Transcript [00:00] On the one hand, [00:02] we could never have imagined on October [00:05] 8th [00:07] that we would have so degraded and [00:11] practically decimated [00:13] that they're on their knees and we are [00:17] and we are holding territory in Lebanon [00:20] that is providing security for our [00:22] northern communities. And we even have a [00:24] a a signed treaty with Lebanon allowing [00:28] us to be there, which is unbelievable. [00:31] That we're holding territory in Syria, [00:33] protecting our northern communities [00:35] there. That the Assad regime is gone as [00:37] a result of the domino effect of [00:39] everything that took place. That Hamas [00:42] is again, we're still dealing with them. [00:45] It's unfinished business, but they're [00:46] decimated. We have now we have now just [00:49] passed one full year since the last [00:53] rocket was fired at us from Gaza. [00:56] >> Oh, that is big. [00:56] >> That's how quiet it has been. And we [00:59] hold 60% of the Gaza Strip. [01:03] And Iran is on its knees. If you just [01:06] look at the strategic situation, [01:09] separate from all human emotion, [01:11] separate from all the loss that we have [01:12] suffered, sep separate from everything [01:14] else, [01:16] it's remarkable. [01:17] where we are and we never would have [01:19] dreamed that on October 8th. So on the [01:21] one hand there's a a great sense of [01:24] Israel has Israel is stronger than it's [01:27] ever been through this war. We have also [01:30] emerged as a regional superpower and you [01:32] see what's happening geopolitically in [01:33] the Middle East now with the Saudis now [01:36] realizing that their ridiculous treaty [01:38] with Pakistan and Turkey isn't worth the [01:40] paper is written on and they're quietly [01:42] going to Israel asking for help. You [01:44] know, it's it's in I mean, Israel is [01:46] stronger than it's ever been. And this [01:48] is all the result of October 7th. On the [01:53] other hand, [01:55] we've lost a lot of young boys. [01:58] >> How many have you lost in the war? [02:01] Soldiers. [02:02] >> Soldiers. It's about It's about 800. [02:06] >> Huge. And look, I I'll tell you, you [02:09] know, Elizabeth, my kids have been on [02:12] the front lines. [02:14] I three of my [02:17] three of my children and my son-in-law, [02:19] have all served in various roles in [02:21] combat units. One of my sons has [02:25] literally been in a frontline combat [02:27] unit as and he's moved up through the [02:28] ranks through the war, but he's been in [02:30] from day one. He was fighting in the in [02:33] the kibbutz and and the and the and the [02:36] other towns in the Gaza envelope in the [02:38] days after October 7th and he was he was [02:39] in Gaza. He was in Lebanon. He's been in [02:41] the whole time. My son-in-law is a more [02:43] senior commander. He's also been in the [02:45] whole time. I have another son who's [02:46] done over 500 days of reserve duty in [02:50] these three years. [02:52] Then I have my daughter who's a combat [02:53] medic. [02:55] You know, it it's been it's been a very [03:00] stressful three years. It been a tough [03:02] three years. There's a lot of people [03:03] there's a lot of young men who were, you [03:05] know, it's not just physical injuries. [03:08] It's also the emotional toll that it's [03:10] taken, the toll it's taken on young [03:13] families. [03:14] So, there's a lot of healing [03:17] that is yet to be done and it's going to [03:20] take a long time. And there's also [03:21] unfinished business. Regardless of how [03:25] how how positive the situation is that I [03:27] just described on all of our borders, [03:30] every single one of those borders is [03:32] also unfinished business. [03:34] >> Yeah. How so? [03:36] >> Well, Iran, the Iranian regime is still [03:39] standing, [03:39] >> of course. [03:40] >> And until it's gone, it's not gone. We [03:43] have to realize that. And if they are [03:46] standing, no matter how battered and [03:48] bruised they are when this whole thing [03:50] ends, if they are still in power, then [03:54] we've [03:55] >> they're just going to rebuild. [03:56] >> They're going to rebuild. And and they [03:57] play the long game. They don't think in [03:59] four-year election cycles. They think in [04:01] decades or centuries. And so if they [04:04] have to lay low till Trump is out of [04:06] office and then their friends in China [04:08] and their friends in in Moscow could [04:11] start buying their oil again and it'll [04:13] take time and they're patient especially [04:16] with their Shiite theology in their [04:18] Shiite theology being battered and [04:21] beaten by a stronger foe but not being [04:24] completely destroyed is itself the [04:26] definition of victory and resilience. [04:29] And their whole theology is built on [04:30] that. That's how Shiite Islam was born. [04:32] It was born out of a military defeat, [04:35] but they remained standing and therefore [04:37] that's it's very much in their [04:39] consciousness. And that's why when they [04:40] declare victory [04:41] >> when Ali was Oh, you know what? We won't [04:43] go into it. Yeah, [04:43] >> we won't go into that. But but in Shiite [04:46] 12ver [04:48] >> theology, [04:50] >> they don't define victory the way we do. [04:52] And you know, so but if they remain, [04:54] bottom line is this. If they remain in [04:56] power when all said and done, they will [04:58] reconstitute themselves. [05:00] >> What about Lebanon? Obviously, this [05:02] treaty is extraordinary. It's historic. [05:06] But tell me what your thinking is as far [05:08] as precariousness or how long will [05:12] people get impatient. [05:16] >> Lebanon is is a is a country. The more [05:20] you learn about Lebanon, the more you [05:23] learn about how their political system [05:25] is set up. [05:26] >> Oh, it's crazy. [05:27] >> The It's crazy, right? the more you [05:29] realize that it's it's built for [05:31] failure. There is no way [05:33] >> for Lebanon to not be a failed state. [05:36] >> Absolutely. Just go back and read the [05:38] history. The French must have been high [05:41] on like a couple of bottles of wine when [05:44] they were, you know, going through this. [05:46] >> Do the French ever do anything, right? I [05:48] mean, it's the French. [05:49] >> Yeah, it's [05:50] >> the French. [05:51] >> But the I'm saying like this. You could [05:53] have a country, let's say like Egypt, [05:56] right, which is totally corrupt and has [05:57] a terrible human rights record and CC is [06:00] a dictator, [06:01] >> but on paper there is an actual [06:03] structure that's democrat. They don't [06:05] follow it, [06:07] >> but you could see a world in which [06:09] >> form, right? Like you can see a world in [06:12] which there'd be a popular uprising and [06:14] they could institute greater freedoms [06:16] and they wouldn't have to change the [06:18] structure. [06:19] problem with Lebanon is that [06:21] structurally it is actually built for [06:24] internal strife and for instability. [06:26] It's it's a and it's beyond the scope of [06:28] this conversation to go into the whole [06:29] structure of the Lebanese Lebanese [06:31] government. [06:32] >> But the bottom line is this. [06:33] >> Lebanon became independent in the 1940s. [06:37] >> It has never been stable in its entire [06:40] history. [06:43] Most of that history it's been in a [06:44] state of civil war [06:47] or been under occupation by the Lebanese [06:50] through there is no functioning Lebanese [06:53] state. There never has been. [06:56] >> So that's always going to be a [06:58] precarious [06:59] um border for you as it always has been. [07:03] >> Not necessarily. Not necessarily. Not [07:05] necessarily because we are now there and [07:08] we're not going to make the mistake we [07:10] made of pulling out. [07:11] >> You up. You're not to the Latani, are [07:13] you? Or are you? [07:14] >> We are. [07:15] >> Okay. You're up to Latutani. That's [07:17] awesome. [07:17] >> And we have freedom of operation even [07:19] beyond it. [07:21] >> And that's all in that treaty. Now, [07:22] there's a security annex to that treaty [07:24] that has never been made public. And [07:27] >> I don't know what's in there. [07:29] >> Oh. But I imagine what's in there gives [07:31] Israel even a freer hand and that's why [07:33] it hasn't been made public. [07:35] >> Now what about I mean to me it was so [07:38] glorious um when the Golan Heights sec [07:43] Well glorious in one respect because [07:46] there was so much uh by the I don't know [07:49] if you call him Golani it's just the [07:51] easy name for me to remember. Um but [07:55] when that regime took place or no it was [07:58] actually before that when Assad was out [08:01] and it was in a total state of chaos um [08:04] when Israel just very wisely went in and [08:08] expanded sort of a protection zone on [08:11] the Golan and then took Hermone. Was it [08:14] is it part of Mount Hermmon that [08:16] >> Wellmon was already on Israel's it was [08:19] already Israel's but but yeah it took [08:21] the other side. It took the [08:22] >> the other side of that peak where you [08:25] did that for visibility and for [08:27] >> the ability to regulate air traffic. Am [08:31] I correct about that? [08:32] >> Well, they did more than that. They also [08:34] they also destroyed all the air defenses [08:36] in the country. [08:36] >> Yeah. [08:37] >> All the way. And that was and that was [08:39] not only so that they wouldn't fall into [08:41] the hands of this new regime [08:45] led by a al-Qaeda ISIS alumnist but also [08:50] in retrospect remember the Assad regime [08:52] fell in December 2024. [08:55] The 12-day war against Iran takes place [08:57] 6 months later. Israel was clearing the [09:01] corridor that they then use to fly all [09:04] of their planes to carry out the bombing [09:07] missions in Iran because the route that [09:09] Israeli planes take to Iran is through [09:13] Syria and Iraq and and when Israel [09:18] achieved air supremacy over that [09:21] corridor from Israel through Syria Iraq [09:23] to Iran in the in about the second or [09:26] third day of the 12-day war the Israel's [09:28] defense minister declared at the time [09:31] that we have no intention of [09:34] surrendering that. And then a few months [09:36] later in September of 2025, the Turks [09:39] started building new air defenses in [09:42] Syria. And Israel went in and took them [09:44] out while they were installing them. And [09:46] you might remember about a month and a [09:48] half ago, Israel bombed an airport, uh, [09:52] a military airport in the north of Syria [09:54] near the Turkish border. And the Turks [09:56] complained about it. The Americans made [09:59] a little verbal criticism of Israel, but [10:01] it wasn't really, you know, they [10:03] understood and they were informed about [10:04] it. [10:05] >> You have to you have to do [10:07] >> but but uh the reason Israel was doing [10:09] that is to maintain that air superior [10:12] Israel's defense and security doctrine [10:15] changed after October 7th. And this has [10:18] been artic what I'm about to tell you is [10:20] not my analysis. This has literally been [10:22] articulated clearly by the defense [10:24] minister, by prime minister Netanyahu, [10:26] by our chief of staff. Okay. [10:30] Israel's defense doctrine from [10:34] after the Yumipur war basically [10:37] until October 7th [10:40] was based on an assessment [10:44] of [10:46] our neighbors and enemies motives. Okay, [10:50] let me explain this. What does that [10:52] mean? It means that if we had some [10:55] agreement with them, [10:58] we put value in that. If we felt that [11:00] they were deterred either because they [11:03] were being paid off by US aid like Egypt [11:07] and Jordan or for some other reason that [11:09] they were deterred. If we believe that [11:11] Hamas was deterred for some reason, [11:14] whatever our assessment of their motives [11:16] were was central to our doctrine. After [11:21] October 7th, after October 7th, we no [11:24] longer assess threats based on an [11:27] assessment of our of our enemy's [11:29] motives. We only assess threats based on [11:33] their capabilities. [11:35] In other words, what they say, we don't [11:38] care. [11:40] We want if we see capabilities, we take [11:43] them out. [11:45] And that is a fundamental difference [11:47] that affects everything in the Middle [11:49] East. So when you see, for example, [11:51] Israel continuing to go in to Lebanon [11:55] and continuing to hit FSBA operatives on [11:57] the ground there, it's because we're [11:59] saying, "Listen, we are not going to let [12:01] you reconstitute anything." And that's [12:03] also why Israel has no interest in [12:05] having something like UNIFIL, the United [12:08] Nations interim force in Lebanon. [12:11] Interim, they were there for decades. [12:13] But that unifil force which was supposed [12:16] to be a peacekeeping force keeping an [12:19] eye on FSBaha and monitoring and [12:21] preventing them from from building up [12:24] that's all part of that old doctrine [12:25] that oh there's a peacekeeping force and [12:27] and is going to respect that or there's [12:30] some international agreement. We no [12:32] longer put our put any stock in these [12:34] things and rather if we see [12:36] capabilities, we eliminate them. Like [12:38] what I described in Syria, we see them [12:40] rebuilding air defenses, we're not [12:42] asking questions. We're taking them out. [12:44] If they threaten us, they know what [12:46] they're doing. So they're taking the [12:48] risk. Exactly. So, you know, there's no [12:50] big surprise here. What you're saying is [12:52] um the old doctrine. And you know, I [12:56] it's it's hard to judge uh because [12:59] Israel for so many decades has been in [13:03] very precarious situations and had to do [13:06] certain things because of blah blah [13:08] blah. But al often it was give away [13:11] land, something concrete right now that [13:14] you can't just say, "Well, give it back, [13:16] you know, and you get a promise." And [13:18] this is the same concept. [13:20] >> No more promises. No more and no more [13:24] are elite um intellectuals in Israel [13:28] saying well I believe the motivations of [13:31] uh though an Israeli is not going to say [13:33] it that way um are such and such and we [13:37] have to you you know we we have this [13:39] wonderful you know mowing the lawn trust [13:42] >> build confidence build trust no more no [13:44] because we know Better.
