How Global Wars Are Reshaping Israel and The New World Order | Ep. 63 Gen. Amir Avivi

In this must-watch episode of Life Lessons with Dr. Bob, Brigadier General (Res.) Amir Avivi, Chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF), provides an in-depth analysis of global conflicts shaping Israel’s security landscape. From the fall of the Assad regime in Syria to Turkey’s rising influence, the Russia-Ukraine war, and Iran’s nuclear ambitions, General Avivi breaks down the geopolitical realities that mainstream media ignores.

Discover why the new Syrian leadership may be an even greater threat than Assad, how Turkey’s Ottoman ambitions could put Israel at risk, and why the Russia-China-Iran alliance is reshaping global power dynamics. General Avivi also sheds light on the U.S. role in Ukraine, its impact on Israel’s defense, and what President Trump’s approach means for the Middle East.

Plus, hear the shocking truth about ethnic cleansing in Syria, the real reason Israel is expanding its presence in Gaza, and what must be done to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions before it’s too late.

🔥 Don’t miss this powerful conversation! 🔥
📌 Like, share, and subscribe for more unfiltered insights!

#israel #ukrainewar #iranisraelwar #israelhamaswar #israelnews #israelpalestineconflict #IranNuclearThreat #LifeLessonsWithDrBob #turkey  #syria  #trumpforeignpolicy #globalsecurity #geopolitics #hamasvsisrael #gaza #israelwar

Transcript

Attacking Iran, it's not the beginning of a war. Attacking Iran is the end of the
war. President Trump talks about ending wars. In this specific case,
unlike the Russian -Ukrainian war, a pinpointed attack on Iranian nuclear sites and
military capabilities will bring an end to the
The mainstream media gives you the impression that there is nothing good about
America. In direct contrast to that, my podcasts will prove by examples that America
has always been and still is the land of opportunity for everyone.
Welcome to another episode in this series, Life Lessons with Dr. Bob. My guest today
is Amir Avivi, a former Brigadier General in the Israeli Defense Forces and currently
the Chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, or IDSF.
IDSF is an organization of former senior IDF officers and other concerned citizens of
Israel, all of whom are ardent Zionists who lobby the government of Israel to ensure
that it focuses on the security of the state of Israel. Tonight's discussion will
focus on conflicts outside of Israel, which have a direct effect on Israel,
specifically today the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria and in Yemen.
During his 30 years of service in the Israel Defense Forces, General Levy held a
series of increasingly senior roles, for being the commander of various battalions to
director of the Office of the Chief of Staff. For many years, General Levy was at
the center of the policy -making process and both the Israeli government and in its
defense establishment. After leaving government in 2019, General Levy founded the
Israel Defense and Security Forum. General Levy is here today to discuss current
military conflicts outside of Israel that, as I said, have an effect on Israel.
His Observations are more meaningful than others that you might see in the media
because of both his military experience and because he knows what is going on in
Israel. He enjoys weekly access to the highest levels because of his 30 years of
military and government experience and also because as head of IDSF,
He can talk directly to government officials in Israel every week,
up to and including Bibi Netanyahu, the prime minister.
Welcome to the show again, General Avivi. Thank you, Dr. Bob. It's a real pleasure.
There are a number of serious military conflicts happening in the world today outside
of Israel, And some of them have a direct bearing on the security of Israel.
One of those conflicts is in Syria.
On December of last year, rebel Islamic forces entered Damascus,
leading to the fall of the Assad regime. Now, Assad was an enemy of Israel,
but given the radical background of the de facto new leader, Mohamed Al -Jolani.
He might not be any better. So was the fall of Assad a positive development or not
for Israel?
- Well, I think that in one way it's positive. In other ways, it's negative.
It's positive in the sense that Al -Julani forces as terrible as they are,
they are enemies of Hezbollah. So, now Syria has become a place that is hostile to
Hezbollah, and they prevent the smuggling of weapons into Lebanon,
they are fighting Hezbollah. Hezbollah throughout the civil war in Syria has butchered
them again and again. So this creates a conflict between Hezbollah and the forces in
Syria. And in this sense, this is positive. On the other hand, we're talking about
Al -Julani who grew in ISIS, Al -Qaeda, Jabhat Nusrah,
all these really radical Sunni organizations, and these forces are conducting,
as we speak, terrible, terrible ethnic cleansing in the western part of Syria against
the Alawis, the Syrians who supported the Assad regime.
Just this last week or two, they killed thousands. They're butchering them in the
streets, children, women, men, terrible videos that they are releasing,
and if they manage to really weaponize, there might be a big danger to Israel.
They are backed up by Turkey. Turkey is a radical Sunni entity.
That one is a very radical person and is supporting this radical elements, together
with Qatar. So the Turks now are really affecting what's going on in Syria.
And in a future scenario, we might see Turkey on Israeli borders. So in this sense,
looking in the long term, it might be challenging. And Israel has created 13 miles
per meter From the Israeli border all the way to Damascus, with a very clear
message, we won't allow any armed forces to move south of Damascus towards the
Syrian part of the Golan. And Israel is constantly attacking forces or trying to
move south. Even yesterday there was an air force attack north of is actually an
area where there were some tank flaps and some capabilities of the former Syrian
army that these rebels tried to seize. And Israel throughout the last few months has
destroyed almost completely all the Syrian army to make sure that the weapons don't
fall into the hands of these jihadists.
So why is Turkey involved in Syria? Why do they care about Syria?
- Turks, the way they think, they want to restore the Ottoman Empire.
They used to control for 400 years, the whole region, all the way to Egypt and
Saudi Arabia. And that one, from the first day, he became a prime minister and
later president put a clear vision. We are going to be again the Ottoman Empire
that are trying to expand anyway they can and not only in this area also in Libya
and other places. The Turks are building a huge, huge army. They have built a very,
very dominant and strong military industries, they want to be a world power.
This is how they look at themselves. Just as the U .S. or Russia, they see
themselves as a world power. They want to be an Ottoman empire again, and this is
why they're acting the way they are. I see. And from my understanding, Turkey is
about 75 percent Sunni. Is that correct? Which is in opposition to Iran,
which is Shia. Right. Turks are Sunnis, and they've become much more religious in
the last decade under Red One. Before that, when they became a modern country,
they tried to be much more Western and modernized,
started producing beer beer, alcohol, although there are Muslims, but Turkey has
changed, and not for the best. They've become more radical, more religious,
and back to the old aspirations of being an empire. So, actually Syria,
if it gets a presence, a serious presence in Syria, would pose a threat to Israel?
Definitely. Definitely, Turks are weaponizing these GAD elements,
this new Syrian government, they're training them, and Syria now is predominantly
controlled by Turkey before that, before Al -Julani conquered most of Syria,
it was controlled by Iran and by Russia, But the Russians, due to the Russian
-Ukrainian war, most of their forces left Syria to fight in Ukraine.
Iranians took advantage and took control of big parts of Syria and enabled all the
smuggling to Hezbollah. And now it's Turkey that has dominance in Syria,
but they don't control all of Syria. You have a region in the West, in the history
of Syria that is controlled by the Kurds, who are enemies of Turkey,
you have an area near the Israeli border that is controlled by the Druze.
And Israel is defending the Druze on the Syrian side with Israeli forces deployed
inside Syria and in the Hormon mountain. And in the west of Syria,
you have the towns and cities of the Alawis. The Alawis are similar to the Shias
and their enemies of these radical Sunnis. And as we speak,
they're being butchered by Al -Julani forces. You know what's incredible? We don't
hear anything about the ethnic cleansing of the Alloites on our news in America.
We hear nothing about it.
- You know, they say no Jews, no news. - (laughs) Yeah, right, right.
Either the Jews are being killed or killing, that would be news. Now,
Turkey is a member of NATO, but yet, and they're against the Kurds,
and the U .S. is supplying or assisting the Kurds from what I understand. Is that
correct?
Yes. The U .S., to a certain extent, is assisting the Kurds. The Kurds are not just
in Syria, they're also inside Iraq, they're also inside Turkey,
and the Turks have been fighting their own civilians, Kurd Kurds civilians inside
Turkey, the Kurds had for a very long time an organization called PKK that fought
the Turkish government. The Kurds are a big nation spread also in Iran,
Iraq, Syria, Turkey, tens of millions of people, but were never able really to unite
as one nation. As we speak, the Joulani forces have discussions with the Kurds to
agree to some kind of Kurd autonomy, and the Turks are continuing all the time to
fight the Kurds and the attack them. Now are the Kurds Muslims?
Yeah, Yeah, of course because I'm Muslim, but they're all their own kind of They're
all flavor like the other Druze Muslims No It's a religion The Druze believe that
they descend from itro the father and Of of Zipporah,
the wife of Moses, itro by the way, became Jewish,
and they believe that they are the cousins of the Jews. I understand that in
Israel, the Druze are able to join the military, they have all the rights of
Israelis. All Israeli citizens have all the rights of Israelis,
but the Druze from the very beginning, from the Independence War have joined hands
with the Jewish people and are serving in the army in many positions.
In my organization, in IDSF, I have five Druze generals, and many,
many Druze that served in the country, They are integral parts of the Israeli
society and they serve the country. Now my understanding is the Druze by their very
nature are loyal to the country where they live. But now the ones living in Syria
and approximately 700 ,000 Druze live in Syria. And what country are they going to
be loyal to? There is no country. So it's interesting that, you know,
after '67 when Israel liberated the Golan Heights, we had Jews living in the Golan,
and for years and years they remained loyal to the Syrians, not to Israel.
Right, right. But since the civil war in
Syria, and when Sunni radical elements and the Iranians started sweating them,
and Syria pretty much seems to be a real country.
The sentiment has changed. It's changed first in the Israeli Golan, and now that
they're petrified from Joulani forces and also from the Iranians,
The Druze have been sending messages to Israel saying we want to be part of Israel,
at least under Israeli defense. Many, many years ago,
Israel sought about creating a Druze state in the Syrian part of the Golan as a
strategy. And now, in a way, it's becoming a reality. And Israel is defending the
Druze on the Syrian side, even thinking about letting them walk in Israel.
And this is the reality we see now in Syria. General, do you think that Israel
will interfere in Syria to protect the Druze? Israel is interfering in Syria.
Israeli forces are inside Syria in a perimeter inside Syria,
and we are actively defending the groups inside Syria and actively operating on an
everyday basis to make sure that Al -Julani forces don't move south of Damascus.
We are not going to enable any terror army to be near our borders.
This is the number one lesson from the 7th of October. No terror armies on Israel
border. It's not going to happen. Not in Lebanon, not in Syria, not in Gaza, and
also not on the mountains of Judea and Samaria. Israel is being very proactive,
making sure they cannot build up again after we defeated Hezbollah in Lebanon, after
the fall of the Syrian regime. And we have still a lot of work to do in Gaza and
also in Judea and Samaria. Excellent. So how far has Israel extended its border into
Syria to create a buffer zone to protect northern Israel?
So that's what it, you know, most people don't get it. Israel is not interested in
getting bigger. That's not the goal of Israel. It's not interested in taking on
territory, it's interested in protecting its homeland and in order to do that,
it has to take over some land. So how much land is it going to take over or
occupy? So Israel went into Syria a few miles, but Israel created a perimeter of
almost 30 miles perfect, that they will control from the air, not from the ground.
And we keep monitoring the area, making sure that no forces go into the Syrian part
of the Golan. And this gives us a buffer zone of 30 miles,
which is very, very meaningful. Perfect.
Next, let's move on to the war in Ukraine. Now, most people wouldn't think that the
war in Ukraine could have an impact on Israel, but it does. Soon after the Russian
invasion of Ukraine, about three years ago, the U .S. transferred most of the
munitions that it had stored in Israel to Ukraine. And in January of this year,
just two months ago, the U .S. transferred 90 Patriot air defense receptors from
Israel to Ukraine. All of that was very good news for Ukraine, but certainly bad
news for Israel. Was the loss of those munitions a problem for IDF,
and how did it get around that loss?
So definitely the fact that the U .S. has been deeply involved in the Russian
-Ukrainian war, sending huge amounts of munitions and capabilities and taking
capabilities from Israel. This affected Israel's ability to fight at the beginning of
the war in Israel. And even before the war, the fact that the U .S.
became very busy in two arenas, one, the Russian -Ukrainian war, and the other one,
the Pacific, building huge bases in the Philippines, getting ready for a possible
confrontation with China. It was threatening to invade Taiwan. This greater deraility
where the U .S. started withdrawing from the Middle East.
We saw that in the withdrawal from Afghanistan that was devastating. In one week,
Afghanistan went back 20 years.
Like nothing happened in the 20 years that the US was in Afghanistan. And this sent
a very strong message throughout the Middle East that the US is weak. The US is
withdrawing. The US has lost interest in this area. And while this was happening,
in the Middle East, we saw the rise of a Chinese, Russian, Iranian form that
really, really emboldened the Iranians and gave them an understanding that this is
their moment. The U .S. is not present almost at all, they are backed up by the
Russians and by the Chinese. This gave them really the certainty that they can fight
Israel the way they started doing on the 7th of October.
Now those moves to take the munitions out of storage in Israel,
which were meant for use in the Middle East, to take them out and put them to
Ukraine and for the patriot batteries to move those, those were all done under the
prior Biden administration. So has Trump restocked Israel with needed munitions for
its conflicts in southern Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza. Has Trump restocked any of
this? What is the status now? PASCAL PASCAL So Israel now is getting huge amounts
of munitions from the U .S., whether it's artillery,
mostly air force munitions, munitions for for Iron Dawn and the other capabilities,
and this is dramatic for Israel in our ability to really fight a seven -front war,
which has been going on for a year and a half. We have very big challenges ahead
with Gaza and also with Iran. So definitely there is a very a change that enables
Israel to sustain the war and achieve our missions. - Right,
right, right. So, other than the exchange or the transfer of munitions, how does the
Ukraine war in America's position or change of position,
how does that affect Israel?
- It's a matter of really, where do you focus? We have to understand what's
happening in Ukraine and why America wants to end the war and support the Russians.
We have to understand the global implications. For the U .S., the number one enemy
is China. This is the big deal. And when President Trump saw But throughout the
last administration of Biden, there was a creation of a Russian -Chinese -Iranian
front. The first thing this administration of Trump understood, they need to dismantle
this front. You want China isolated. So how do you do it?
Looking at the Iranians, you want to weaken them. I think that the best solution
with Iran is to attack. We need to destroy the nuclear sites. We need an Israeli
-American attack on the nuclear sites of Iran. We need to cut the head of the
snake. So at least the way I see it, I think Israel sees it that way. The way to
deal with the Iranians is a pinpointed air attack on their capabilities to really
dismantle the Xi axis in the Middle East and take them out of the equation.
But when we talk about the Russians, it doesn't intend to have a war with Russia.
If you want to bring the Russians on the side of the West, of the US, and not
siding with China, you need to cut a
So the U .S. has supported dramatically Ukraine
Underbidens of course and a lot a lot a lot of munitions to such an extent That's
the U .S. is left almost with no munitions and this is dangerous to the U .S.
national security
And with all these assistance, the Ukrainians haven't been able to push back the
Russians. The Russians, slowly, but steadily, are gaining more and more ground in
Ukraine. They conquered the whole Donbass region, Crimea.
And it seems that all these investments in Ukraine are not really changing the
reality.
The situation in Ukraine is devastating. And this is why President Trump wants to
end the war. It seems that there is no chance that Ukraine will be able to push
back the Russians. So the way he looks at it, he says the best thing now is Cut
the losses say, okay, that's it You have to stop the war the Russians game or
whatever they gain, but let's Cut a deal with them like sure they move into The
West and not siding with the Chinese and this we have huge impact on Israel also
because for Israel it was
that Russia, a country Israel had good relations with, sided completely with Iran,
weaponized Iran, assisted Iran. It became almost, I would say, an enemy of Israel.
Before that, we had good relations. We were coordinated in Syria. The fact that the
Russians are less strong in Syria, this is impacting also Israel because this is
giving the Turks the strengths and capability to really impact what's going on in
Syria. I think that if we'll see the Russians again more dominant in the western
part of Syria, in the area of Latakia, in the ports, this will deter the Turks.
And this for us is important. We want to see The Turks deterred not invading or
going into Syria. A Russian presence there might help Israel a lot.
And this is why these changes are also favorable for Israel. Okay.
So, trying to summarize, if the war and Ukraine ends,
then that will enable Russia to put troops back into, into Western or Southern
Syria, which is helpful to Israel and helpful to the Middle East. Yes,
and also I would expect the U .S. to demand from Russia to stop assisting Iran,
to also stand is the U .S. regarding the war of Israel in Gaza.
So having the Russians on our side, this is a very,
very big deal. Now, talking about China, this will mean that the U .S. will be able
to surround China, contain it almost from all sides, and change the balance of
power, Because this Russian -Chinese front became a big challenge for U .S.
dominance globally. And you really want to separate between the Russians and the
Chinese that, by the way, have been rivals throughout history.
So when you look at really the global challenges,
it's crucial to dismantle this Chinese -Russian Iranian front and make sure that
Russia stands more with the West and not this. We don't want to create a strong
Eastern front that will challenge the U .S. globally.
Very interesting analysis. Very clear. You know, people have a tendency to involve
emotions in global strategic issues. People became very supportive of Ukraine.
I must say, from a Jewish perspective, a million Jews were butchered in Ukraine.
Ukraine has never supported Israel, always votes against Israel in the U .S.
So I think that when we as Israelis look at this Russian -Ukrainian war,
we don't have sentiments for Russians or Ukrainians. We need to look what is best
for Israel. What is best for Israel is make sure that the focus of the U .S.
is in the Middle East,
that the U .S. sees it as a priority to support Israel, that we break this Russian
-Chinese -Iranian front. It's important globally, but also regionally. And this is why,
when I look at it from an Israeli perspective, I think that the policy of President
Trump in Ukraine is the right policy.
I think that the West has done huge mistakes with Russia.
You know, we tend to look at Russians as aggressors, but we have to remember that
Looking at it from Russian eyes, the West has invaded Russia many times,
and the U .S. has invaded Russia at the end of the First World War,
U .K., Sweden, Germany, Napoleon.
So the Russians have a whole history of the West attacking them, and they feel the
need strategic depth, the distance between the border of Ukraine and the Russian
capital of Moscow is roughly 65 -70 miles.
It's very, very close, so they feel vulnerable. Now, when the USSR fell,
Europe started absorbing more and more countries into the European Union.
And these countries were on the border or between Western Europe and Russia. So we
were extending our sphere of influence toward Russia, which they didn't like.
Yeah, now one thing is having countries joining the European Union. This This is
okay. It's mostly an economical union. But what Europe and the US did,
they started bringing these countries into NATO. NATO is a military coalition.
And when you see country after country joining a military coalition,
the Russians are in themselves. Why? Why is the West enlarging a military coalition?
In our direction, in their direction.
Everything we are experiencing now, specifically talking about Ukraine, started in
2005. In 2005, there was a NATO summit in Romania,
and there they had a declaration we want to bring Ukraine into NATO for the
Russians it means that NATO will be 70 miles from Moscow I see it's as if one
second it's as if the Russians were putting missiles in Cuba same thing exactly yeah
it's exactly the same I get it and then Russia released a non -paper which,
by the way, my father, when he was an ambassador, received personally from the
Russians saying, "We are not going to agree. We are going to do anything we need
to do to make sure Ukraine won't be in NATO." And also, there are Of Ukraine that
are a belong to Russia. This is a for his for throughout history Queen was part of
Russia and Especially the eastern part, which is a Russian population that wants to
be part of Russia So we may eyes ours Donbass the eastern part of Ukraine is ours
And if you continue this process, we're going to take over this area as I said
that from 2005.
And what we saw in the last few years,
on one hand, we saw the weakness of the U .S., the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and
the U .S. becoming less of a global power. But also this process talking about
for the Russians and they said okay that's it and we are going to war and and I
think that's really the West has done huge mistakes huge not understanding the
Russian mentality not understanding the core interest
And I think that President Trump has a much, much better of an understanding of
what this core interests are and how to stabilize overall the situation by really
taking seriously this core interest in a way that will create stability between
Russia and Europe and really tried to push Russia back into the west and out of
Chinese hands.
I would say pull Russia to the west, not push, but that's right. I understand
exactly. And your description and your analysis is exceptionally good and We just had
a Russian expert, David Satter, who takes an opposing point of view on this.
He thinks America, as I recall, should support Ukraine. So it's possible in the
future we're going to set up a three -way debate between the two of you, because
you both have very strong points based on knowledge. So that would be wonderful to
do.
I think that people tend to mix morality and interests and try to,
you know, to bring more arguments into real politics.
And this is something that might be dangerous. Now, look,
it's like investing in a stock. If you put more and more money into a stock,
and the stock continues to fall, it's a problem. I mean,
if Ukraine was able to take this huge, huge assistance the U .S.
gave and push back the Russians, that would be an amazing investment. It didn't
happen. It didn't happen, and the investments are huge, and are affecting the U .S.
national security situation. The U .S. is running out of munitions. - We're running
out of money. We can't continue with this deficit. - Right,
so this is a big lesson, by the way, looking at Israel.
Israel needs to understand, I think we do understand it now. Israel needs to be
able to defend itself by itself. And if we get assistance,
we need to show that for every dollar, we're able to bring back between five to
ten dollars. And so for the US investing in Israel, it's investing in an amazing
stock.
So You need to show that when you get assistance, you actually use the money in a
way that really makes a difference. And Israel is managing to do that in Ukraine.
What can we do? Not so much.
Right. And nobody should ask you to.
Right. All right. Let's move on to Yemen.
Under President Biden, The U .S. military took actions but didn't take meaningful
actions against the Houthis. Do you think that under President Trump, the U .S.
military will take decisive action and thereby taking one of Israel's problems off
its enemy list? You know, what amazes me about the Houthis in Yemen Is that they
are undermining on a daily basis? Maybe the most important thing globally for
everybody shipping shipping trade shipping, right? I Cannot understand how The world
the West allows Attack them firstly. How can can can the world live with a reality
where ships cannot move into the Red Sea and they need to go around Africa.
This takes global prices high, you know, the skyrocketing,
it takes a lot of time to move the goods, it's affecting everybody. The most basic
thing you expect from the U .S., from Britain, from even from Russia,
is to set your world trade. This is the most basic thing that needs to happen.
And you have these hooties, undermining world trade, and nobody's doing anything
serious. The only serious attack the hooties experience is Israel. - Yeah,
it's incredible. It's raising the price of And for everyone around the world,
having to divert around Africa. And we allow it.
And this is a nothing entity, right? The rebels in Houthi,
they're a small entity, right? They could be easily destroyed.
No, definitely. I know they're not that small, but definitely the U .S.
doesn't have any problem to do a decisive strike on their capabilities.
This is an Iranian militia equipped and trained by Iran.
And as part of the dismantling of this sheer axis, we need to deal with the
Houthis in a decisive way. Okay, next let's move on to Gaza.
President Trump issued two ultimatums to Hamas, first in January,
when he was not president, he was president -elect. He issued an ultimatum to Hamas,
demanding the release of all Israeli hostages, and he said, by 12 p .m.
on Saturday, February 15, 2025. I don't know how he chose that date, But that's
what he said. He warned that failure to comply would result in severe consequences.
And he stated, and I'm going to quote, "As far as I'm concerned, if all of the
hostages aren't returned by Saturday at 12 o 'clock, I would say cancel the
ceasefire, all bets are off, and let hell break loose." That was his first
ultimatum. Then just a week or so ago, he issued another stern warning to Hamas and
here's what he said. I'm going to quote Shalom Hamas. And Shalom means either hello,
it also means goodbye. You can choose. Release all the hostages now,
not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered,
or it is over for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies,
and you are sick and twisted. I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the
job. Not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don't do As I say,
I have just met with your former hostages whose lives have been destroyed.
This is your last warning. He said it twice.
Now given President Trump's strong support for Israel, why hasn't Israel taken the
opportunity to restart the war and put an end to Hamas.
Israel is trying to get as many hostages out as possible.
The Israeli public, overall, expect the government to try to really do everything
they can do to take out as many hostages as possible before we launch a decisive
attack again in Gaza. I think that the prime minister, from really,
I would say, political considerations, he needs the society's support in the attack,
tries to really get as many outside as possible. Now,
look, I have huge, huge appreciation for everything President Trump is doing,
for his support, for Israel, for the assistance, for everything. But I think that
talking, threatening, is not enough. You need to show you are doing something.
And in the Middle East, talking won't do the job.
I think that the US needs to show at least in one place that they mean business,
whether it's launching an attack on the Iranian nuclear sites.
We'll get back to you in a minute. Yeah, whether it's the Houthis and as far as
Hamas, I would have expected the U .S. to do one simple thing that would have
changed everything, send a clear message to Qatar, to Egypt and to Turkey You have
one week to hand us all the leadership of Hamas all of them to Guantanamo And
that's it And you need to put real pressure and real pressure is Arresting all the
leadership of Hamas. They are sitting in hotels in Qatar and in Egypt and in
Turkey. They have killed dozens of Americans. They've taken American hostages,
not even talking about Israelis. Why don't the man to arrest them?
Now, the moment you'll have the leadership of Hamas in an American jail. I can
promise you, you'll see the hostages.
So I think that the US has very strong tools that is not using and the fact that
the US chooses to speak directly to Hamas This is unprecedented. Yeah, this didn't
even happen with Biden. I Think it's not understanding the culture and who are
dealing with
So I think that we're in a very defining moment where the U .S. needs to start
using other tools, including military ones, against the enemies to really,
really make a huge change and create the terms needed to release the hostages.
I don't think we can sustain for longer reality where we are in a ceasefire.
Hostages are not released and we are not putting military pressure. A few days more,
a week or two more, if hostages are not released, Israel will have to go to a
full -scale attack on Gaza, and this attack is going to be decisive.
It's going to be an attack that when it will end, Hamas will be destroyed.
That's a military and governmental entity, the army is ready, the new chief of staff
has approved all the plans, and these plans look like nothing like the beginning of
the war, because at the beginning of the war, as we were degrading Hamas, all the
time we were thinking we need to keep the forces fresh, they need to fight in
Lebanon,
Bala is the big enemy. So we operated in ways that kept our forces in readiness to
move to the north. But now we want to live in Syria. We degraded the grammatically
terror in Judea and Samaria. And the IDF is able to focus on Gaza.
We have the munitions. We have the manpower. We have a new leadership in the army,
we have the U .S. support, and I expect to see in the coming months a decisive
winning Gaza. Well, I would disagree with the first part of your statement here
regarding the U .S. has to take steps to force this and that. This is not a U .S.
issue. Yes, everything globally affects everything but Gaza is an Israeli issue and I
don't think that Trump has to or must put pressure on Qatar or Egypt or Iran to
get the hostages released. It's an Israeli problem and he's given Israel all the
support, diplomatic support and military support for Israel to solve the problem.
Now it's up to Israel, probably Netanyahu, to say we are solving the problem and
declare, if the ceasefire is over anyway, right, it ended, they'd haven't agreed to
a new extension, so it's time to go in there now and to forget about the hostages.
It sounds cruel, but those people should be considered to be dead. We can't delay.
Every day we delay, they are getting stronger. They are setting booby traps. They
are re -arming somehow. They are getting ready for an invasion. We had the upper
hand, and now we're losing it, and we appear weak, especially because Trump says I'm
with you. He must be frustrated. I think that because President Trump directly
threatened them, and it was a U .S. threat, you know, he could have said, "Israel,
do whatever you need to do. I'll support you, I'll give you munitions, give you
everything you need." But the moment it's an American threats on Hamas and he puts
the red line. No, it's not up to him to put the red line.
It's not up to America to put the red line. Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
But it happens. And therefore if America gets involved and America puts the red
line, then America needs to take some kind of action. Israel doesn't expect the US
to fight for us in Gaza. This is our business And we're going to fight in Gaza
But I think that if Hamas killed so many American citizens
The easiest thing to do they don't have to fight say to Qatar Hand them over.
Yeah, no, but no, You can say that, but there has to be or else. What's the or
else that you're going to say to Qatar or to Egypt or to Iran? What's the or
else? There has to be an or else. Egypt cannot stand without American assistance,
just as Ukraine. America is giving Egypt billions. If they stop supporting them,
Egypt will collapse.
America is defending Qatar by having an American base in Qatar,
if he removes this base, Qatar will be invaded by Iran in no time.
These entities of countries are completely dependent on the U .S. And the U .S.
has huge leverage on them. Just like he is dealing with Ukraine.
Ukraine is very dependent on the U .S. He has leverage over Zelensky.
Well the best leverage that Trump has is giving Israel the free hand and the
weapons to finish the job. That's the best leverage. I don't think the U .S.
should demand anything from anybody else about this. It's Israel's problem.
Okay, we don't agree but we do agree that if something doesn't happen soon then
Israel is going to act.
Definitely. I don't see any scenario where Israel is not going back to war and I
think it's a matter of weeks, days, when it's hard to predict. Finally Iran.
I understand that Iran's supreme leader just rejected President Trump's written offer
to negotiate the end to Iran's quest for nuclear weapons. We don't know what's in
the letter, but I suspect it had something to do. You have to give up nuclear
weapons and that's it or else. That's my interpretation of what's in the letter.
Is that yours too? What do you think is in the letter? So the number one interest
of the Iranian regime is to exist. The one that maintained the regime,
they were relying mostly on their proxies, on Hezbollah,
the Houthis, the militias in Iraq, Syria, to defend the regime,
and they are losing more and more assets. Hezbollah, he was it hard, they lost
Syria. Houthis have been attacked and they're less stronger. The militias in Iraq
have been deterred and stopped intervening in the war. Israel attacked Iran and
deprived them from the rail defense and also attacked some cross -sites, and Iran has
weakened a lot, and the regime is feeling vulnerable, and in this reality,
they feel that the only thing that can defend them is nuclear weapons. So they are
moving fast. They are moving fast towards nuclear capabilities, and what they want to
do as a strategy is talk it out, have negotiations, and while talking is going on,
procure and build nuclear capabilities. And this is not an option. Iran cannot be
nuclear. It's a global threat. It's not just a threat on Israel. It's a global
threat. It's a regional threat. And therefore, I really believe that with Iran,
there's only one solution, and this is destroying the nuclear sites. It doesn't
require a lot of time. I've seen estimates, one estimate talks about eight hours
attack, American attack on the sites, American Israeli. Some talk about a day,
two, three. But attacking Iran, it's not the beginning of a war.
Attacking Iran is the end of the war. Right. President Trump talks about ending
wars. In this specific case, unlike the Russian -German war,
a pinpointed attack on Iranian nuclear sites and military capabilities will bring an
end to the war. And this is why it's so important to do it. And this is the
place where the US needs to send a global message. We are back We're not afraid to
use military power and this is important not just talking about the Middle East and
Iran This is important if you want to deter the Chinese from invading Taiwan This
is important if you want to deter the Russians to understand that the US is the
leading global power And it's not afraid to use its power when needed
Is what America must stand strong some. It's not going to work just by threatening
and talking. You need to show you are willing to use power. This globe is, you
know, challenging, and you see the level of violence in different regions and places.
In the last year, before President Trump, The globe has gone out of control.
56 different wars and confrontations around the world.
200 ,000 people died last year. Why?
Because of lack of American leadership. And I think that President Trump gets it.
He understands That he needs to stabilize the globe. He's talking about peace.
He's talking about stability But he's talking about peace through strength You need
to be strong in order to have a Globe that is stabilized and without all this
endless amount of force as we are seeing in the last year So I Imagine you believe
like I do that his letter was very clear that we can have peace with Iran.
You could be a member of the world community, but you have to give up and we have
to be able to verify that you've given up the quest for nuclear arms.
That has to be what was in the letter, right? Yeah, I think that definitely in
terms of the complete dismantling of nuclear capabilities. The question is, what is
the time frame? Right. So how much time do they have? So they rejected it. And,
you know, President Trump started many months ago, or since January, we're going to
negotiate with Iran. And that's, that's a good start. But if they refuse to
negotiate, then what will happen next? And when do you think next is?
When is next? So I think that the way this regime is disrespecting the U .S.
shows that they believe that the U .S.
doesn't have the willingness to use military power. And the only way to really give
a clear understanding, not only to them, to everybody, to the Chinese, to the
Russians, to the North Koreans, that the U .S. has the will,
is show on the ground that it happened and attack them. I think that we don't have
time. We don't have time. They are enriching uranium, they are moving farts towards
nuclear capabilities. And we see what happens when a country like that has nuclear
capabilities. capabilities you sit with North Korea North Korea right and really the
inability of the US to deal with them they are a nuclear power right too late and
they are deterring the US and and and this is not a reality you can have with
Iran because Iran is not North Korea Iran once global domination they want to
control the whole globe yeah it's a religious fanaticism a religious fanaticism,
right? That's what it's driven by. And there's no logic. General,
I want to thank you for spending time with me again to share your insights into
how all of these various armed conflicts outside of Israel have a potentially serious
effect on the state of Israel. Thank you. My pleasure. Thank you.
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