Transcript [00:00] President Trump said he was going to [00:01] knock the hell quote knock the hell out [00:03] of uh uh the Persians Iran if they were [00:07] going to rebuild their ballistic missile [00:08] program. Is the way to see this and I [00:11] don't want to have too much of a jaai [00:13] here when we're talking about which I [00:15] think is a sideshow which the Middle [00:16] East and Israel sideshow to a sideshow. [00:19] Was this just the kickoff to uh [00:21] Netanyahu 2026 his campaign? Sir, [00:26] >> well I I don't know if this is the [00:27] kickoff. things have been happening for [00:28] a while. You know, you know, these [00:30] diplomatic deals and the gas deal with [00:32] Egypt. Israel signed a $ 35 billion gas [00:35] deal with Egypt that was announced a [00:36] couple weeks ago and and all sorts of [00:38] big weapons deals. There's been a lot [00:39] going on, a lot of PR and it certainly [00:42] is the beginning of campaign season here [00:44] in Israel. Look, when it comes to [00:46] elections and BB has, you know, there's [00:49] he's got a there's a lot of problems [00:51] with BB Netanyahu, but the way the [00:54] coalition politics works in Israel, and [00:56] it's far beyond the scope of this [00:58] discussion to get into the weeds on [00:59] this. Maybe at some later point when it [01:01] gets closer to the election, we can talk [01:02] about it, but there's kind of no [01:06] he will be the next prime minister. I [01:08] mean, it's just going to happen again [01:09] because of the way things are and and [01:12] his leude party being so popular and [01:14] he's still he still lapsed the field. Uh [01:17] it's kind of similar to the you know to [01:19] the to the Republican primary in 2024 [01:22] where there was just no there's no real [01:24] challenger when it comes to who people [01:26] prefer as prime minister. The left in [01:27] Israel has been decimated and destroyed [01:29] and BB's the large he heads up the [01:32] largest right-wing party. So yeah, it's [01:35] kind of the campaign, but um you know, [01:38] the truth is in the current in the [01:40] current makeup of the way our coalition [01:41] politics works, he kind of doesn't need [01:42] the help. [01:45] >> And I'm not saying that as an [01:46] endorsement. [01:46] >> You've been one of the Yeah, I I got it. [01:48] Well, President Trump, I think, endorsed [01:50] him. I mean, he couldn't spoken higher. [01:52] Said there wouldn't even be an Israel [01:54] wouldn't even be in Israel if you didn't [01:55] have Netanyahu. Um before I let you go, [01:57] you've been an advocate of hey, these [01:59] meetings you we shouldn't even have to [02:01] have them as often. we should have our [02:02] own independence. We shouldn't take the5 [02:04] billion dollars. You're cutting all [02:05] these deals with everybody else. You're [02:07] building, you know, with with Greece, [02:09] everybody. You're building your own [02:11] alliances or your own network. Uh where [02:14] does that stand? Because there's other [02:15] people saying the Times of Israel [02:16] reports today there's some factions in [02:18] BB's coalition saying you got to get [02:20] theou, we need a newou, etc. How how [02:23] serious is this effort for people really [02:26] say, "Hey, look, the United we we [02:28] shouldn't have to go begging the United [02:29] States every time we want to take on a [02:31] move in Syria against ISIS or if we see [02:34] ballistic missile capabilities, we want [02:36] to take them out. We shouldn't have to [02:37] call Washington, get permission, sir." [02:40] >> Yeah. Look, and it goes beyond that. You [02:42] know, look what the, you know, Trump [02:43] might won't be in power forever. And [02:45] under the Biden administration, there [02:47] was, you know, there was weapons that [02:48] were being withheld from Israel. And it [02:50] all has to do with this asymmetrical [02:52] relationship. More and more Israelis are [02:54] waking up to the fact that the aid from [02:56] the United States is bad for Israel. It [02:58] limits us strategically. The way the [03:01] Israel got the aid to begin with was [03:03] always as a way as a way of pressuring [03:06] Israel or a selling Israel on making [03:10] security concessions. It all started [03:11] when we gave up the Sinai desert and the [03:13] Camp David Accords with Jimmy Carter. So [03:15] the aid to Israel has always been a [03:18] strategic problem for Israel and right [03:21] now in BB's inner circle there are [03:23] different factions. Netanyahu himself [03:26] finally finally over the course of the [03:28] last 6 months or so and and ramping it [03:30] up in the last couple of months has been [03:32] talking about the need to end the aid [03:35] completely when thisou ends. I I pray to [03:38] God that we actually do so. More and [03:40] more Israelis, as I said, are waking up [03:42] to the fact that we need to do so. But [03:43] there is that faction, that hardcore [03:45] faction, those old those oldfashioned [03:47] guys, the deep sters here who are who [03:49] want theou renewed. They might even want [03:52] an increase. They're going to be [03:53] lobbying for it. Um I'm I I'm been I've [03:56] been pretty vocal in my Jerusalem Post [03:58] columns and elsewhere advocating that [04:00] the aid is bad for Israel. So it it is a [04:03] bit of a knife fight going on over this [04:04] issue, but thankfully Netanyahu has come [04:07] out openly on our side on the side of [04:09] drawing down the aid. Israel is becoming [04:12] more and more independent. Steve, think [04:13] about this this one detail. Israel in [04:16] the last month has sold over $10 billion [04:21] worth of air defense systems to Germany [04:24] and Greece alone. [04:26] The annual payout of aid to Israel, the [04:29] military aid to Israel is $3.8 billion. [04:33] And at the same time, we just signed a [04:35] gas uh supply deal where we're supplying [04:39] natural gas to Egypt. $35 billion deal [04:43] was signed over the last two weeks. This [04:45] $3.8 billion in the United States is [04:48] less and less of our annual of our [04:50] annual budget. It's less and less. It's [04:53] a tiny fraction of of a percentage of [04:56] our GDP. It's not even that big a [04:59] percentage of our defense budget [05:01] anymore. It's less than 10% of our [05:03] defense budget at this point. So, we [05:06] need to get rid of this aid and [05:07] hopefully it's moving in that direction. [05:09] I I was I was made I was informed and it [05:13] was it was spoken about here in Israel [05:15] uh over the last few weeks that this was [05:17] going to be on the agenda of the [05:18] meetings with Trump. They didn't talk [05:20] about it in the press conference. But, [05:22] uh I'm if Netanyahu stays in the prime [05:26] minister's office, we will move in the [05:27] direction of the aid being drawn down. [05:30] If he's not prime minister, we might get [05:32] someone who thinks more traditionally, [05:34] who wants to keep the aid going. [05:36] >> Yeah. Where do people get these videos [05:38] you're putting out in your columns? [05:40] Where do they go for all your content? [05:42] >> Thank you. The videos are three times a [05:43] week at the Israel 365 YouTube channel. [05:47] And and thank you for the endorsement, [05:48] Steve. These are not just videos of me [05:50] yapping. These are videos explaining [05:52] things that are going on in the Middle [05:53] East that you simply are not getting [05:56] through the mainstream media. You can [05:58] also find my columns on the Jerusalem [05:59] Post, jpost.com. I have a piece tomorrow [06:02] about Israel's recognition of Somali [06:04] land and why that's so important [06:06] geostrategically. And you could also uh [06:08] follow me on X at Rabbi PW and at [06:12] israel365action.com. [06:16] >> Thank you, sir. Appreciate you staying [06:18] up late to do this live. Thank you sir.
