Transcript [00:00] Hey everyone. So, General Jack Keane, [00:02] you're familiar with him. He's on Fox [00:04] News all the time. Uh chairman of the [00:05] Institute for the Study of War. He was [00:07] in Israel for a couple of weeks [00:10] recently, just got back a few days ago. [00:12] And uh he's mentioned his trip to Israel [00:16] and a few of his hits that he's done [00:17] since then, but he was on Mark Leavvin's [00:19] show yesterday, and Mark asked him for [00:21] his like what did he learn in Israel? [00:24] And he raised three issues. And I'm [00:26] going to play this clip. We're going to [00:28] stop it after each one that he raises [00:29] and talk about it because what he [00:31] brought up is not about it's not as so [00:34] much about the current situation [00:37] but really about the USIsrael [00:39] relationship about the Israeli people uh [00:42] and how he sees them is fascinating and [00:45] just the whole situation with Iran very [00:47] very interesting and it really touches [00:49] on some deeper issues that we've been [00:51] talking about on this channel. So, let's [00:53] pull it up. And here is General Jack [00:56] Keane. [00:57] >> America, we're here with General Jack [00:59] Keane, retired fourstar army general, [01:02] Fox News senior strategic analyst, [01:04] really a super patriot who really has u [01:09] his head around that all these things [01:10] that are going on in the Middle East [01:12] with Iran and so forth. General, you [01:14] were just in Israel. You also went to [01:16] Gaza. You also went to Lebanon. 11 days, [01:19] very intensive trip. What did you learn [01:21] there and how do you think things are [01:23] going there? [01:25] >> Yeah, sure. Yeah, thanks for the [01:27] opportunity. [01:29] I spent [01:31] considerable amount of time in meeting [01:32] with the top civilian and military [01:34] leaders, the president of the country, [01:36] the prime minister, the top military [01:38] commanders, [01:39] the MSAD chief currently and the former [01:42] one. and and certainly as you mentioned [01:45] I I I had to get out to see Gaza with [01:48] the field commanders and you know and [01:51] assess that situation and also uh in [01:54] Lebanon and my my takeaways are number [01:58] one is the IDF and Sentcom Israel and [02:04] the United States working together [02:06] dealing with this challenge with Iran [02:08] and its proxies. This is the best [02:12] cooperation and collaboration we have [02:14] had in some time with an ally. And you [02:18] have to go all the way back to World War [02:21] II to find an ally that is capable and [02:25] proven in combat as the United States [02:28] military. The IDF is all of that. They [02:32] know what they're doing. They know how [02:34] to do it. They're wellprepared. They're [02:37] highly skilled and they're highly [02:39] motivated. That has not been the case [02:42] with our allies post World War II. I [02:45] It's not my purpose to get into that. [02:48] Just understand how significant this is [02:51] and the cooperation and the respect that [02:55] US troops and IDF have troops for each [02:58] other is really something to behold. [03:00] They they are one one team in a sense [03:04] against this common enemy. [03:07] >> All right. So that's that's just a [03:09] remarkable clip in my opinion. I mean, [03:12] listening to General Keane talk so [03:15] glowingly about the Israelis, about the [03:17] partnership with the Israelis. And it's [03:20] interesting, you know, he's not he's not [03:22] coming at this from like a Christian [03:23] Zionist perspective, you know, [03:25] ideologically pro-Israel for that [03:26] reason. He's a general. He's a security [03:28] man. He cares about America's interests [03:31] and he's looking at what a real alliance [03:33] is. And this is not about alliance. you [03:36] know, whenever we talk about the [03:37] US-Israel alliance and people get, you [03:38] know, people get, you know, all [03:40] emotional on both sides of the issue, [03:42] they're often talking about um, you [03:45] know, what goes on in Washington DC and, [03:47] you know, the foreign aid and how Israel [03:49] uses it and a lot of like geopolitical [03:52] considerations [03:53] uh, out there in the world. And he's [03:56] talking about it at like the nuts [03:58] andbolts military level, at the security [04:00] level, at the at the, you know, you [04:01] know, where the rubber meets the road, [04:03] that the Israelis are capable, that the [04:04] Israelis are highly skilled, that this [04:06] is the greatest alliance the United [04:08] States has had since World War II. You [04:10] know, that that other, you know, [04:11] whether, you know, other coalitions that [04:13] the US has been a part of with other [04:15] countries, whether it's, you know, in [04:16] the Gulf War or or whatever there's been [04:18] coalitions, he's basically saying there [04:20] aren't other militaries like this. And [04:22] it made me think of a document that was [04:24] published by the Department of War uh uh [04:27] called uh the well, let me add it to the [04:30] stage here. Um I'm sorry, remove let me [04:34] remove that and add that. Here we go. [04:37] It's the National Defense Strategy. The [04:39] National Defense Strategy document [04:41] published by the Department of War in [04:43] January of this year. And I want to show [04:46] you um a couple passages in there. It's [04:51] talking about alliances and this is [04:53] right near the beginning of it. And on [04:55] this uh here here's what it says there. [05:00] The fact is that President Trump took [05:02] office in January 2025 to one of the [05:05] most dangerous security environments in [05:07] our nation's history. At home, America's [05:10] borders were overrun. Narot terrorists [05:12] and other enemies grew more powerful [05:14] throughout the Western Hemisphere. and [05:16] the and the and US access to key terrain [05:19] like the Panama Canal and Greenland was [05:21] increasingly in doubt. Meanwhile, in [05:23] Europe, where President Trump had [05:25] previously led NATO allies to begin [05:29] taking their defenses seriously, the [05:31] last administration effectively [05:33] encouraged them to free ride, leaving [05:36] the alliance unable to deter or respond [05:39] effectively to Russia's invasion of [05:41] Ukraine. [05:42] In the Middle East, Israel showed that [05:44] it was able and willing to defend itself [05:46] after the barbaric attacks of October [05:48] 7th. In short, that it is a model ally. [05:52] Okay, let me read that again. This is [05:54] understand the contrast they're setting [05:56] up here. Here's the contrast they're [05:57] setting up. That President Trump had led [06:01] NATO to begin taking their defenses [06:04] seriously. [06:06] The other administration encouraged them [06:08] to free ride. And because they [06:09] encouraged them to free ride and [06:11] America, you know, that that these that [06:15] the NATO eur the European NATO nations [06:18] were not taking care of business in [06:20] their region. That they were not robust [06:23] and not taking their defense seriously. [06:25] That left the alliance unable to deter [06:28] or respond effectively to Russia's [06:30] invasion of Ukraine. And in the [06:32] contrast, in the Middle East, you have [06:34] Israel that is willing to fight and [06:36] willing to defend itself. So what's the [06:38] contrast being spoken of here that what [06:40] is a model ally [06:43] that Israel is a this is this this is [06:44] what it means that Israel is a model [06:46] ally a model ally means you have an ally [06:48] that is strong enough [06:51] and committed enough [06:54] and willing enough to take care of [06:56] business regionally [06:59] so that America doesn't have to be [07:01] everywhere [07:03] that's the failure of the NATO situation [07:05] that that is being described here that [07:07] is the success of the Israel situation. [07:09] But Israel is not doing that to protect [07:10] American interests in the but that gets [07:14] into the whole question of what an ally [07:16] is because what is the ideal America [07:19] first foreign policy? [07:21] America first foreign policy means you [07:23] don't want to be involved everywhere in [07:24] the world meddling everywhere. Okay, but [07:27] that doesn't mean that you you can just [07:28] pull up the draw bridges and and say [07:31] that you're going to cut yourself off in [07:32] the rest of the world and this is not [07:34] the ancient world. you'd be giving up [07:36] the entire rest of the world to Russia [07:37] and China to take over. You can't do [07:40] that. The world's too intertwined. So, [07:42] how do you stay involved in the world [07:43] but yet be America first and worry about [07:45] what's going on at home? It's why the [07:47] preamble of this paragraph was about all [07:49] the problems at home. Well, what are [07:51] what is an ideal America first foreign [07:53] policy? It's model allies. What is a [07:55] model ally? A strong ally that takes its [07:58] defense seriously, that takes care of [08:00] business and protects American interests [08:02] regionally. [08:04] The NATO allies failed at that. Israel [08:07] is the model ally. Israel was successful [08:09] at that. [08:11] Okay, this reminds me of a of a line [08:13] from my good friend Josh Hammer, former [08:15] senior editor at Newsweek, [08:18] host of the Josh Hammer show. Many of [08:20] you have probably heard of him. And Josh [08:22] appeared on a uh he was he was a [08:24] panelist on a webinar that I hosted a [08:26] couple months back. And he had a great [08:28] definition of the term ally. He said, [08:30] "An ally [08:32] is a nation [08:35] that when it advances its own national [08:38] interests, a state that advances its own [08:40] national interests, when it does so, it [08:43] also by doing so advances your national [08:46] interests. If that's what happens, if an [08:48] al if if if a nation advancing its own [08:51] national interests also advance yours, [08:54] that is a true ally, right? If a nation [08:56] is advancing its own national interest [08:57] and they conflict with yours, then [08:59] that's not an ally, right? It's a great [09:01] definition. Um, and I thought of that as [09:04] I was listening to to General Kea. [09:05] There's another passage in this document [09:07] I want to show you. Let me just scroll [09:10] over to it here. It's a little deeper [09:12] into the document where it's talking, [09:13] it's a section talking specifically [09:15] about the Middle East. And it brings up [09:16] Israel again. And here, look what it [09:19] says here. [09:21] Um, yet there are significant [09:23] opportunities before us. It was just [09:24] talking about uh you know all the [09:26] problems with Iran. This is before the [09:28] the current war but all these issues [09:30] this instability that has to be dealt [09:32] with. And it says yet there are [09:33] significant opportunities before us as [09:35] well. Israel has long demonstrated that [09:37] it is both willing and able to defend [09:39] itself with critical but limited support [09:41] from the United States. [09:44] Israel is a model ally and we have an [09:46] opportunity now to further empower it to [09:47] defend itself and promote our shared [09:49] interests building on President Trump's [09:52] historic efforts to secure peace in the [09:53] Middle East. Okay. Likewise in the Gulf, [09:56] US partners are increasingly willing and [09:58] able to do more to defend themselves [10:00] against Iran and the proxies for America [10:02] for for the Trump administration's [10:04] doctrine and what really for what's best [10:05] for America and the world is model [10:08] allies of the United States of America. [10:10] allies that take care of business [10:12] locally that can defend itself. And [10:15] notice it says here with Israel is able [10:17] to defend itself with critical but [10:19] limited support because Israel fights on [10:21] its own. These these other uh countries [10:24] that America protects, America just has [10:27] to be there with air force bases and and [10:29] protecting them. [10:32] I've always and this is why I've always [10:33] made this point and when you're talking [10:35] about foreign aid to Israel, [10:38] it's called foreign aid. So Israel is [10:39] the biggest recipient. But the amount [10:41] that America spends on an air force base [10:43] in Jordan and an air force base in Qatar [10:46] and a massive air force base in Kuwait, [10:48] that's not called foreign aid. It's [10:49] called defense spending, but it's much [10:51] more than the aid that Israel gets. [10:54] Anyway, let's watch the next uh piece of [10:56] this clip. The [10:57] >> the second the second thing that is [10:59] quite significant on the Israeli people, [11:02] this is the longest war by far they have [11:05] ever been. Other wars have always been [11:07] measured by days is how they describe [11:10] them. This this war obviously started on [11:14] October the 7th, 2023. [11:17] So, we're approaching [11:19] three years at it and obviously we've [11:22] we've had pauses in in the conflict like [11:25] we're having right now. Uh but the truth [11:29] is while our forces are going back and [11:33] forth tit for tatat for with Iran, where [11:36] are the Israeli forces? They're in Gaza [11:38] and they're also in Lebanon and they're [11:41] dealing with the realities of that every [11:43] single day. The Israeli people, Mark, [11:46] are fully committed. They want this [11:48] thing over, but they want it over on [11:50] completely favorable terms to Israel and [11:54] the United States. And they want Iran to [11:56] be finished. They want this to end this [11:59] time forever. And you can't blame them [12:02] for having that aspiration. The good [12:03] news is there's no lack of will here. [12:07] There there's no lack of surrender here. [12:09] There's steadfastness in this [12:11] population. And they uh they have earned [12:14] my respect and and my admiration. The [12:18] Iranians themselves. [12:20] >> Wow. [12:21] that I mean that clip I I I got actually [12:24] got you know kind of emotional listening [12:25] to it and it made me it made me think [12:28] about uh this this this news item I've [12:32] been talking about I I talked about in a [12:33] video yesterday not a news item but this [12:36] this issue that young Israelis are so [12:40] proud of being Israeli and I was talking [12:42] about you know I made a video I was [12:43] talking about the OECD numbers. I made a [12:45] I made one a few months ago, but I also [12:47] made a video yesterday about how in the [12:51] the OECD, which is all the developed [12:53] nations in the world, the birth rate, [12:55] the average birth rate in the OECD is [12:58] 1.4 children per woman, which is well [13:02] below replacement level, which means [13:03] that these these civilizations are [13:05] dying. But in Israel, it's 2.87. [13:09] It's double. [13:11] It's double what it is in the rest of [13:13] the OECD. U Jews get Israelis get [13:17] married younger. They have big families. [13:20] And it's not just the religious. Uh I [13:22] pointed out that you know there's [13:24] there's a high birth rate. Even even if [13:25] you took out even if you only looked at [13:28] the birth rate among secular Israelis, [13:30] it's still the highest in the OECD. [13:32] Um, and that this speaks to an optimism [13:35] and a positivity and a and a thirst for [13:38] life among Israelis that that that [13:40] General is pointing to here. The [13:42] willingness to win, the willingness to [13:44] fight, the willingness to see things [13:45] through is because Israel is a society [13:47] that believes in itself. This goes back [13:48] to the point about NATO. The reason that [13:51] these NATO countries are so weak or so [13:53] weak need is that there are also [13:55] societies that don't believe in [13:56] themselves. You see it in the birth [13:57] rates. So, I wanted to show you uh you [14:00] know, I quoted from this article. [14:03] I quoted from this this uh this article. [14:05] It's a few months old, but I quoted from [14:07] it in the video yesterday about Israeli [14:09] young Israelis shifting to the right. [14:11] But there was a piece that I mentioned, [14:12] but I didn't really drill down on it so [14:15] much. And I want to look at it again [14:16] here. More than half, this was a poll, [14:19] this was polling that was done by a [14:20] major pollster in Israel a few months [14:22] ago with young Israelis. More than half, [14:26] 57% of respondents indicated that their [14:28] sense or practice of religious faith has [14:31] grown stronger since October 7th. 54% [14:34] recorded reported a heightened [14:36] connection to Jewish tradition. The [14:38] surge in religious identification among [14:40] young Israelis comes amid an [14:42] overwhelming sense of pride in their [14:44] Israeli identity. 68% of respondents [14:46] expressed pride in being Israeli with [14:49] 46% calling Israel a very good place to [14:51] live and 36% labeling it a good place to [14:54] live. If you put those together, it's [14:55] over 80% 82% overall culminating a 79% [14:59] overall satisfaction rate with life in [15:01] Israel. Breaking these sentiments down [15:04] further, young Israelis aged 18 to 20 [15:06] are the most proud to be Israeli. [15:09] Israelis who are 18 to 20 are the most [15:11] proud to be Israeli. the Israelis [15:13] fighting this war. Those are the people [15:14] in the army. [15:17] Those are the people putting on uniforms [15:19] to go fight. They're the most proud to [15:21] be Israeli with 75% expressing strong [15:24] national pride. Religious individuals [15:26] also showed a higher level of national [15:28] pride with 85% affirming they were very [15:30] proud to be Israeli. [15:32] The survey also sheds light on Israel's [15:34] high military readiness with 18% of [15:37] young people having served in the [15:38] reserve since October 7th, 2023. Half of [15:42] these reservists reported serving for [15:43] several hundred days, my son included. [15:46] In response to potential future reserve [15:49] duty, a significant majority, 64% stated [15:51] they would report without hesitation. [15:55] Another 33% said they would do so out of [15:57] necessity. [15:59] Together, that gets you to 97%. Only 3% [16:02] expressed uncertainty or a refusal to [16:05] serve again. This is a population. This [16:07] is a country, a society that believes in [16:10] itself. It believes in itself, folks. [16:15] Um, [16:16] that is, and General Keem picked up on [16:18] that when he talked about the the [16:20] Israeli people earning his respect and [16:21] that we have the will to win and and [16:23] finish the job and and you know, deal [16:25] with our enemies. That's what he's [16:27] talking about. He's talking about a [16:28] society that believes in itself. This go [16:30] again, this has everything to do with [16:32] what we said earlier about allies and [16:34] who's who's willing to fight for [16:35] themselves and who's willing to be there [16:36] and who's and and you know to be in the [16:39] fight and take care of business. You [16:40] have to have ultimately you could have [16:41] all the best equipment. Look at the [16:43] Saudis. They can't deal with the Houthis [16:45] because no one has a will to fight [16:46] there. Who's going to fight for the [16:47] royal family? [16:49] And Europe and Europe for sure the [16:51] European nations have no will to defend [16:52] themselves. [16:54] They've I mean and this is why their [16:56] societies are dying. This is why they're [16:58] not having children. They're not [16:59] building families. That's a society that [17:01] does not believe in the future. [17:03] So, this isn't just about politics. [17:05] There's big issues here. [17:08] All right, let's finish off uh uh uh [17:11] with uh let's finish off the Jack Keane [17:13] clip, but before we do that, before we [17:16] get to that, um March 7th through 14th [17:20] this coming year, this coming March, [17:21] March 7th through 14th, an 8-day trip to [17:23] Israel like no other. Israel behind the [17:25] headlines tour led by myself and Dr. [17:28] David Worms. Dr. Worms, one of the [17:31] world's leading experts in the Middle [17:32] East. If you're not catching my weekly [17:33] conversations with Dr. Worms on Israel [17:35] 365 News, you are missing out. These are [17:37] huge. He uh he has been he's been in the [17:40] room for decades where the decisions are [17:43] made. He served in the uh State [17:45] Department. He served in the National [17:47] Security Council. He served in multiple [17:49] White Houses as a senior adviser in the [17:52] Middle East. and he will be touring [17:54] Israel with you if you come on this [17:56] trip. Eight days he'll be leading the [17:58] trip and we're going to have briefings [18:00] at uh important locations. We're going [18:02] to meet with high ranking uh people in [18:05] the Israeli security establishment, [18:07] people in the government, um community [18:09] leaders, [18:11] um journalists. It's going to be a [18:13] fascinating trip. So it but it's very [18:15] limited and it's a five-star luxury [18:17] trip. So uh you can check it out in the [18:19] description of this video. There are [18:21] still a few spots available. Okay, let's [18:25] head over to General Jack Keane. Let's [18:27] finish off this clip. [18:28] >> Themselves from multiple sources. [18:32] Where are they [18:34] in their head? The guys that are running [18:37] the place, the supreme leader and the [18:39] IRGC, not the political people who are [18:42] talking to our negotiators. In their [18:45] mind, they're going to survive this. [18:48] They are going to recover and they are [18:51] going to rebuild their lost [18:53] capabilities. That is the path the [18:56] Iranians are on. This is, as stated many [19:00] times by you, Mark, a diabolical, [19:02] tyrannical regime based in an ideology, [19:06] and you're not going to get them off of [19:08] it. They are willing to die for it. [19:12] That's the path they're on. Are they [19:15] willing to make a deal? They're they're [19:17] willing to make some concessions. [19:19] Whether that will ever meet President [19:20] Trump's objectives remains to be seen. [19:23] But even if they did meet all of our [19:27] objectives, the reality is they've [19:31] already proven that they won't keep it. [19:33] They'll cheat. That's what they did over [19:34] theou in the Straits of Amuse. [19:37] And the other thing that's the problem [19:39] here is let's assume they convince us [19:42] they're going to keep the deal. And [19:44] maybe they would for part of the Trump [19:46] administration and the next [19:48] administration likely not. [19:50] What to make a deal we have to give them [19:54] and finance their recovery and their [19:56] rebuild. We'll give them billions and [19:58] billions of dollars to make the deal. [20:00] That kicks the can down the road and we [20:02] have these guys around for the next 5 10 [20:04] years. Is that how we started this? Was [20:06] that our intent when we started? I don't [20:08] think so. We have got to finish this. It [20:12] it is the only solution. That is the [20:15] reality and that's the major takeaways [20:18] what we're dealing with here. All right. [20:21] Look, you know, there's general that's [20:23] that's the general just speaking [20:25] speaking common sense. The look that's [20:28] the bottom line in the end. They haven't [20:30] changed. Their ideology is what it is. [20:33] And if anything that ends, any way that [20:37] this war ends, [20:39] whatever deal is signed and and then [20:41] that buys them time and they have money, [20:43] even if they agree, okay, they'll pause [20:45] the nuclear program. Let's say they [20:46] finally get smart and say they're going [20:47] to stop the nuclear program. So what [20:48] does that mean? That they're not going [20:49] to start it up again when Trump's out of [20:50] office. I mean, it [20:54] the only way to deal with this problem [20:56] is to bring down the regime. That has to [20:58] be the realization because as as General [21:02] Keane said, otherwise what are we doing? [21:03] We're just kicking the can down the road [21:05] and dealing with it. He said another [21:06] five, 10 years. I would say another 50 [21:08] years, another who knows what it means. [21:10] Who coming after Trump is going to is [21:12] going to solve this problem? Is going to [21:14] get us into a position where it's [21:16] solvable more than now. And what does [21:18] that mean if we don't take the [21:20] opportunity to solve this problem and [21:21] end the Iranian regime? that we are are [21:23] we making a decision that this regime is [21:25] always supposed to exist and we're never [21:27] going to take it down. Are we waiting [21:28] for a better opportunity than we have [21:30] now? [21:32] This is the type of of clarity that we [21:34] need. The the willingness to have [21:36] victory, the willingness to see things [21:38] through to the end. It's like the whole [21:40] world got stuck after World War II that [21:43] we're not allowed to remove people from [21:44] power. You know, u [21:48] you've heard me rant about this before. [21:49] Anyway, uh those are uh some some of my [21:53] thoughts listening to the great General [21:55] Jack Kaine. Uh but the big takeaway from [21:57] this video, the stuff he said about his [21:58] reflections on Israel, if you put those [22:00] those first two segments together about [22:02] the Israeli military cooperation with [22:05] America and his impressions of the [22:06] Israeli people and their willingness to [22:08] fight, those two things go together. [22:10] That is a nation that believes in [22:12] itself, that that sees itself as having [22:15] a bright future, is proud of its [22:17] identity. The world needs more of that [22:19] coming out of the west. The west needs [22:21] more of that in order to survive, in [22:24] order to win, in order to have the will [22:25] to push back and reclaim your society. [22:27] So, there's some very deep issues in [22:29] what he raised there. It's not just [22:30] about what's going on in the war. Uh, [22:32] but at the same time, you know, he's [22:34] saying Israel's fighting in Gaza, [22:36] they're fighting in Lebanon. And he said [22:37] that as a way of saying they're busy [22:39] with that piece while America's dealing [22:41] with the Iranians. It's all the same [22:42] network. It's all the same proxy [22:44] network. This is all one war. And as as [22:47] he says it, Israel is a model ally. Why? [22:51] As I showed you in the national defense [22:53] uh strategy, because Israel takes care [22:56] of its own business and it's capable. [22:58] It's capable of advancing American [22:59] interests, of helping the United States [23:02] when the decision is made by the [23:03] commander-in-chief that something isn't [23:05] objective. You could have that joint [23:07] operation. [23:08] Anyway, that's what I wanted to share. [23:11] Thanks for watching. Thanks for uh for [23:13] being a part of this. Make sure that you [23:16] like, subscribe, [23:18] please drop a comment. Let me know what [23:20] you thought of this. I do read the [23:21] comments. And uh and and think of [23:24] someone who might be interested in this [23:25] that you could share with really help me [23:26] out. All right. God bless.
