Transcript [00:00] What is without Iranian support? [00:02] Nothing. What are the Houthis without [00:04] Iranian support? Nothing. What is Hamas [00:05] without Iranian support? Nothing. It [00:08] changes the whole geopolitics of the [00:10] region. All right, folks. Isai Flea [00:12] here. The war continues over two weeks [00:15] and there's firepower and there's [00:17] action. There's planes in the air. [00:19] There's rockets flying over Israel. But [00:21] less and less rockets. That's right. [00:23] Less and less rockets are hitting [00:24] Israel. And where I live, this Shabbat, [00:27] we didn't even have uh uh we didn't have [00:29] to go down to the bomb shelter at all. [00:31] But the war keeps going. And yet there's [00:33] kind of a it's not always clear what is [00:35] actually happening in the war. What's [00:37] happening in the Straits of Hormuz? Uh [00:40] President Trump said hopefully China, [00:41] France, Japan, South Korea, the UK will [00:44] send warships to free up shipping lanes [00:46] in the Straits of Hormuz. That's the [00:48] shipping lanes uh that open up from the [00:51] Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean and and [00:54] out to the rest of the world. But in the [00:56] meantime, prices have jumped by 23% uh [01:00] in the United States according to [01:01] TripleA. Uh President Trump has also [01:04] said there is no deal with Iran. There [01:06] is no deal with Iran until he's ready to [01:08] make a deal. And he even, you know, [01:10] poked hard at them. He said uh that the [01:12] US may hit Iran's Kar Island, which is [01:15] an island off kind of the more northern [01:18] part of the Persian Gulf close to uh [01:20] Iran. He says uh we might just hit them [01:22] a few more times just for fun. That's [01:25] kind of harsh words that he's made. You [01:27] know, he's using kind of poking fun at [01:29] them. Uh but they, on the other hand, [01:31] are always claiming that they're still [01:33] winning. Uh the war continues also in [01:35] terms of military aircraft. The USS [01:37] Nimttz, one of the world's largest [01:39] warships, will remain in service until [01:41] March 2027 because it's needed for this [01:44] conflict as well. Broadcasters in [01:47] America that have been anti- the US war [01:50] have been warned right now uh to stop [01:54] making anti- anti-epic fury uh [01:58] broadcasts and commentary. Uh and so the [02:02] war for ideas and words and the war on [02:05] the ground continues. One of Israel's uh [02:08] most famous word warriors uh is Mark Reg [02:13] who he's the he used to be Israel's [02:14] ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was [02:16] a former senior adviser to the prime [02:18] minister of Israel to pres prime [02:19] minister Netanyahu. Today he's a [02:21] lecturer in international relations at [02:24] the Reichman University. He's recognized [02:26] internationally as one of Israel's [02:28] foremost public voices and he's the host [02:31] of the Israel undiplomatic [02:34] podcast. Mark Ragh, thanks so much for [02:36] joining us. [02:38] >> You know why we call the podcast is [02:41] undiplomatic. [02:42] >> Why is that? [02:42] >> Because for all those years I was a [02:44] diplomat. I had to be the official tool [02:47] of the government. I was the official [02:50] spokesperson. And now we sh that I am a [02:53] retired diplomat. I can actually say [02:55] more what I think. So, we call the [02:57] program Israel and Diplomatic. And can I [03:00] start off by saying thank you for [03:01] inviting me to your show. Thank you for [03:03] coming on. Um, let's before I even start [03:08] with any specific questions, and this is [03:10] what I've been dealing with recently. [03:11] When I have guests on, I don't even ask [03:13] them anything specific. Give me a [03:14] viewpoint. Tell me what's going on. Tell [03:16] me what you see in the situation out [03:18] here. This war is hard to understand [03:20] here in Israel. We feel safe. we see bad [03:23] guys blowing up and then yet I sometimes [03:25] see uh events in Iran where they have [03:27] this big funeral. They seem to be [03:29] totally uh calm and they're not afraid [03:33] of being bombed. They're not like [03:34] running scared in the streets. Uh you [03:37] see the pro, let's say Fox or Channel 14 [03:40] here in in Israel reporting this war [03:43] positively. Then you have all these [03:45] outlets who hate Trump, hate this war, [03:46] hate Israel. They report it differently. [03:48] So give me a picture of what you're [03:50] seeing out there, Mark. [03:52] So, first of all, I'm seeing victory, [03:54] and that's probably more important than [03:56] anything else. I mean, since this [03:58] started, Israel and the United States [04:01] together as partners, though, let's be [04:02] frank, America's a a global superpower. [04:05] Israel is a regional power, an important [04:07] world power, but we're not at the same [04:09] level of the United States. So, we're [04:11] partners, but we can say that we are [04:12] like the junior partner in the [04:14] relationship. But we're working in [04:15] tandem, hand in hand. And every day [04:18] since this started, we're taking out [04:21] Iranian leadership, their their senior [04:23] political leadership, their senior um [04:26] military leadership, their senior [04:27] intelligence leadership. We're degrading [04:30] and attacking their military [04:32] capabilities, their nuclear program, [04:35] their ballistic missile capabilities, [04:37] their drone capabilities, their naval [04:40] capabilities. So every day this goes on. [04:45] Um it's another day where the Iranian [04:48] regime of the Ayatollas is weakened and [04:50] that's a good thing. Now I don't know [04:51] how this is going to turn out in the [04:53] end. No one can answer that question. [04:56] But I can say this. I am sure that when [04:59] this finishes, our common security, both [05:02] that of Israel and of the United States [05:04] and of all the pro-western people here [05:05] in the Middle East and of the Europeans, [05:07] even if the Europeans don't know it, [05:09] yes, we will all be in a safer world [05:12] because at the worst case scenario, the [05:15] Iranian regime will have been defamed to [05:19] a substantive level, which will which is [05:21] good. at a more positive outcome would [05:25] be the Iranian regime won't be there [05:26] anymore. And anything between those two [05:29] extremes is is still a good outcome for [05:31] Israel and the United States. So [05:34] definitely a defanged Iran is is better [05:37] than a ready to have a nuclear program [05:41] against Israel Iran. And they're also [05:43] shooting at their their allies, the the [05:46] that the regional Arab countries that we [05:48] thought were allies like Bahrain, like [05:50] Qatar, we thought that they were friends [05:51] with with Iran, but they're not really. [05:53] Uh they're they're receiving firepower [05:55] from them. They're receiving uh hits on [05:57] their skyscrapers. In fact, uh here's a [06:00] Dubai skyscraper on fire. Take a look at [06:02] this. [06:07] So, the the folks in Dubai are [06:09] definitely not going to be happy about [06:10] about that. But I wanted to ask you a [06:12] little bit about our Western allies. [06:15] You're originally way back then from [06:17] Australia, right? Um what's going on [06:19] with Australia? What's going with [06:20] England? What's going on with Canada? [06:22] They seem to be teetering on on some [06:25] kind of like progressive pro- jihadism. [06:28] They're very weak in their support of [06:30] Israel and and their fight against the [06:33] Iranian terror machine and proxies. [06:36] Well, if you allow me, I think to call [06:38] them proje over the top in my opinion, [06:41] right? But I will say they've got this [06:43] sort of u this sort of pacifism. They [06:47] don't like to use force unless if they [06:49] feel they're forced to do so. They are [06:52] not happy with the tanya. They're not [06:54] happy with Trump. They would have [06:55] preferred probably that Biden would have [06:57] won the election or Harris. Yes, that's [06:59] they feel more comfortable with that [07:00] sort of approach. [07:02] And I would tell them the following. The [07:05] Iranian nuclear program wasn't just a [07:07] threat to the United States. They are [07:09] the big Satan. It wasn't just a threat [07:11] to the state of Israel where the little [07:12] Satan, but there was a threat to Europe, [07:14] too. From their perspective, Europe is a [07:16] middlesiz Satan. And and it's an [07:19] illusion to think that you can keep [07:21] feeding the beast and the beast will [07:22] suddenly not be after you. I mean, [07:25] they've already got missiles, as we can [07:27] see, that can reach Israel. [07:29] Why are they working on longer range [07:31] missiles to reach targets further [07:32] abroad? because they want to be able to [07:34] hit targets in Europe and ultimately in [07:37] North America too. And and so I think [07:40] it's illusion to use a term that the [07:42] Marxist progressives like to use a lot. [07:45] You know, there's this concept in [07:47] Marxism called false consciousness. So I [07:50] think a lot of these Europeans have [07:51] false consciousness and they think they [07:53] can solve this problem by being nice, by [07:55] smiling, by talking and it'll go away. [07:59] But the truth is that was all tried. I [08:01] mean that Trump didn't want this war. [08:03] Let's be clear. He tried to negotiate a [08:05] deal, but he basically said the Iranians [08:06] were not interested. And even after a [08:09] year ago, last June, after the 12-day [08:11] war, when America and Israel showed how [08:13] serious we were, and we thought maybe [08:16] the Iranians would change their [08:17] behavior, no, they didn't. It's true, [08:19] their program was was was hit very, very [08:22] hard. But they started reconstituting [08:24] their program. They started making the [08:25] first steps to get on the path again to [08:27] a nuclear bomb. And so we didn't have a [08:30] choice. we had to act. And I would ask [08:32] the following. You know, people like to [08:33] criticize Israel abroad. It's almost a [08:36] fashion. Yes. But in uh 1981, we took [08:40] out Saddam's nuclear reactor and stood [08:42] and and stopped that Ba'ist dictatorship [08:45] from getting a nuclear weapon. In 2007, [08:48] we did the same with the Syrian uh [08:50] nuclear program, also a Baist [08:52] dictatorship. and and then last year for [08:55] the first time and now again we've taken [08:57] action against the uh Iranian nuclear [09:00] program. Now we're talking about three [09:01] despotic regimes, three terrible regimes [09:04] that have no qualms whatsoever about [09:06] attacking their neighbors, about [09:08] massacring their own people. Yes. Uh [09:12] Bashar in Syria, Saddam Hussein in Iraq. [09:15] They were terrible actors as are the [09:16] ayat holders as we saw just in January [09:19] when they butchered over 30,000 of their [09:21] own citizens. Yes. So the idea that [09:25] somehow UN resolutions are going to stop [09:27] these people having nuclear weapons is [09:28] an illusion. Israel in fact by those [09:32] three acts that we took against the [09:34] Iraqi, the Syrian, and the Iranian [09:36] nuclear program, we've done more for [09:37] non-prololiferation than I think any [09:40] other country. Okay. So the problem with [09:42] non-prololiferation is that when you [09:44] have proliferation, then you're like, [09:46] "Oh my god, this should have been [09:47] stopped." But until that point, you [09:49] don't always feel it, right? And people [09:51] out there in the world, I don't know if [09:52] they're feeling what it means to have an [09:54] Iranian proliferation, an Iranian [09:56] nuclear weapon, or they have never not [09:58] felt the the the awful boot of Iranian [10:01] terrorism on on their neck, uh like the [10:03] Amy bombings in in Buenosirus. Uh so [10:06] people sometimes don't don't feel it. [10:07] What they do feel is their pocketbooks. [10:09] The next phase of this war may very well [10:11] be an economic war visav oil and energy. [10:16] I've seen already a lot of videos and [10:17] podcasts saying, you know, this this [10:22] the prices are going to go up in America [10:24] and this is not actually going to affect [10:25] China. A lot of anti-Trump, anti-war, [10:28] anti-Israel stuff. Basically saying the [10:30] next big phase is going to quash [10:32] American economics, European economics, [10:34] etc. What's your answer to that? [10:36] >> So, I think uh I think I'm paraphrasing [10:39] what Trump himself said that, you know, [10:41] maybe some short-term pain but medium [10:43] and long-term success, right? I mean [10:46] this Iranian regime that was going to [10:47] blow up and it better that it blows up [10:49] before they get nuclear weapons and not [10:50] after they get nuclear weapons. Yes. [10:52] Before they have missiles that can reach [10:54] Europe and North America do it now. This [10:57] is a regime that is, you know, they [10:59] shout in their official demonstrations [11:02] organized by the government, death to [11:03] America, death to Israel. And so the [11:06] idea is that you you hit this while you [11:08] can before they become North Korea. [11:10] Everyone's terribly careful with North [11:11] Korea because they've already got nukes. [11:13] >> That's right. Think of how we'd have to [11:15] act with Iran if they got nukes, right? [11:17] And this is a, you know, Iran's much [11:19] more powerful and much stronger and it [11:21] has much more global ambitions. I mean, [11:23] North Korea is at best a a neighborhood [11:25] bully. [11:27] The regime of Iran has this cause of the [11:30] Islamic Revolution and it, you know, its [11:32] desire to change the way the world [11:34] looks. It it's uh it's better to deal [11:37] with the problem now. And you know [11:38] what's interesting, Misha? I worked with [11:40] Netanyahu. Uh, but this isn't political [11:43] in Israel. I mean, let's be frank, [11:45] except for the very very far-left, [11:48] right? The the the Zionist left, the [11:51] Zionist center, the Zionist right, [11:52] they're all supporting this effort [11:55] because everyone understands that the [11:56] Iranian regime um is is against our [12:00] right to exist in any borders. Right. [12:02] >> That's right. That's right. And now I'll [12:04] remind you of something that you know [12:05] but maybe not all the viewers and [12:07] listeners know and that is that the [12:09] until October 7th the largest act of [12:12] anti-semitic violence since the [12:15] Holocaust was committed by Iran as its [12:18] agents in Argentina when they blew up [12:20] the Jewish community center in the [12:22] 1990s. That was the single largest act [12:24] of anti-Semitic murder [12:27] until we reached October uh uh 7th 2023. [12:32] This is a regime that not only preaches [12:34] anti-semitism and holocaust denial and [12:36] all these terrible things, but it [12:38] supports groups like Hamas and Islamic [12:40] Jihad and the Houthis. So, it's not only [12:44] they they talk the talk, they walk the [12:45] walk. They're a dangerous actor. And [12:47] from the point of view of Israel's [12:49] national security strategy, you were [12:52] focused because they were the immediate [12:54] threats on the tentacles of the octopus. [12:56] Yes. on Gaza and Kamas on and Lebanon on [12:59] the Houthis in Yemen, but they are all [13:02] supplied and armed and and and funded [13:06] and trained by the regime in Tehran by [13:09] the Islamic Republic. [13:11] And to just to deal with the tentacles [13:13] and not the head of the octopus, that [13:14] was not sustainable. Ultimately, if we [13:18] come out of this with a defeated Iran, [13:21] whether once again a defanged monster or [13:24] a new regime there, a a a more friendly [13:28] regime, [13:30] then that changes the the proxies. What [13:33] is without Iranian support? Nothing. [13:35] What are the Houthis without Iranian [13:37] support? Nothing. What is Kamas without [13:38] Iranian support? Nothing. It changes the [13:41] whole geopolitics of the region. [13:43] Ambassador Mark Reg, you've worked with [13:45] the prime minister. It used to be said [13:47] about Prime Minister Netanyahu that he [13:49] was not a man of war. I heard this from [13:52] high level ministers who I worked with. [13:55] They said to me, "Look, Netanyahu is [13:57] good at economics, but he's not a war [13:59] guy." Something has changed uh seemingly [14:03] in the last three years. the [14:06] assassination of the terrorist [14:08] leadership against us. If it's Kamas, if [14:10] it's and if it's Iranian, they're [14:13] they've been they've been wiped out uh [14:16] in an amazing string of of uh of [14:19] targeted attacks. Uh it's a different [14:21] Israel. So my my question is two prone [14:23] to twoprong. One uh is Netanyahu a [14:27] different person? Did he did he change? [14:28] Is Israeli leadership is the conceptia [14:30] the the Israeli concept of of this [14:32] region has it changed? Has the army [14:34] changed? Um, and this change, it's not [14:38] easy to swallow for some of our [14:40] neighbors. Sometimes I think that one of [14:42] the reasons that they're afraid of this [14:44] war is because they're afraid Israel is [14:45] going to come out too strong at the end [14:46] of this and it's hard for them to [14:48] swallow that. Maybe the Europeans are [14:50] like that as well. So basically, my [14:52] question is what is the change that has [14:54] happened since October the 7th? Is Natao [14:57] a different person? And and and is this [14:59] Israel going to be able are people going [15:01] to be able to swallow a bigger, stronger [15:02] Israel at the end of this? [15:05] So first of all I want to deal with a [15:08] part of your question where you talked [15:09] about our neighbors. Okay. And you said, [15:12] well, are they upset that Israel is is [15:14] strong and has become the regional [15:17] superpower that that you know that we [15:19] are we are able to to to project our [15:23] power across the region and and our [15:25] pilots are flying over Iran and bombing [15:27] the skies there and and and and we can [15:29] defend ourselves and the other countries [15:32] of the Gulf which are on the receiving [15:33] end of rockets have to have to pray that [15:35] this is over soon because they can't [15:36] defend themselves. I mean, in Israel, [15:38] you said in your introduction, right, we [15:40] we hear sirens and we go to our bomb [15:42] shelters. You know what happens across [15:43] the Gulf, they have sirens, they have [15:45] maybe messages going to people with [15:47] mobile phones, but they tell them to go [15:49] inside and stay away from windows. They [15:51] don't have the infrastructure that we've [15:53] had to build in Israel over the years, [15:54] investing billions, literally in [15:56] safeguarding the homeront, in in [15:58] safeguarding the civilian population [16:00] from these sort of attacks. And none of [16:01] the Gulf countries have anything [16:03] comparable. They might have a warning [16:05] system, probably not as good as ours, [16:07] but they they they don't have the [16:08] system. And so they're in a difficult [16:10] situation. But I just I just want to [16:12] pause you. I I want you to get back to [16:13] your point, but I just want to make a [16:14] pause to help people that are watching [16:16] this understand in Israel, part of the [16:19] building code is bomb shelters. So every [16:22] skyscraper has got like a whole uh [16:25] either every few floors a bomb shelter [16:27] or most likely every apartment has got [16:29] its own bomb shelter. And so that's like [16:31] a normative part of life. And what [16:33] ambassador revive was talking about is [16:34] that billions of dollars over many years [16:37] of this code building code that you have [16:39] to build it has come to fruition has [16:41] come to pass as something that we really [16:43] need and this has saved lives. Now some [16:46] can critique that we're defensive. Yeah, [16:48] we're defensive against rockets but we [16:50] have an offensive capability as well but [16:52] this this has saved, you know, lives. So [16:54] yes, there's the there's the rocket [16:56] defense system, the the the aerial [16:57] defense system, the missile defense [16:59] system, but there's also this these [17:01] bunkers, and that's just part of normal [17:03] life in Israel. Go ahead, sir. [17:04] >> Correct. In fact, the cut off year, I [17:06] think, is 1992. It's the the first Gulf [17:09] War when Saddam started shooting Russian [17:11] Scud rockets into Israel. And then they [17:13] made a decision in the building code [17:15] that any new house being built, any new [17:17] apartment had to have a safe room, a [17:19] concrete uh structure which where you [17:21] could go to if there was a missile [17:22] attack. [17:23] >> Great. And you're right also on missile [17:24] defense because we had for so many years [17:26] we were dealing with missiles coming [17:27] either from Lebanon or from Gaza or from [17:30] further or far. We de developed a [17:32] missile defense system which is second [17:34] to none in the world. And actually you [17:37] see that the Iranians ability to hurt us [17:40] has been greatly reduced both by our [17:42] defense and of course by our offense [17:44] from what happened last year in the [17:45] 12-day war. I mean I when I was in [17:48] government I would see different uh [17:50] assessments of what damage they could [17:51] do, right? evenblah itself there were [17:54] reports of hundreds of if not thousands [17:56] of rockets landing in the derated Tel [17:58] Aviv area and killing scores of innocent [18:00] people well because of the actions we've [18:02] taken since uh since since October 23 [18:06] their their ability to hurt us has been [18:07] greatly diminished and we can see that [18:09] already as you said you said you passed [18:11] your Shabbat without having to run to [18:13] the bomb yes and the war is only two [18:15] weeks old yes so I think we have been [18:17] successful but to get back to my point I [18:20] think a strong Israel [18:22] is Israel that is our neighbors are more [18:24] likely to want to make peace with. No [18:26] one needs a weak ally. In all life, in [18:31] business, in politics, in everything, [18:33] people gravitate to those who are strong [18:35] and powerful and have influence. And if [18:37] Israel is strong and powerful and has [18:40] influence, and we do, I mean, we're [18:42] strong economically, we're strong [18:43] militarily, uh we're strong in our [18:46] relationships with countries like the [18:47] United States and India and others, [18:49] right? For all those reasons, the Arab [18:52] countries, especially the ones in the [18:53] Gulf, who are affluent and yet [18:55] vulnerable, they want to have a good [18:58] relationship with Israel. And for many [19:00] years, they let the Palestinians dictate [19:02] their foreign policy. Yes. And no longer [19:03] these countries want to look after [19:05] themselves. And I wouldn't be surprised [19:07] and and once again, I don't want to [19:08] sound like some sort of naive optimist. [19:10] I'm not naive, though I can be a bit of [19:12] an optimist at time. I wouldn't be [19:14] surprised when this is over and Israel [19:15] has shown its supremacy and the way [19:17] we're working closely with America that [19:19] some of these countries who were like [19:21] hedging their bets but on ended up being [19:22] on the receiving end of all these [19:24] Iranian drones and missiles and so forth [19:27] and have found themselves defenseless [19:29] that these countries won't want a closer [19:32] and stronger and warmer relationship [19:34] with Israel. So maybe President Trump [19:36] has said you know he wants to see the [19:37] Abraham Accords go back into high high [19:39] gear. I think after this is over, we [19:42] could well see that happen. [19:45] >> Let's see Pete Pete Hexav who's a [19:46] secretary of war for the United States. [19:48] Just a short clip of him talking at a [19:50] news conference. Amazing short phrase [19:52] there. [19:53] >> Looking up, the IRGC and Iranian regime [19:57] sees only two things on the side of [19:59] aircraft. The stars and stripes [20:03] and the Star of David. The evil regime's [20:06] worst nightmare. [20:09] Nice stars and stripes and the stars of [20:12] David. But okay, the physical war is is [20:16] going well. I I didn't get an answer for [20:18] you from you about the economic warfare. [20:21] Maybe you want to chime in on that. [20:23] >> I do, but can I just refer to something [20:25] that beat that the defense, sorry, the [20:27] secretary of war said um and it needs to [20:30] be said. He talked about Israel's [20:33] behavior being a a breath of fresh air. [20:36] And if you've got viewers of this [20:38] podcast, as I presume you have, who are [20:40] who who are supportive or friendly or [20:43] part of the MAGA movement in the United [20:44] States, what is MAGA's criticism being [20:46] of America's allies that they never [20:49] pulled their weight, right? That they [20:51] didn't spend enough on their own [20:52] defense. They didn't build up their [20:54] armies. They, you know, and they were, [20:56] to use a MAGA term, I would, you know, [20:58] it's still half the diplomat. It's in my [21:00] blood. I wouldn't use the term, but the [21:01] MAGA criticism of, you know, European [21:04] allies was that they were freeloaders. [21:06] that they invested in their health care [21:08] systems and they invested in education [21:10] and then environmental things and I [21:12] don't know what and and because America [21:14] gave them a defensive umbrella and it [21:17] wasn't right and that these countries [21:19] were living off American protection and [21:21] and not having to pay their part and [21:24] what I think Hexit was saying is that [21:26] Israel in many ways is the model that [21:29] Japan and South Korea and Australia and [21:33] the European countries and Canada, all [21:36] those countries need to follow because [21:38] this is a country we take our security [21:41] very seriously. All our young people or [21:44] most of our young people do compulsory [21:46] national military service. We invest a [21:47] huge amount of our budget of our GDP of [21:50] our gross domestic product in defense. [21:52] And so what is Basley Hexit saying? This [21:54] is a brush of fresh air. Israel has a [21:57] partner, right? That it can work with a [22:00] partner that pulls its own weight. and [22:01] he said, "A breath of fresh air." And in [22:05] many ways, I think Israel is a model for [22:07] Poland and for Germany and for Italy and [22:09] for all those countries who seek [22:11] American protection and American [22:13] support. Pull your own weight. Be like [22:17] Israel. On the economic issues, [22:20] um I said there's there could be, you [22:24] know, temporary problems with the price [22:26] of oil, but this isn't going to go on [22:28] for long. I think as much as Trump is [22:31] not Obama or Biden, he's also been very [22:33] clear he's not George W. Bush. He [22:35] doesn't want long ongoing wars. He wants [22:37] this to be over. [22:39] I think I said on my own podcast, Trump [22:42] likes his wars to be deadly, decisive, [22:47] and done with. So, I don't expect this [22:50] to go on forever, but I do expect that [22:52] Trump will have to [22:54] have to achieve his goals. And those [22:56] goals are clear. the end forever of the [23:00] Iranian nuclear program, the destruction [23:02] of their ballistic missile program, a [23:04] change in their relationship with their [23:06] Texas uh with their proxies and maybe [23:09] also [23:11] if not a change in the in the actual [23:13] regime, which we would all like to see. [23:16] Most of all, the Iranian people would [23:18] like to see the end of this terrible [23:19] Islamic Republic. Yes. But if the regime [23:22] doesn't change, at least a change in its [23:24] behavior that it'll be defanged. And [23:26] because it'll be defanged, they'll have [23:27] to be much more cautious in the way they [23:29] uh conduct themselves. [23:32] We're speaking with Ambassador Mark Rev, [23:34] who also hosts uh a podcast called [23:38] Israel Undiplomatic, right? Former [23:40] diplomat now going undiplomatic. So [23:42] that's a lot of fun. Um really one last [23:45] question for you and thank you so much [23:46] for the time with us. And this question [23:48] is about perceptions, right? Uh we have [23:53] uh we know that the far left has been [23:55] anti-Israel for a long time. Now we see [23:57] that on the elements of the [23:58] international and certainly American [24:00] right there's a crumbling. There's [24:02] always an effort to undermine Israel's [24:04] image. That's one of the wars. I call it [24:05] the narrative war. Uh let's watch former [24:08] prime minister Napali Bennett as he [24:10] answers some questions uh on [24:12] international media and check out the [24:14] feistiness on the fight back. Here [24:16] >> you are in a cycle of perpetual war if [24:19] you don't make bigger steps to bring [24:21] peace to the region. [24:23] >> How can we bring peace with Iran? They [24:25] want to kill us. [24:26] >> Well, you you you just heard our our [24:28] Iranian guest there talking about the [24:30] fact that at the fundamental level, this [24:32] is still about Gaza and the West Bank [24:35] and a Palestinian state, which is [24:37] something you are sworn against. Without [24:39] that, you cannot have peace in this [24:41] region, can you? [24:43] >> Come on. Iran has nothing to do with the [24:46] Palestinian issue. 47 years ago, the [24:49] radical Ayatollahas mulas took over the [24:53] beautiful country of Iran. It brought in [24:55] a theocratic idea and the idea is to [24:58] destroy Israel and fight America. It has [25:02] absolutely nothing to do with the [25:04] Palestinians. They want to destroy the [25:06] Jewish state regardless of the [25:07] Palestinians. [25:10] >> Well, well, that's not what they say and [25:11] that's not what their analysts say right [25:12] now. And this That's the reason they [25:14] were helping Hamas, isn't it? [25:17] >> Well, I have to correct you. Ayatah, the [25:20] deceased one that was killed a few days [25:23] ago, he many times said that his goal in [25:26] life is to annihilate the Jewish state. [25:29] >> All right. So, we got a feeling of [25:31] Napali Bennett. But that the reason I [25:33] played that is just to show that, you [25:34] know, we're still fighting this [25:35] narrative war. Now, we got it from [25:37] Tucker and Candace and the erosion of [25:39] the American right. Okay. part of your [25:42] work has been perception Israel's good [25:46] name uh Israel's moniker how do you see [25:49] it right now Israel it's it's become [25:51] somebody said to me recently a word that [25:53] hurt me hurt me he said Israel in in [25:57] some circles for example campus has [25:59] become toxic I was like oh that that [26:02] Israel this light to the world should [26:03] become toxic that that hurt me how do [26:05] you answer that [26:07] >> so I I'll quote the prime minister you [26:09] know because your your your [26:14] um definition or the way you describe [26:15] the problem is accurate, right? [26:19] There's a lot of hostility towards [26:20] Israel out there. Uh a real lot of [26:23] hostility across the West and in other [26:25] places too and um [26:30] you can you can get very upset about it [26:32] and you can try to fight us. [26:36] But the bottom line is this is this. [26:37] Over the centuries, people have said the [26:39] most outrageous things about Jews and [26:41] took it very seriously. Right? It's very [26:43] convenient also. It's almost like, you [26:46] know, a convenient comfortable myth. You [26:49] know, all we have to do is tell them who [26:51] we really are and we have to educate [26:53] people and then they won't hate us [26:54] anymore. And that's rubbish. My father [26:57] was born in Mdeorg, Germany in 1931. [27:00] Okay? And me and my siblings, we went to [27:02] visit Magdog a few years ago and we went [27:04] to the Jewish cemetery that miraculously [27:06] survived. And there's a monument in the [27:09] Jewish cemetery that was built after the [27:12] first world war to all the Jews from [27:13] Nagnabore, the young Jewish men who died [27:15] fighting for the German fatherland and [27:17] the Kaiser in the first world war. And [27:20] of course they built the monument to [27:22] remember their um you know the people [27:26] that they had lost but also I think that [27:27] they they wanted to show their neighbors [27:30] right what good patriotic Germans they [27:32] were now now a decade after the monument [27:35] was built it you know I don't think they [27:37] non-Jewish German neighbors really cared [27:39] much about that yes and they voted for [27:41] Hitler and to power and so forth and the [27:44] whole idea is if people just knew more [27:46] right if they were more educated that [27:48] they wouldn't hate us about you know [27:50] throughout history a lot of very [27:51] educated people have been anti-semitic [27:53] Voltater the father of the French [27:55] enlightenment anti-semitic dostofski no [27:58] one doubts his contribution to world [28:00] literature yeah anti-semitic the list [28:02] goes on even Shakespeare that there's a [28:04] debate is the virgin of merchant of [28:06] Venice only uh what's the word are they [28:09] only is he only expressing the [28:10] prejudices of his time or was he you [28:12] know was he himself what what difference [28:14] does it make yes so all I'm saying all [28:17] I'm saying is You're telling me can't we [28:19] convince them of the justice of our [28:21] cause? So we have to keep trying of [28:22] course but the most important thing is [28:24] if we say like you know people thought [28:26] maybe after the holocaust people had [28:28] finally learned the lesson that Jew [28:29] hatred has been discredited you know [28:31] anti-semitism leads to ashvitz no one [28:33] can support that sort of thing anymore [28:35] and maybe there was a time where [28:36] anti-semitism became unfashionable in [28:39] certain circles and so forth but it's [28:41] come back big and so some people say [28:43] well we can get depressed because uh you [28:46] know you know some things don't change [28:48] but something important has changed [28:52] The Jews had changed because when my [28:54] father was born in 1931, there was no [28:56] Jewish state. There was no Jewish [28:58] independence. There was no ability of [28:59] the Jewish people to defend themselves. [29:02] You know, the world that my [29:03] grandchildren were born into was a very [29:05] different world with all our challenges. [29:06] And I don't I don't in any any way [29:08] minimize our challenges. Yes. But this [29:10] is a world where the Jewish people have [29:11] regained sovereignty in their ancient [29:14] homeland. This is this is a world where [29:16] Jewish people uh um are strong and can [29:20] defend themselves as we can see in the [29:22] skies over Iran as we speak. This is a [29:25] country where Jewish life now has a [29:29] number one priority for one country in [29:31] the world and that is the Jewish state. [29:32] During the war in 1944 during the Second [29:34] World War, by then everyone knew what [29:37] was going on, right? with a with a [29:39] industrial genocide, the Holocaust of [29:41] the Jewish people. There was one huge [29:43] Jewish community left in Europe, which [29:46] was the Hungarian Jewish community, [29:48] because Hungaria, Hungary had been an [29:50] ally of the Nazis, but not under German [29:51] occupation. But in the beginning of 44, [29:56] the Nazis actually took over and they [29:58] started to put Jews on trains and send [30:02] them to Ashitz to be murdered. And there [30:04] were about a half a million Jews left in [30:06] in Hungary and they half a million [30:09] people. And at the time because it was [30:11] so late in the war, 1944, and everyone [30:13] knew what was going on, Jews went to [30:15] Churchill and they went to Roosevelt and [30:18] said, "Bomb the train lines, bomb the [30:20] camps, do what you can to stop this half [30:22] million people getting murdered." [30:25] And Churchill wrote a note to the RAF. [30:27] Can they do anything? And Roosevelt, I [30:30] don't know what he did, but in the end, [30:32] nothing was done. And I think the the [30:34] armed services said no that we save Jews [30:36] by winning the war. In other words, if [30:38] we win the war, that'll stop the [30:40] persecution and and the massacre and the [30:42] genocide of the Jews [30:45] because winning the war was the [30:46] priority, not saving Jews. Saving Jews [30:50] would happen once we won the war. They [30:53] weren't evil people, but they just had a [30:55] different sense of priorities. Both [30:57] Roosevelt and Churchill were great men. [30:58] Now there is a country that will put [31:02] Jewish life first and that's an [31:05] important change. And we have through [31:06] our strength, our economic strength, our [31:08] political strength, our military [31:10] strength, we uh uh we're very proud of [31:14] the fact that there's a one and only [31:16] Jewish state that can defend the Jewish [31:17] people. And when people say, you know, [31:21] anti-semitism and people say the most [31:22] outrageous and incorrect things about [31:24] Jews, okay, what's new? What is new is [31:27] there's a strong and powerful Israel [31:29] that knows how to look after itself. [31:31] >> Amen. And Hashem, thank God for for that [31:33] indeed. You're absolutely right. And I I [31:35] could tell you that uh my children uh [31:38] you have grandchildren already and I [31:40] could tell you I'm sure you you you're [31:41] going to agree with me. Our children are [31:43] growing up with a consciousness of [31:44] strength, not a consciousness of [31:46] weakness. They're seeing this war. I I [31:49] think this is probably a question that [31:50] hasn't been asked in the media, which is [31:52] like how are Israeli youth reacting to [31:55] this war? They see strength and they see [31:58] the continuing strength and they want to [31:59] get married and have kids and continue [32:01] to to be part of this economy, continue [32:03] to grow this thing and they're they're [32:05] excited to be part of it. And we see [32:07] that in the happiness index index. We [32:09] see that also in the fertility uh uh [32:11] rates. So, we see that there's hope and [32:13] there's strength and there's and there's [32:15] continuity. There's a return to Judaism [32:17] as well. there's a great yearning for [32:18] for Judaism uh and and connecting to to [32:21] to to Jewish life here. So absolutely [32:24] it's a flourishing and and a strength [32:26] moment and I think just just that itself [32:29] uh is a great achievement of this war. [32:31] Mark Greg, you are great and thank you [32:33] so much for being with us. People can [32:36] connect to you uh through your podcast [32:38] which is called Israel undiplomatic. [32:41] uh you are the former senior adviser to [32:43] the prime minister, former ambassador to [32:44] the UK from Israel and you continue to [32:47] uh lecture uh at Rakman University. [32:50] Thank you so much for being with us and [32:51] may we see uh a successful end to this [32:54] war in total victory. [32:56] >> I agree. Look after. [32:59] >> All right folks, you are listening to [33:01] Flyer TV or TV. Very easy to find us and [33:04] connect to us. Isv.tv. [33:07] Isai.tv. It's just that easy. Uh, [33:09] another way to support what we do here, [33:11] uh, is through going to buy me a [33:13] coffeeish. [33:15] Just buy me a coffee gives me strength. [33:17] You know, need a little bit of coffee to [33:18] keep going out there, uh, and to [33:20] continue to broadcast strength and faith [33:21] of the God in the God of Israel and the [33:23] belief in the great return, the in [33:25] gathering of the Jewish people to the [33:26] land of Israel, the building of the [33:28] state of Israel, and uh, hopefully the [33:31] the era of the third temple. That is [33:32] definitely the period that we're living [33:34] in. Finally, you can be part of Building [33:36] Israel through our website, [33:38] buildisrael.com. It's a great way to [33:40] support our projects, teaching [33:41] internationally, uh rebuilding, [33:43] reconstructing, renovating, uh holy [33:46] sites, biblical sites here in the land [33:47] of Israel, the biblical highway, uh many [33:50] other projects. That's at [33:51] buildisrael.com. [33:53] God bless you folks wherever you are. [33:54] Stay tuned. Stay strong. Stay connected.
