamed Russia. This winter, are they're going to blame us that we didn't get it together to try
to protect them during this time. So there's an awareness of all these things, but there's no willingness to acknowledge the reality that there needs to be some sort of a deal cut, needs to be some sort of an end in sight. And you know, there's even there's a lot of focus, understandably from US and from a lot of the international prosspot, like what weapons they need and what weapons systems, et cetera. Part of what comes through in this piece is like weapons are one thing. We
don't even have the men to fire the weapons. The average age of a Ukrainian soldier is like forty five years old average age. And so the reporter says, when I raised these claims with the senior military officer that some of the units were refusing to follow orders, he said some commanders have little choice in second guessing orders
from the top. At one point in early October, he said the political leadership in Kiev demanded an operation to take a certain city, a strategic outpost in eastern Ukraine that the Russians have held and fiercely defended for nearly a decade. The answer came back in the form of a question, with what retake it?
With what?
They don't have the men or the weapons, says the officer. Where are the weapons, where's the artillery? Where are the new recruits? So you're facing almost like muteness conditions on the ground in the front lines in some of these areas.
Yeah, the most poignant one to me was the exactly what you reference his own advisors saying, quote, he deludes himself, we are out of options, we are not winning.
Try telling him that.
This is These are actual Ukrainian presidential advisors. Let's underscore exactly what you just said about the actual personnel, where they say that the shortage of personnel is more dire than the deficit in arms and in ammunition. I mean, I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that when the average age is forty three years old, quote, they are grown men now, and they aren't even that healthy to begin with. This is Ukraine, not Scandinavia, as
they so aptly put it. They know that they're not fighting with a full deck. And this is really sad because we have no idea what the actual number of casualties are. We know it's probably more than one hundred thousand that are dead, could be more than that. What we do know, based upon unfortunately about the number of prosthetics that are being manufactured, is that it is now roughly equivalent to what the British Army was suffering for casualties who have lost limbs from the First World War.
When you put those two things together and you consider that Ukraine is a tiny country comp with the amount of personnel that are available compared population wise, will fight wise, manufacturing wise at the British Empire had its disposal at that time.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that in a war of attrition, you're gone, You're going to lose. Your best hope is probably that things stay where they are right now, because in the long run, things are about to get very, very difficult for you forty three years old. I mean, this is like you read about countries in.
Their absolute like last death throws start to get forty three fifty year olds, and then of course what comes next usually kids age fifteen or some sixteen, sometimes thirteen, you know, that get drafted or or end up in auxiliary forces or whatever behind the lines, and then they end up getting put it in danger. I mean, this is this is like existential, but they're not behaving as if it's existential, because when you do, and I think this is why I honestly blame us more for this
than anybody else. We gave him the delusions that he could be in this to win back every square inch of his territory, including CRIMEA That's what the American political establishment basically told them. And then at the same time, on the corruption side, it's our fault.
We're the fools.
If somebody is going to take your money and steal it, is that on them or is it on you for being enough of an so much of an idiot. They not only give them fifty billion, they give them an additional fifty billion on top of that, even when you know that they're massive criminals.
That's that's America's fault.
And even right now, I mean, it is an open question whether we're not going to send these people an additional sixty billion dollars. If I had to bet, I would probably bet on the side of sending it to them. I think the American political establishment doesn't care about any of this. I will say, you know, this, this profile and all of that, it's making the rounds on Capitol Hill. I had multi two sitting US senators who highlighted my tweet about that. But that's two out of a body
of one hundred. Yeah, the vast majority, they're just gonna ignore it. They're going to pretend like it doesn't even exist.
I agree with you that it's our fault, and I actually think this line that they have in here, you know, Zelenski feels betrayed.
By his Western allies.
They have left him without the means to win the war, only the means to survive. It is basically accurate. And it is now really quite confirmed that the US and the UK in particular, at the beginning of this war scuttled a potential peace deal that was being negotiated by Turkey, and the thought was that, you know, this would be quick and easy, and Russia was falling apart and they were a mess, and maybe we can get regime change.
We had all these like fanciful Maximus aims, and so we scuttled this potential negotiation that could have ended this conflict and ended this you know, total nightmare and horror of a war. And we didn't want that. Not they didn't want it, We didn't want it. So yeah, now you're in this Noman's land. Keep like, keep feeding the thing even though it's you know, it's not going to
be enough to win. And the public is you know, has lost its interest in its appetite for continuing to be proxies in this conflict and all the while a very dangerous situation. It's just it's a complete mess, and it is You're right, it is absolutely a mess of our making because you really can't blame the Lensk like this is his country. You can't blame him for the decisions and everything that he's trying to do. But we're the ones who, you know, have really been driving the
train and pushing this direction from the beginning. And you know, there will be a reckoning one day, there's no doubt about it.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, I hope that it comes sooner rather than it took us twenty years to wake up to the grift in Afghanistan. It's taken us about two years, but we still spent the same amount of money and arguably even more on this one. So joke really is on the US taxpayer and on all of us for not listening in the first place.
Speaking of Afghanistan and nine to eleven, the nine eleven and vibes continue, and especially some of the war on terror expansion of the security state that we saw in the wake of nine to eleven. We now have the White House, you know, with Korean John Pierre spokesperson here classifying a new group of Americans as quote unquote extremists.
Let's take a listen to this exchange.
Good bye.
I think the anti Israel protesters in this country are extremists.
What I can say is what we've been very clear about this when it comes to anti Semitism, there's no place. We have to make sure that we speak against it very loud and be very clear about that. Remember, what the president decided when the President decided to run for president is what he saw in Charlottesville in twenty seventeen, when he saw neo Nazis marching down the streets of
Charlottesville with vile anti Semitic just hatred. And he was very clear then and he's very clear now, and he's taken actions against this over the past two years, and he's continued to be clear. There is no place, no place for this type of violent despite despite this kind of rhetoric, we hear you.
Guys don't talk about extremists all the time. It is usually about Maga extremists. So what about these protesters for making Jewish students feel save on college campuses? Are they extremeists?
I've been very very clear. We are calling out any form of hate, any form of hate, it is not acceptable.
So basically likening their protesters to the neo Nazis who marched in Charlottesville. Let's take a look at some of the official government actions that are being taken here.
Put this up on the screen.
Biden administration unveiling new actions on Monday to combat anti Semitism on college campuses after an alarming uptick and incident since the Israel Hamas War. The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are partnering with campus law enforcement to track hate related threats and provide federal resources to school was. According the plan, which was shared exclusively with NBC News, some of what they'll be assessing include specific incredible threats
that are flagged online. So listen, you might hear that, let's work. You know, everyone should be completely opposed to anti semitism, which is disgusting, and there is no doubt there has been a rise in anti semitism. There's no doubt that some of the protesters have expressed anti Semitic sentiments. It's also very clear that, you know, the two thirds of American public supports a ceasefire, which is completely at.
Odds with the White House, something they have called repugnant. You also have.
Many Jewish protesters who are in support of a ceasefire and in support of a Palestinian statehood, et cetera.
So to paint with.
This broad brush is incredibly disturbing. And I will just say that, you know, you hear these things like, oh, combating anti semitism, like who could be against that? But we saw the way that these things were used after nine eleven and the way that yeah, we're just we're going after you know, we're going after isis we're going
after the terrorists. And next thing you know, you have enabled and justified this massive surveillance bureaucracy and security state expansion, and you know now when you're expanding to a new massive group of extremists from the White House podium. This is something that people should be very concerned about. However you feel about this conflict or those protesters specifically.
Even reading the details of this Biden thing, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are partnering the campus law enforcement to track hate related threats and provide federal resources to school. Oh, campus law enforcement, you mean the kangaroo corks that have basically been set up across this country for the last like fifteen years in the modern era.
Of like me too, I don't think so.
These are the people I trust, probably least on the planet, And these are the last people that you want adjudicating what is hate speech and what is not. And I would just ask everybody to remind themselves of how they've all covered themselves in glory over the last decade or so.
If you want to go look at some of these quote unquote sexual assault case that have played out in most of these college campuses, which are completely devoid of like any due process or for amend protections and have just been handled outrageously, you would not want the White House and the government to be surging these people with even more power. And then it goes to the question of like, now, how are you going to hand are you gonna be monitoring students on campus Wi fi and
on networks? Like is this going to constitute expulsion? How exactly? And what does hate speech even mean? Because if you look back to what he said, Peter Doocey anti Israel pro Now, listen, you can agree or disagree with what that means. There's a difference between anti Semitic and anti Israel.
And that's a very critical Israel is a nation state.
That's like saying that it's hate speech to be anti Saudi Arabia or something like that. Well, there's a difference meaning anti Islam and anti Saudi Arabia. Same thing that applies to every country. As we always would want to remind people about America, you can be as the Bush administration or the US invasion of Iraq and not be against the American people, which is what most normal people
would understand. You know, across the world, it's only extremists that kind of conflate the two, people like Osama bin Laden. So yeah, I'm very worried about this, especially the campus element, because that's how it all starts.
And who knows.
I mean, for what purpose can you can you repurpose this new like campus surveillance network. I mean, this is like McCarthyism. That's you know, back in the day, that's that's exactly what they used to do.
Very much like mccarthurism.
And your point about what how do you define hate spich as a critical one because there has been a multi decade effort to conflate any criticism of the Israeli government, of the occupation, of the blockade, of Zionism, the political project of Zionism, and to paint that as anti Semitic, which is not accurate whatsoever. You can be critical of a government, you can be critical of, you know, Zionism is a political ideology. You can be critical of a
political ideology. Himself, he says he's a Zionist, he's not Jewish. So you can be a Zionist and be Jewish or not be Jewish. You can be an opponent of Zionism and be Jewish or not be Jewish, et cetera. So to conflate those things with just being against the Jewish people and being an anti Semite is just wrong, it's just inaccurate, it's not correct.
But there has been a long term project.
Actually, I just saw another clip of the guy from the ADL saying, you know, we should all see that's very clear now that criticism of Zionism is anti Semitism. No, one hundred one million percent reject that. In fact, I mean the beginning, in the early days of Zionism, there were all kinds of competing ideological camps among the Jewish people about whether or not they supported Zionism, about the different types of Zionism, about the way it should be effectuated.
So there's been a long vibrant political debate around the political ideology of Zionism. You can't take that off the table. And if you're painting people who have a critique of that as extremists or radicals or terrorists or you know, need to be tracked by the federal government like this is. This is incredibly terrifying and again really encompasses a broad swath of the American public who don't agree with the
Biden administration's opposition to a ceasfire. Two thirds of Americans and eighty percent of Democrats support a ceasefire so are they extremists those two thirds of Americans that you know the Biden White House previously labeled as repugnant for supporting a ceasefire. You mentioned the McCarthyite climate. I think that is incredibly accurate. Every day we get more and more instances. Usually we don't cover them every day because it would
just get tedious because there's so many of them. But we'll give you a couple of examples here, This one flagged by our own Ryan Graham of Counterpoints, and of course of the intercept put this up on the screen. We have a Providence City councilman, Miguel Sanchez, who was fired from the Governor's staff. So he's a councilman and he also worked for thement governor where he worked in constituent services. After introducing a resolution condemning terrorism and ethnic clean past
unanimalists unanimously posting about attending a pro Palestine rally. His post also called for an immediate ceasefire and condemned all attacks on civilians. He was fired on Friday, with his public comments sited as the reason for the firing, and sager, just to like be sure, I went back and looked at all of his public posts on Twitter, and it's very like nothing he says should in my opinion, you
can be controversial just about like protecting civilian life. And yes he is very sympathetic to Palestinians and their humanity as well. But he's fired for his job for posting just you know, sort of basic political statements, which of course as a city councilman and someone who's also a public figure, I mean that is also part of what he is elected to do.
Yeah, I mean look, I also looked at it and tried to make sure it's like he didn't say anything like Harvard esque or anything.
Yeah, it wasn't like there was no Gohams. It was always very careful to abhor the loss of civilian life, no matter whether it was Israelian Palestine.
Obviously the gov can have whoever he wants on staff, so whatever. But it's obvious also like where this is coming from, and I do think it is really dumb. I again, you know, come back to the architecture of the post nine to eleven movement. I would recommend people go watch Glenn Greenwall had a great segment about Fire and the First Amendment Organization where Fire who really is like taking up the mantle of what the aco you
used to be. Has been coming out very hard against some of these has been coming out very hard against things like this and other censorship efforts that have been proliferating. So I recommend that people go and look at some of their statements and Glenn as well, who did some work on this, because I think it's now more critical than ever, even if you disagree. I mean, some of these people think people are crazy, but it doesn't matter. It's like, that's not what the point of all of
this is. And I think it's very sad to watch as people are as people are embracing all this and really frankly undermining a lot of the free speech groundwork that's been laid over time.
Yeah, all right, let's go ahead and move on to Iowa here, and a new poll that came out is pretty interesting in terms of where the Republican race is at. Let's put this up on the screen from Steve Kornaki, the very latest here. Go ahead and put the poll numbers and e one up on the screen. So Trump is basically the same forty three percent doing just fine and dandy there in Iowa. DeSantis not doing so well,
drop down three points to sixteen percent. He's now tied with Nikki Haley, who has searched ten points to sixteen percent. She was the big mover in terms of this poll. Next is Tim Scott is seven percent, Chris Christy four percent, Vivike Ramaswami four percent, Doug Burgham three percent, and Asa Hutchinson at one percent.
But a lot of.
People noted it if you dig into the data. One of the things that was interesting here is while Vivik has remained static in terms of his overall percentage of support, his favorables have taken a massive hit. Put this up on the screen from Dave Weigel. He says his Iowa's fade is notable. No change in overall supports in summer, but negatives way up from twenty to thirty seven percent. Biggest jump in unfavorables of any GOP candidate. And uh saga.
I saw our great friend Marshall making some phenomenal points about this, but basically like the more he did podcasts and the more people got to know him, the less they wanted.
To know him.
That's probably I wonder how much of it is podcast I wonder of it how much honestly came off from the debate and just the the what did the gen zs call it? Pick me syndrome? Pick me girl or pick me guy? Now people have accused me of being a pickmy guy before really amanly reject said analysis. But my point is that I believe, I believe that that is the way that the vernacular would apply as in trying to put yourself at the center of attention. There
are a couple of mistakes. The big mistake I think that he made is it's clear that the second lane in the Republican Party is not to be a Trump defender. It is to be like the moderate it girl, which explains Nicki Haley, which is Look, the vast majority of Republicans support Trump. The vast majority of Republicans support Trump, like policy and all that, but there's a small little percentage which doesn't. And it's clear that that small little
percentage likes old GOP. So the bet by DeSantis, by Ramaswami and others was that this number two lane could exist where you are somehow a Trump alternative, but you're supportive of Trump. But it's just very clear that if people want Trump or anything to do with him, they're going to pick him. For people who want DeSantis, it's still going to be the vast majority of people who may feel affectionately about Trump but want to move on
from him. And then that whatever group is left, those are just going to be very traditional Nicky Haley style suburban Republican voters, the very traditional you know, a small business owner, pro Israel, mostly boomers, let's be honest, and she's like made in a lab, I think for them. So at the end of the day, I just don't think his political lane existed. I'm not even quite sure
how much any of it had to do. I just think that when is unfavored went up, it's going to be really amongst that group of who the only people who exist were anti Trump or even up for grabs, like that's who they are. And of course they're going to find anything that he says repellent because he's such a big defender of them.
Yeah, I think there's a lot to that.
I think you're also right that that first debate, which he was very divisive in and some people liked it, and clearly a lot of people like it, didn't say well with them, and he even kind of showed his hand when in the second debate he came out and was like, I know a lot of people thinking that I'm like, no, it all, smart ass. You literally gave up the game of I got some feedback back and y'all really didn't like that much how I was, and he tried to sort of be more subdued than that
second debate. That was a tell that under the surface of the initial positive reviews there were some problems in terms of Haley. Just to you know, make the case for some possible Trump alternative, which you guys know I have never really believed in, but I'll go ahead and try to make the case. You just had Mike Pence drop out, DeSantis is fading, does he ultimately drop out? You could imagine a coalessing basically around Nicky Haley before
you get to the caucuses. And Trump support is pretty solid. Sixty three percent of Trump supporters say their minds are already one hundred percent made up and they will definitely back him. But you know that means forty percent of them are still kind of in the market and chopping around and considering. And if you have this huge coalescing around Nicky Haley from all of the other candidates and a lot of media outlets.
Who knows.
Maybe again I don't really see it, but you never know.
That's the best case I can possibly make for her. We also, though, could not resist the real news and the really important stuff today, which is there is long We haven't mentioned it on this show yet.
To be clear, we never brought it up. It's been foisted upon us and we just have chosen to take it.
But I have been privately consuming this content. There is a whole conspiracy, which I would one might say it's more of like a.
Confirmed fact at this point.
What I want's call it consc a discussion of debate over whether Ron DeSantis is secretly wearing high heels with these like custom made boots with like a heel lift inside, and there's so much evidence online. If you look at these pictures, you're like, no one's feet are shaped this way?
Why are you walking like this? Why are you sitting like this?
Like?
Why do you always wear these ugly ass weird boots.
So he was.
Confronted on this allegation on the PVD podcast with Patrick Batt David. Let's take a listen how that went.
I'm sure your marketing team points out how they're trying to troll you in the marketplace. Okay, I'm sure they're doing that. Can you bring this one clip? I know you were on what do you call it?
On? What was it?
Bill Maher and Bill Maher talked about the boots. I've seen you walk with these boots. Gohead and play this clip this on TikTok went viral. It doesn't have a million views, it doesn't have you know, ten million views. This thing's got one point two million life and and some people are wondering.
How do they I don't even know. I haven't seen that.
What there's They have not shown this to you, Okay. What they're trying to say with this is that in your boots you have heels.
No, no, no, those are just standard off the rack. Luke Casey, how governor eleven.
Five to eleven? Okay, why don't you wear tennis shoes and dress shoes?
I do wear tennis shoes when I work out. Yeah you do.
Okay.
I got a gift for you.
I'd love for you to wear. Okay.
I shop at Fergamo.
Okay, I don't accept gifts. I can't accept that.
So brutal your reaction, I mean you will deny it.
I mean yeah, I mean, look, the issue is that, given the analysis of the walking and of the way that I've also seen his boot placed whenever he's sitting, it shows still like an elevated calf as if he's wearing a heel.
I have to come down on the side of heel up.
The only way that it is possible is I'm on the Lukezy website and I believe I'm looking at the exact model that DeSantis has and in it it does have like a semi substantial heel lift to it. Okay, so it's like a little bit of a heel. I mean, I'm wearing dress boots right now, for example, just so we can put these where Okay, all right, let me cut to it and like, which way will it actually show it?
Like this?
There?
There?
There you go, right.
All right, all right.
On the desk as he copped in this once.
All right, three two one, So I'm wearing dress boots, like for example, people can see there is like a slight heel that is on there.
But when I walk, if I were to.
Stand up right now, like you can look at my calves and like I'm still able to stand up completely right. So that is why you know even when I do, Because that's why I had to test out. I don't actually often wear dress boots. I just got these, so I'm like, oh, maybe it's like a dress boot thing,
but I don't think so. And I've looked also, so Marshall actually at his wedding he wore cowboy boots with this suit, and he also didn't look like and I believe there's simply I don't think it's the same thing they're to Covis.
But in terms of the.
Heel lift, whenever we were like, his gait did not appear to do the same thing. So, based upon my anecdotal evidence, my own personal experience, and from the videos, I have no choice but to conclude that he is likely wearing some sort of heel lift.
Yeah, so I assembled a little bit. There's tons of evidence in addition to this online, but I did assemble a little bit of my own evidence to present to the audience. Go and put this up on the screen. So this is DeSantis walking. Why are you walking like?
That's not weird? It is way to walk, So.
Why are you walking in this strange way? All right, all right, go to the next video. This is a guy. The next video is of a man wearing heels who is not used to wearing heels, and it's a very similar gait.
Is it not to me?
This is very persuasive and compelling evidence that there is something going on with the boots. Now, Kyle and I have been having this ongoing debate. Obviously it's a look, it's a ridiculous thing, and sirey, you can go through the history, because we're looking at it. There have not really been short presents, at least in modern history, so it's not like it's an illegitimate concern. But Kyle and I have been debating, like, obviously it's a ridiculous thing to do in the first place.
But let's assume you did it.
You read the stats, who were like, okay, there are no US presidents who are short. I got to add at least like three inches here to my game or else there's no way I'm going to win. So you do it and you get caught, do you just continue the liar?
Do you come clean?
You gotta lie?
You take it to the grave. You maintain your five to eleven until the death. We're all professional liars anyway, who cares, you know, it's like, and who's really gonna ever find out about it? And also to your point, so I've got the history and the data in front of me, it is an existential crisis for him to even be five eleven the only.
President there is no way, it's not a chance.
The only president in the modern era to be under five foot eleven and a half is Jimmy Carter. And actually, this is what's really crazy. Even in times when malnutrition in this country was rampant, we still mostly picked tall presidents. And our tallest president ever is Abraham Lincoln. Obviously he grew up what you know, the whole story of the log cabin in the eighteen thirties is like you think he was getting fed well, George, I actually didn't even
know this. George Washington was six foot one and a half. That's actually the same height as I am. People like Chester Arthur six ' to two, Thomas Jefferson six foot two inches and a half. I mean, at that time, you know, to grow that big, that is very very atypical. But even six foot guys like James Monroe, John Tyler, James Buchanan, James Garfield Warren G.
Har Arding.
Gerald Ford was six foot Joe Biden is six foot. Trump is actually our third tallest president ever. He was six foot three lbj six foot three and a half. And as I said, the only president of the modern era to be below five foot eleven and a half, which was George W. Bush, to be clear, is Jimmy Carter, who came in in five foot nine and a half. Also, that's why previously I've been talking about Mike Johnson and
I was like, man, he's only five eight. This is what I'm saying, Like, look, don't hate the player, hate the game. It's like most people who make it to the very very top of American politics are pretty tall. You don't don't you know, don't blame me for that. That just appears to be the way that voters respond. There's probably a lot of ingrained bias and all these other things that obviously all throughout history has applied to our politics.
It's very clear, Well, there is something helpful about this, which is that pee Butooter Juge's five foot eight according to him, there we go not even me that, so that makes me helpful. Perhaps he will never be president. So that's one glimmer on the side of the bias against short people here.
But you know, Desantist could have owned this.
He could have been a trailblazer, an icon for short men everywhere. Instead, he's you know, decided to go in this much more shameful, humiliating, embarrassing direction. The other thing I had to note about the clip too of him with Patrick Patt David is like there's.
Not even a hint of a smile.
Oh yeah, you know, Well that's a political skill exactly. I mean that's the other issue is like I actually think a more skillful politician could have handled this in a way that was charming, that was funny, et cetera. But I mean, he doesn't crack a smile. Also, you're totally when you say like, oh, I never saw anything about this, you are such a liar. You want of course you've seen something about That's like, it's impossible, it is. There is no way that you have not seen this.
These are so self obsessed.
There's just so obviously looking at whatever is.
Also, if you had genuinely not seen it, then you wouldn't have reacted in this way.
You would have been like, what what is it? What are they saying, you know, like, what are there.
Here's what he would have done if it was for real and he really wasn't wearing them, he would have taken off his boots live on the air and kind of done something like I just didn't be like, you see anything right, and that actually would have settled it for all time.
I also think, well, here's okay, let me say this.
Just because it's a men's wear thing, this is one of the reasons why it's pretty difficult actually to wear cowboy boots with a suit. The issues of those cowboy bits are very tall, and unless you have like perfectly trailered, perfectly tailored trousers, it's going to be difficult for you to achieve perfect fit. Even the boots that I'm wearing right now, like I have those things that are on the side which help you kind of put them on.
These are Chelsea boots. They sometimes interfere with the pants. So actually Patrick is right, just wear dress shoes. It's an easy way to actually solve all of this. And also just so you know, you you can get dress shoes with lifts in them, or you can get dress shoes which have a little bit more of a heel. A lot of guys do that he doesn't.
Went a little bit more.
Well, then that's that's in the He was a like.
At least three inches to what he's got going on.
So I come down on the side off he's wearing heel lifts. Also for anyone who's like, why are you even covering this? Guys, we need to have some fun in our lives. Okay, this is this is the fun that we get to. We get to have the viral tiktoks and all that. It basically convinced me if I ever meet him, I'll probably have a chance, you know, at least in the next year or so.
I'm gonna scope it out and see how Tali actually is.
Yeah, definitely.
You know.
Another thought I had is didn't he play on the like Harvard baseball team or something.
I don't know.
I wonder what they listed.
His height at, which usually sports sports, Yeah, sports statistics are usually inflated, you know anyway, so if they weren't even listening him at five to eleven, then you know, he's like usually they.
Add like a couple of inches to whatever they claim.
The heights in of the Yale baseball team.
Yeah, that's great. Yale, Harvard, whatever, It's all the same.
So anyway, that would be another avenue of investigation for any sluice out there that that did occur to me, but I was too lazy.
To actually pursue.
You heard it here first, Okay, time to make the heart art ist turn in history from Rhonda Santis's Hill lifts two matters of literal life and death and the human beings who are suffering in the midst of what is happening in Israel and in Gaza.
Let's go ahead and get to our guest, Gilly Robin.
Joining us now is Gilly Roman. He is the brother of missing Israeli citizen Yard and his sister. He's in Washington to bring awareness about Israeli hostages and in order to make sure that we keep the spotlight on them. So, Gilly, we are so honored to have you here in the studio. Thank you for joining us. Thank you so Gilly, you're here in Washington. We were connected through some mutual friends, and I was told that you're here in order to
raise awareness about the hostages. So just tell us about why you've decided to make this trip here to Washington. What you want people to know and what you want people to know about your sister.
As well as you say it is about awareness.
It's crucial for us that the American people will not only stay bierside, that will stay stand with us. And for that it's important and even vital for me, first of all to share this our specific human story as a representative of over two hundred associating stories of innocent civilians being held hostage inside of Gaza by Ramas, and also to expand the explanation of why is it a shared story, why this attack is not only on us, but it's also on our shared values on the Western world.
This is something that it's important for me to lay out and explain. And this is why I've been to Berlin. Also, my sister is a German citizen. Alongside her is a residentship show. We've been to Berlin and I extend this message message as well over there, and now I'm doing it here.
Kelly, if you don't mind, can you share what unfolded that led to you know your sister being missing and you expect being held hostage by her.
Yes, so, my sister and her husband alone and my niece, her daughter Gef and she's three and a half years old, went to visit alone's family in Kyboots, Perry. They by the way, they lived there as a family for almost four years, and they just left two months ago because then was not willing to stand the routine, as we call it, of piecel attacks over the heads of her and her family and her young daughter. So they just left.
The Keyboots are very lovely Keyboots, a very peaceful Keyboots, except from the fact that it's been attacked.
Every now and then. But they went to visit.
We just finished a family trip in South Africa, all of us together in a small caravan. We came back on Friday and they went to Shabad dinner and on Saturday morning, the Alams woke all of us up in Tel Aviv in the south and they went to the shelter. We exchended some messages, very worried about her. Initially the regular warris and then it expanded when we saw pictures of terrorists inside with jeeps. Armed terrorists in different cities
around the Kaza border. We understand that their cuboots might might also been infiltrated, and it did. Last correspondent was at ten am, and we know that around ten twenty they were abducted from their home. Her firstly Alan's mother, Geffriend's grandmother, was taken outside of their home. We saw it because Hamas published the video of her being taken alongside with three other civilians outside of the outs of their houses. It was kind of like a calm walk,
so we said, maybe they are being gathered collected. But a few days later we saw the continuation of this video, so it on Instagram. Then Habas publish the four civilians dead on the ground in their own pool of blood. This is how we found out she was murdered. That was confirmed a few days afterwards by the Israeli authorities. Afterwards, his sister Carmel was taken and she's also been probably
held hostage in Gaza. And then then alone and Geffen were taken together, put inside of Mitsubishi with four armed terrorists and a driver, taken towards Gaza. And what happened is they decided to escape. They decided to run away from a moving car. They seized an opportunity where the terrorists took off the car for a few minutes, leaving them with only the driver driving towards Kaza. They just jumped off. Geffen was in the hands of my sister.
They started to run for their lives. Then the terrorists noticed them started to run after them, shooting in them. And at that point he then realized that it's not efficient enough when she's holding Geffen, and she decided to let go of the most pressure thing in her life. I'm sure that many people will understand and relate. Gave her too alone and he was able to run faster
to find a hiding spot. He hid there with Keefen for over twelve hours, no food, no water, absolute silence with a three year old, and then through dark time he started slowly walking in this battlefield full of terrorists. Managed to arrive in the morning to the entrance to
the Kyboots where our troops were already present. And then we got a phone call for him explaining what happened, because we were, of course worried at home, but hoping they were as I said, collected maybe somebody negotiated for them. We waited for a call from here then and he explained to us what happened, and he told us as the last time he saw my sister when they diverted after she gave geffen to him and she was stopping to hide behind the tree from the bullets. So this
is what we know for sure that happened. The other information that we have is just once I ended this conversation and I.
Have to go to Bery to the battlefield and look for her.
So I just put my uniform on I'm an officer in reserve and got into our family car straight to the battlefield and just day after they worked with our troops on the ground, the units after Union, because they replaced almost on a daily half daily basis, to inform them, to explain to them, to convince them to come with me to find the special union, the special trackers that
will help us. The area and the kits were liberate only on Tuesday, so only on Tuesday and Wednesday we will be able to do extensive searches, not just one hour two hour searches. So the last search was almost five hours. It was very extensive with the trekkers and they came to the conclusion according to the footsteps that they that witness around the area of the tree. Because I also asked Alan to come back again and find
the exact treach and he found it. Just imagine that he had to come back to the place where he was running from. So they concluded that she was taken again into Gaza, most probably without a fight, which is very courageous of my sister. She's a very wise person. So I guess that when she understood that she cannot run away, she just went with them because we didn't. We didn't find any signs of blood or injury or struggle.
And we really hope that she is there. It's a very twisted hope, but this is the hope that we have.
It, Yeah, the best that we can have.
That she is in the hands of probably the most brutal, in humane people on earth right now, but they have her life at their hands inside of Gaza, and we hope that she's healthy and relatively safe. And it's more than three weeks we are we're soon going to get to four weeks without my sister, without any knowledge of her, without any sign of life, any sign of her health. So also the sense of urgency is something that it's important for me to convey.
I can't imagine. And so what can have you received communication from the Israeli government on this? Have they been able to tell you anything about that? And how has that process been I know there's been you know, we can only read in our you know, the English media and Israel. There's been some I know, some tension with that. Maybe you could speak to that firsthand. Our audience would certainly love to hear from me.
So in terms of information specifically to our case, the information that the authority have and the military, it's the information that we gave them.
We were much more informed than them.
There are some people who are the idea has more information with different sources. We will not elaborate, not in the case of my sister, and we are really hoping and looking forward to get some information. And I trust that they're doing their utmost best. I know that they invest a lot of efforts in order to get some proof, but it's extremely difficult. You need to understand that it's not the situation that everyone were captured together, being held
together and being taken care of together. It's probably very scattered, not all of them in the hands of Haramas. My sister is most probably in the hands of Haramas because we know which unit, let's say, took them, because they identify themselves. But this is more or less what we know, and obviously the lack of information and the helplessness is the most excruciating part of this all.
Yeah, of course, Yeah, it's a night that you're living right now. I can't even imagine when you have seen there have been a few hostages that have been released. There have been a few hostage videos that have been released, you know, obviously under draws from hamas a new one just came out yesterday. As a matter of fact, what are the emotions or what are you feeling when you're seeing these pieces of information lead down?
So I would say it's contradicting emotions. So on the one hand, I'm very happy, not for me, but just for them, just to see people. I think everybody should be happy when you see people, innocent people being rescued and getting back to their families reunited. And that helped me to imagine me reuniting with my sister and you see that time. It's hard for me not to smile when I'm when I'm thinking about it, to think about her and Gift and reuniting again those two who were
almost inseparable. On the other hand, I think we are going through a continuous terror attacks things that day, and part of this terror horrific experience that we have is the manipulation made by Hamas. So I see this release, this video alongside with a press release and different twisted information that maybe there is an exchange, maybe there will be a humanitary gesture, maybe today fifty people, maybe to
day ten people. All of this I consider as severe manipulation that's opposed to extend the terror that we are experiencing as family and in general as Israelis and around the Western world. So I really try not to raise hopes regarding this incident, to be.
Glad for the people who got the people alive.
But also to remember that it doesn't say a lot about my sister, because at the same it does say that maybe this is our hope that she's been treated as they are treated. But we also know that Haramas can treat different people in the diferent ways. So when we when we imagine that maybe she has a relatively safe day and being treated like we know that some of the hostes that have been released are treated.
I the same.
The same chances are that she's been beating every day God for being raped or tortured or whatever you can there is. There isn't any horror I know that we
are right now on the verge of of Halloween. Yeah, it's a horror, So this there isn't a horror that we can imagine that that is that is out of the question with Hamas So for me in terms of my hopes and what I conclude from that, I try not to conclude anything because this is just a twisted game that I really try and it's very hard, but I'm trying to hold myself not to play to their hands.
Of course, yeah, I can. It must be so difficult if you do.
You have confidence right now that the government is doing everything possible. When you're here in Washington, are you going to be meeting any lawmakers or you know, any other decision makers and other thing. What's what's your message to them about how you want us to be resolved?
Yes, of course, so it's hard to say if they're doing everything possible. But I'm more reassured in the last few days, at least from the side of the right government that they invest more and to put it more in a top priority. I think it's also related to the change of government that we had. What happened is that, as you probably know, we had a very right wing government,
the most right wing government that we ever had. And also some of the ministers in that government expressed their let's say lack of I wouldn't say empathy, but lack of attention towards the hostages issue. Put in first the need of victory, which I and dismantal of Haramas and taken out of which we all agree upon. I think everybody understand it has to happen. They have to pay the utmost price for for these atrocities.
Uh.
But there they were kind of voices saying that we should not take into consideration the houses will we will deal with them after the war will be over, which is completely unacceptable. And I think that now after some more moderate, more moderate kinnessed members party UH enter the government, I feel that there is a little bit of shift, but maybe just the shift the shift of time and and the way that they decided to certainly conduct this issue.
So I don't know how to read into it, but but I think that the day is already going to invest in more. And also I'm being asked a lot about the ground invasion and the and uh. So I think that currently Israel is working in a pretty calculative manner, not letting Hamas decide what should we do and when should we do and on the other side, not doing things that are irrepairable it's hard to get back then
are too dangerous for our people. I'm watching very closely, very carefully, and i want to say that one of the things that are also reassuring is the commitment that we see by the US, also by Germany and some other Western actors, very firm commitment not only to the
general issue, but specifically to the hosted issues. And for me, it's vital to be here to talk to you and to the public, but also to different officials and politicians in order to remain this issue a top priority for all of them, not just because they are American or German citizens, just because they are human beings, people, people we are talking about over thirty kids, help their babies,
elderly people, ill people, women of course mothers. This is something that nobody should accept and I'm saying it over and over again. This is the case study of terrorism.
There they are.
We are just the guinea pigs of the West at the moment, and they watching closely what is being tolerated by the West, what is not being tolerated by the ways.
What is the price price egg of it?
How much the West is going to accept, fight for the for the release of the hostages. What will be the consequences for Hamas of this kind of uh of behavior? And I think that every single terror organization and terror and terror supporting actors in the world are currently watching all of us, not only as well, all of us trying to see what are we going to do, what are we going to accept, and what we are are we going to accept? So this is really crucial, not
just for us. This is why I said I said earlier, it's not just staying by our side, it's stating with us.
Gilly, you, in addition to being the brother of Ardan, you've also been peace activists. Has the experience of this whorror change your political views? Has it changed your view of what peace would require and what it.
Might look like?
So yes and no, I would say I would start with that, Yes, maybe it's easier to comprehend. I invested a lot in peace education. That was my leading role. In my previous job as a head of international boarding school for Peace in Israel, I had a lot of Arab students Palestinians who from the West Bank, from Gaza, from different Muslim countries, alongside Israelis and internationals. I invested a lot in conversation about the conflict and resolution and reconciliation.
I think it's vital and I think that we have to seek compromise. What these days taught me reminded me. Let's say, amplified is the thing that cannot be compromised, and the thing that cannot be compromised is the deodistic ambitions to eradicate certain people. Certain state is not by the way, it's not only our state, and it's not
only our people and values, and you cannot negotiate. And we did a lot of simulation of negotiation and a lot of conversation, and I hope they will be able to find the ground to do it again, because the Palestinian cause for liberation for independence is a legitimate cause.
I have a lot to say about how complex it is, but I think we can all agree it's legitimate that they will seek for it, and they will criticize the Israel for some of the things that we are doing, but the cause for eradication, the killing of people and the ambition to create another Muslim empire without Western values
and without burstern people. Let's say it's completely inacceptable and we cannot compromise on that, and that I think really amplified the need to be clear about this distinction, to fight very firmly against the ambition and all the actors that are supporting this ambition. And on the other side, this is the part where my views have not changed, that.
We have to still find a way.
I honestly don't know how will it be done, to find a way to build trust again, to find a way to deal honestly and patiently with the relevant issues, with the legitimate issues with the conflict, which is very, very, very complex. But I believe that a longer years can be resolved if there will be no integration, very sick
integration between the Palestinian cause and the Geodistic cause. As long as this integration is happening, there is nothing to talk about, and the Israeli people will never feel secure, and you will never feel secure, and once it will be diverted, it will be separated. I hope we'll be able to find this kind of solution, and I can say it's a history teacher. In the end, conflicts ends. It's just a matter of whether it's happened in your days,
in your children days and your grandchildren days. No conflict less forever, forever. So just what is my ambition that it will happen in our time? But this compromise will have to be a secure compromise, it will have to be a reasonable compromise for.
All sites.
So as you say it's a complicated answer.
Well, I think it's unimaginable that you are able to hold on to that hope in this time, and I think that should be a source of inspiration for everyone.
And just imagine that.
My sister gave Geffen to alone to protect her life, to protect her future. She was willing to do this sacrifice and be separate from her daughter in order to secure her future. So of course I'm very worried about
my sister. I want her back, But also I share the same the same goal as as she does, which is to secure the future of my niece, which is composed by these two parts that I told you, which is the radication of the radical geodistic ambitions and trying to find a sort of solution, a sort of path for peace.
So I think for me it makes sense.
Kelly, thank you so much.
We will pray for you every day and good luck on your trip here. I hope that you know people with power are listening to your message. I hope you guys are listening to this message as well, and we'll be thinking a.
Lot about you.
Thank you, Gillie, thank you, thank you.
I have a good day and thanks to the audience always.
We'll see you guys later