Videos > Israel Matters #19: Why is Russia Involved in Syria PART 1 Israel Matters #19: Why is Russia Involved in Syria PART 1 Pesach Wolicki 138 views • 4 likes • 1 comments 5 years ago • 30:45 min
Transcript [00:02] hello everyone welcome back to israel [00:04] matters [00:05] i'm of course rabbi pesach wilicki and [00:07] with me as always [00:08] is elliot chodoff strategic [00:12] military analyst history expert [00:15] and uh and from your facebook posts a [00:18] you know a lot of culinary stuff going [00:20] on in the chod off home as well [00:24] hey you gotta eat you might as well eat [00:28] well [00:30] okay so we're after the holidays the uh [00:34] the feast of tabernacles sukkot and uh [00:37] shmini at sarah at the eighth day [00:39] are completed they're behind us the high [00:40] holiday season is behind us [00:42] the traditional jewish greeting for this [00:44] uh day of the year is [00:46] have a good winter because we have uh [00:49] you know now the winter months are ahead [00:50] of us [00:51] we start praying for rain uh and uh [00:54] hopefully we'll have a very rainy winter [00:56] as we did last winter [00:58] just like to share a quick thought on [01:00] the weekly torah portion [01:01] the first shabbat after the feast of [01:04] tabernacles [01:05] is the shabbat that we start the new [01:08] cycle [01:08] of the reading of the torah so the torah [01:11] portion is actually [01:12] the creation story uh and the few [01:14] chapters after that [01:15] leading up till the days of noah [01:19] and just wanted to share a very quick [01:21] thought in [01:22] the opening chapters of genesis of [01:24] course we have the first [01:26] family adam eve cain abel [01:29] that first family and there are [01:32] two sins that take place right at the [01:35] beginning we could call them the first [01:36] two sins the original [01:38] the two original sins that take place [01:41] there is of course the sin of eating [01:43] from the tree [01:44] followed by the sin of cain killing his [01:47] brother abel those are the first two [01:49] transgressions in the bible and in both [01:52] of them [01:53] just wanted to point this out in both of [01:55] them god [01:56] asks the sinner a question [01:59] in response to the sin he asks adam [02:03] where are you [02:06] and he asks cain where is your brother [02:10] now obviously god knows the answers to [02:12] both of these questions [02:14] and that's what makes them so profound [02:15] and i think that if they really [02:22] he actually also asks a third question [02:25] uh [02:26] which the second one to kane and that is [02:28] what have you done [02:29] ah that's right what have you done [02:33] leading up to describing what he did but [02:35] you know [02:36] the the idea of god asking a question to [02:38] the sinner i think is very interesting [02:40] especially when we're talking about the [02:41] first two sins in the bible [02:44] and uh i think that if we just as [02:46] readers of the bible as believers in the [02:48] bible if we just [02:49] listen to what the words are telling us [02:52] i think there are these are the two [02:55] questions that god [02:56] asks us all the time [02:59] the first sin was not a sin against [03:02] anyone else eating of the tree was a [03:03] violation of god's dictate it was a [03:05] violation of that relationship [03:07] so god said to adam where are you [03:09] meaning where are you in this [03:11] relationship with me [03:14] and the second sin of course was the [03:15] quintessential sin against another human [03:17] being it was murder [03:19] and to that god said where's your [03:21] brother and i think those are questions [03:23] that we have to answer every day [03:24] where are we in our relationship to god [03:27] and where are we in our relationship to [03:29] our fellow human beings [03:31] so it's just a simple thought about [03:33] those those opening two [03:34] sins in the bible and what we could take [03:37] from it [03:38] just wanted to share that now elliot [03:42] there's never a dull moment in the [03:43] middle east yes and as we've talked [03:46] about sometimes the events that shape [03:49] things are really just like [03:51] things that get leaked to the media like [03:53] we've talked about this before that [03:55] when something is talked about in the [03:57] media [03:58] besides what's being talked about we [04:00] also always have to ask ourselves [04:02] why did they say that and this week [04:06] we had this little news story and why [04:09] now [04:10] yeah why now so there was this news [04:11] story that bashar assad [04:14] the head of the dictator of syria [04:17] was quoted in russian government [04:20] media and that's obviously very loaded [04:24] russian they don't have free media in [04:26] russia russian government [04:28] press interviewed assad and in the [04:32] interview they asked him if he would [04:34] ever normalize relations with israel [04:37] to which assad replied [04:41] that he would consider it if he got the [04:44] golan heights back [04:46] now that whole thing led me i read that [04:50] and i was like okay [04:50] let's forget about the fact that israel [04:52] is never giving him the golan heights [04:54] fine but if gov if russian government [04:57] media is [04:58] asking that question and assad is giving [05:00] that answer and then i thought about the [05:02] fact that assad [05:04] who is one of the chief enemies of [05:05] israel did not [05:07] interestingly did not criticize the uae [05:11] and bahrain deals with israel he said [05:13] nothing about them [05:15] and i was wondering okay why now why in [05:18] this way [05:19] what is this about and what exactly [05:22] would is russia's role in all of this [05:25] we've talked a lot about [05:26] hezbollah in iran and a little bit about [05:28] syria and we know the russians are [05:29] heavily involved here we've never really [05:31] explored that so i'm throwing this all [05:33] out to you elliot [05:35] and maybe this is more than one episode [05:37] but [05:38] as always can you make sense of this for [05:40] us [05:44] uh i'll try first of all i think that [05:48] the [05:48] um let me start with the syrian part of [05:51] it because that'll sort of take us into [05:53] the russian [05:55] the the syrians are no position to make [05:58] deals with anybody right now in other [05:59] words [06:00] the capital that he brings to the table [06:02] is so low [06:03] that there's no point would which is [06:06] also [06:07] his support or non-support [06:10] of the uae deal [06:13] is is totally irrelevant silence was the [06:16] best thing he could do [06:19] um that's number one [06:22] number two it's old news very old news [06:26] that the syrians say first give us the [06:29] golan [06:30] and then we'll have a discussion about [06:32] what goes on afterwards [06:34] and they know it's a non-starter and we [06:37] know it's a non-starter [06:38] uh going back even even to the father to [06:42] hafez uh back in the 90s i said at the [06:46] time during the negotiations [06:48] they're not going to come to terms they [06:49] have absolutely no reason whatsoever to [06:51] make peace with us [06:53] and there's every reason why the timing [06:55] of this little interview [07:00] the timing and the context and that [07:02] brings us to russia [07:04] so let's start with the fact [07:07] that the american brokered [07:10] emirates bahrain and whoever else [07:13] is waiting in line agreements [07:17] basically leaves the russians out [07:20] and the russians don't like to be left [07:22] out the russians have a [07:24] very very strong interest in this region [07:28] and they're a little annoyed now because [07:32] america has been pulling out of the [07:34] region [07:35] and even under trump he's been making [07:37] all sorts of noises of getting out [07:39] but no matter what they keep staying in [07:43] you know just when putin thinks he's rid [07:45] of them [07:46] there they are again with you know [07:48] pulling some other rabbit out of the hat [07:50] and this is driving the russians crazy [07:53] because [07:55] the russians for the [07:58] decades since the end of world war ii [08:01] since the beginning of the cold war [08:04] have had a very very strong interest [08:06] strategic interest in the middle east [08:10] and they've done they've done all sorts [08:12] of you know strange things [08:13] in order to maintain it including voting [08:16] in favor of partition that [08:17] the the soviet bloc votes in 1947 [08:21] were critical in the general assembly [08:25] resolution 181 partition plan uh [08:28] actually passing in other words [08:31] that was because they hoped that was the [08:33] founding of the state of israel wouldn't [08:35] have happened [08:36] rest soviet bloc correct [08:40] and let and let's let's remember that [08:42] back in the day [08:43] uh due to some pulses of quirkiness of [08:45] the way the u.n was set up the russians [08:47] actually had a number of votes [08:50] because ukraine which was totally under [08:53] russian control [08:55] had its own vote um [09:00] they had something like three or four [09:01] don't talk me on the exact number but [09:03] they they had [09:04] as if america would say you know what [09:07] we're really 50 states we should have 50 [09:09] votes [09:10] uh russia played that game and and won [09:14] in that sense so their votes were [09:15] critical and [09:17] in part there there are two ways of [09:19] looking at it and [09:20] the russians could look at it both ways [09:23] simultaneously [09:24] and one is either that either israel um [09:28] shows its gratitude by going in with the [09:30] russians which it did not do [09:33] or alternatively there'll be a conflict [09:36] and they can always [09:37] jump in on the other side if necessary [09:38] and that's that is what happened [09:41] and we were very much behind uh [09:44] escalating the conflict in in 1967 [09:48] the helped escalate in 1973 in other [09:52] words [09:53] a lot of what goes on has the russians [09:55] behind it there [09:56] now what i want to do for us to really [10:00] help [10:01] understand this is go back before the [10:04] cold war [10:06] because [10:09] what before into [10:12] to to to do two things sort of one in in [10:16] the other in sequence problem number one [10:20] or issue number one is that the middle [10:22] east is the most [10:23] important strategic region in the world [10:26] and it's been that way [10:28] for give or take three four [10:31] thousand years [10:35] now to say three or four thousand years [10:39] isn't just i mean that's an impressive [10:40] number but it's a number [10:43] that transcends two very important [10:47] factors uh which here basically are not [10:51] relevant because [10:52] in over three four thousand years these [10:54] two factors get negated [10:56] the first is technology [11:00] other words we're living in a world [11:02] today where we say oh here with new [11:04] technology we don't need all those old [11:06] rules [11:06] well guess what every generation of [11:09] humanity since [11:10] adam has said that [11:14] okay every generation says we're in a [11:16] new world of technology [11:20] and then the next generation's oh now [11:21] we're in a new world of technology [11:23] so okay that's nice but here [11:26] ever since this region has been [11:28] important [11:30] and that transcends technology i'll get [11:33] back to the reasons for why in a moment [11:34] the other [11:36] the other thing that transcends is the [11:38] world political order [11:40] in other words the way things were when [11:42] the assyrians [11:44] were interested in this region are [11:45] different from today [11:47] and different from when the ottomans [11:49] came in and when the byzantines came in [11:51] and pick your empire [11:53] the babylonians the romans the greeks [11:55] each period had its own [11:57] sort of in the ancient world [12:00] in the ancient world has a lot to do [12:01] with controlling trade routes [12:04] and that's not the issue anymore it [12:07] still [12:07] does it certainly is the issue that's [12:10] the whole point [12:12] remember the trade routes maritime [12:15] routes [12:17] and naval extension [12:20] are the exact same thing just like roads [12:22] and [12:23] military movement roads for commerce and [12:27] military movement [12:28] are exactly the same thing [12:31] i'm old enough to almost remember when [12:34] the [12:35] united states interstate system was [12:37] built it's called today the eisenhower [12:39] system in the 1950s [12:41] the interstate system was built by the [12:43] defense department [12:46] for the rapid movement of force around [12:48] the country okay now [12:52] we've all anybody who's driven in the [12:53] united states any distances traveled [12:55] interstates [12:56] they're those roads are critical to [12:59] commerce but they were built for [13:00] military purpose [13:04] and they're still there i mean they're [13:05] still maintained for that [13:07] because if you need to move force [13:10] whether it's by land or by sea those [13:13] routes very quickly shift from [13:14] commercial [13:15] to military [13:18] and if you don't have them you've got a [13:20] problem [13:22] on the middle east is a critical [13:25] geographical area for two reasons one is [13:29] the obvious one and anybody who's played [13:30] risk knows this [13:31] it's the land bridge between the [13:32] continents it's that that sort of [13:35] keystone [13:36] center between asia africa and europe [13:39] but to come back to what we were just [13:40] talking about it's also the bridge [13:42] between [13:43] oceans now the suez canal makes it very [13:45] clear today in the past century plus [13:50] uh although you should know you may not [13:52] know this [13:53] in ancient times there was a suez canal [13:57] it wasn't the same route that's taken [13:59] today because it didn't need to be [14:02] they didn't need a canal of the [14:04] magnitude for modern shipping that we [14:06] have today in the 21st century [14:08] had in the 20th century but in ancient [14:11] times a canal was cut from the nile [14:13] to the gulf of suez and [14:17] ships were able to get from the [14:18] mediterranean [14:20] out into the red sea [14:23] via the nile [14:26] in addition to that in ancient times [14:29] they also knew that and there was trade [14:31] between europe and the far east in [14:33] ancient times [14:35] it's not just a modern phenomenon post [14:38] marco polo [14:41] it was known that the quickest way to [14:43] get stuff from europe to the far east [14:45] if the canal wasn't working for whatever [14:47] reason because it wasn't always an [14:48] operation [14:48] it wasn't always maintained would be to [14:51] ship stuff [14:52] to the southern port of israel ashkelon [14:55] at the time today it's ashdod but in [14:56] those days it was hashgrown [14:58] and then schlep it over land to what is [15:01] today's a lot [15:02] and ship it out of a lot [15:05] at and from there [15:09] out the red sea to the indian ocean that [15:11] was a lot easier than going around [15:12] africa so [15:16] here you've got and look at israel as as [15:19] as a microcosm of it you've got this [15:21] ridiculously small country [15:23] that is a port that faces out to the [15:26] indian ocean and from there to the [15:27] pacific [15:28] and two ports that go from the [15:30] mediterranean out to the atlantic [15:32] how many countries have that [15:37] now if you look at it in egypt is the [15:39] other one right but [15:40] if you look at it in in regional terms [15:44] anybody who controls this region has [15:47] access [15:48] to the atlantic of the pacific [15:51] which is why in ancient times they tried [15:54] to do it in other words if they came [15:56] from [15:56] the west from europe or africa [16:00] they tried to get a foothold either on [16:03] the red sea or [16:04] on the gulf the persian gulf and if they [16:07] came from the east [16:08] they tried to get a foothold on the [16:09] mediterranean [16:11] and hint the turks are trying to get a [16:14] foothold on the gulf [16:15] and the iranians are trying to get a [16:16] foothold in the mediterranean [16:18] those are those those are the two local [16:21] empires [16:22] so so where does the russian interest in [16:24] the area begin [16:25] because we don't see it in the in the [16:27] middle ages so now [16:29] so now now let's overlay let's overlay [16:32] the russian problem [16:35] i've given you the solution now let's [16:36] look at the russian problem [16:38] russia not the soviets not putin [16:41] russia historical imperial russia [16:45] has a problem and that is that it's [16:48] natural [16:50] naval bases are north of the arctic [16:53] circle [16:57] and they freeze during the winter [17:01] and people are familiar with strategic [17:03] literature know [17:04] that what the russians are said to need [17:07] are warm water ports now what warm water [17:10] port means is [17:11] ports that don't freeze in the winter [17:14] because if in order to play the atlantic [17:18] game and the the european game is the [17:21] atlantic game [17:24] which is one of the reasons why nato is [17:26] called the north atlantic [17:27] treaty organization as the germans [17:30] learned the hard way in two world wars [17:32] if you can't control the atlantic you [17:34] can't control europe [17:40] if russia wants to compete with america [17:44] in the atlantic [17:45] it needs naval bases through which it [17:47] can get out [17:48] 12 months a year whenever they need it [17:53] now during the soviet [17:56] era the soviets had a major fleet base [18:00] and shipyard [18:02] in sevastopol in the crimea why do you [18:05] think [18:05] putin went there a number of years ago [18:10] i don't know if you remember that when [18:12] when he went into the crimea [18:14] uh then secretary of state kerry [18:17] very indignantly said somebody has to [18:20] explain to mr putin [18:21] that we're in the 21st century and 19th [18:24] century strategies don't apply anymore [18:27] so somebody has to explain to mr kerry [18:29] the strategy is strategy and doesn't [18:30] matter whether it's the 19th 20th and [18:32] 21st [18:35] he the fleet base that the russians were [18:39] using [18:40] was ukrainian at this point and they [18:41] were leasing it from the ukrainians [18:44] and the ukrainians told putin you know [18:46] what we may not renew the lease [18:48] and putin said no problem [18:52] now he didn't have to lease it from him [18:54] anymore he took it he owns it [18:58] but sevastopol listen [19:01] you don't want to lease it to me [19:05] it's kind of like don highway we can do [19:07] your way you know [19:10] exactly exactly either your brains your [19:13] signature are going to be on this [19:14] contract [19:15] right exactly [19:22] now with all of its advantages from [19:25] sevastopol does [19:26] is warm water port it has a problem [19:29] and that problem is that it's on the [19:31] black sea and the black sea empties into [19:33] the mediterranean via turkey [19:35] via the bosphorus now in [19:39] times of peace like now it's not an [19:40] issue because the bosphorus [19:42] by agreement is an international body of [19:44] war [19:46] but what happens in wartime [19:50] let's keep in mind that the turks and [19:53] the russians have been [19:54] enemies for about 400 years [20:00] and that hasn't gone away and it's [20:02] getting worse now that erdogan is making [20:05] his [20:05] imperial moves see note to his east [20:09] greece every which way [20:14] and he can choke them you can lock them [20:16] in what do you do [20:18] you skip over it now during the [20:21] soviet during the cold war period the [20:24] russians [20:24] had major fleet bases in egypt and syria [20:29] in alexandria in latakia and they did it [20:33] for a reason [20:34] and by the way during those years [20:37] and i actually um [20:40] for for sins committed in a previous [20:42] life i spent a year in the israeli navy [20:44] in the mid 1980s um [20:50] there was always a russian ship off [20:53] haifa always just outside our [20:56] territorial limits [20:58] monitoring everything our navy did [21:02] from up close where he could see it [21:05] because we were a threat to the russians [21:07] because we were part of the american [21:09] constellation so the russians [21:12] interest primarily is ports they have [21:16] two in syria today one matakiya another [21:19] one in tartus [21:20] and they're developing them [21:25] that's their that's their core interest [21:29] there's a secondary interest and that is [21:32] that anything america does the russians [21:35] want to counter [21:36] so and why because because america is [21:40] the adversary and putin is a chess [21:43] player [21:44] and he knows you don't give your [21:46] adversary an advantage even if there's [21:48] no [21:48] clear consequence [21:52] that you can see what of that advantage [21:54] somewhere down the road we just don't [21:56] want him getting stronger [22:00] yeah and or or to and it's [22:03] strength can be measured in many [22:04] different ways you don't want them [22:06] getting stronger [22:07] you don't want them in a position where [22:08] they can outmaneuver you you don't want [22:10] them to gain [22:12] allies where you can have that [22:15] other countries be neutral or [22:17] adversaries [22:19] it's all it's a it's just because in [22:21] other words [22:22] it's it doesn't have to be i see this [22:25] leads to this lead to this leads to this [22:28] um and putin putin is an expert at that [22:32] absolute expert so [22:36] america abdicated its control its power [22:40] in this region over the past two decades [22:44] it started under bush jr it started by [22:47] withdrawing forces from this area [22:50] uh i don't know if you remember a few [22:51] years ago three years ago [22:53] um an american aircraft carrier [22:57] dr khaifa for the first time in 17 years [23:00] do you remember [23:00] when that happened yeah now why [23:05] okay kaifu used to be a regular port of [23:06] call of for for the sixth fleet [23:10] why was this aircraft carrier the first [23:13] in 17 years to dock and kaifa [23:15] so the answer is the trump [23:16] administration but not for the reasons [23:18] you may think [23:20] because under george w bush [23:23] 17 years 20 years ago now roughly [23:27] america withdrew its aircraft carrier [23:30] from the mediterranean [23:31] there had always been a carrier task [23:33] force in the mediterranean with the [23:34] sixth fleet [23:35] they withdrew it in other words america [23:39] was aircraft carrier list [23:41] in the mediterranean for 17 years [23:46] and that provided all sorts of other [23:50] players [23:52] a field to play on including [23:56] the so-called arab spring makers which [23:58] we now call the islamic winter [24:01] terrorist organizations and ultimately [24:04] countries like russia [24:06] turkey [24:11] the russians have now re-established [24:12] their position [24:15] and they're not going to give it up [24:16] easily so [24:19] much of what we're seeing in terms of [24:20] their playing and including their [24:21] meddling in america [24:23] and by the way russians meddling in in [24:24] america elections [24:26] shouldn't surprise anybody the russians [24:28] have been meddling in everybody's [24:29] elections [24:30] as long as long as there's been a russia [24:31] it's what they do and by the way [24:33] american medals in other countries [24:34] elections [24:36] let's let's not be overly [24:41] righteous about this um [24:45] but because russia is playing the global [24:48] game [24:49] and just to recap and conclude [24:52] the middle east is a critical component [24:54] in the russians game [24:57] the russians know it the turks know it [25:00] the iranians know it [25:01] the chinese know it everybody in the [25:03] region knows it [25:05] the only people who miss this class is [25:07] washington [25:11] the americans and i don't mean currently [25:13] i'm talking about for decades [25:15] the americans have not fully appreciated [25:18] the critical strategic importance of the [25:21] middle east [25:22] to their global power position [25:27] and they've always treated in a sort of [25:29] goofy kind of side [25:31] side game or almost because it might be [25:35] almost ideologically like israel's our [25:38] ally but [25:39] but uh yes so [25:44] obviously we're not at a full answer yet [25:48] can we make an assumption about this [25:51] weird little news story that i started [25:53] with [25:54] that somehow based on what you're saying [25:56] this is what i'm understanding that [25:58] that uh this that this is [26:01] putin's way of of making himself [26:05] relevant [26:06] in in terms of potential peace deals is [26:09] that what he's doing [26:12] exactly exactly that's exactly what he's [26:15] doing [26:17] he's showing that he's still in the game [26:20] and that america is not the only player [26:23] who can deliver peace in the middle east [26:26] even if it's pure miss [26:30] or disinformation [26:34] because that whole syrian [26:38] front is a non-starter from an israeli [26:41] perspective [26:43] with a a weak assad [26:46] barely controlling parts of his country [26:49] starting with a demand [26:51] that we we didn't give him 20 years ago [26:56] because we also know what he means by [26:57] the entire golan heights it means he [26:59] wants [27:00] the shores of the sea of galilee yeah [27:03] so that's why i was wondering if maybe [27:04] there's something darker at work here [27:07] and that is that really this interview [27:09] this little story with assad [27:11] was putin's way of telling netanyahu [27:16] if you want a good relationship with [27:19] me you're going to have to [27:23] play my game with syria [27:28] now i don't think so i i think as i said [27:31] before putin's a chess player [27:33] he's not going to play play a move that [27:34] he knows he can't win [27:36] and russia doesn't have anywhere near [27:38] the leverage america doesn't have the [27:40] leverage to make that work [27:42] russia doesn't have anywhere near that [27:44] now i think it's it's much more [27:47] um it's a gambit it has no [27:50] no real content value but it has a great [27:54] deal [27:54] of sort of packaging value [27:57] that not everything going on having to [28:00] do with the perhaps [28:03] possibility of maybe [28:06] some sort of an agreement coming out not [28:07] not all of it is is being [28:09] done in washington here we in moscow [28:12] are doing it too and that's that's [28:15] really [28:16] it's all on that in that sense it's all [28:18] veneer [28:20] great so elliot maybe maybe we could [28:23] already [28:24] set the stage for next week's discussion [28:26] and [28:27] we can unders maybe we could bring we [28:29] could [28:30] keep talking about russia and maybe [28:32] start to understand more [28:35] in the in the real world situation that [28:38] has developed [28:39] the chaos that that has developed over [28:41] the last [28:42] decade in syria and lebanon [28:46] what exactly the russia israel [28:50] relationship is in in light of all of [28:52] that [28:53] because in terms of our own security as [28:55] israelis in terms of [28:56] uh you know potential threats on the [28:58] horizon [29:00] russia is a hard nut to crack and maybe [29:02] maybe we could just wet our appetites [29:04] for next week [29:05] but you know like the whole relationship [29:06] between netanyahu and putin is is [29:09] interesting and [29:10] and uh maybe that's something we can [29:12] talk about next week [29:14] very yes well all i'll say about it here [29:18] is that we are not in the cold war [29:20] anymore [29:21] and the game that's being played is the [29:23] nature of the game is different [29:25] the rules of the game are somewhat [29:27] different the background rules to the [29:29] game remain the same as they've always [29:30] been for thousands of years [29:33] all right so let me just close by asking [29:35] everyone watching this [29:36] oh sorry were you finished [29:40] no yeah just just to finish the point [29:43] the [29:44] the the grand objectives remain the same [29:47] the specific objectives are are [29:50] situational [29:51] based on what's going on in the world at [29:52] any given point and [29:54] i'll i'll leave this as a teaser putin [29:58] the dictator of russia today [30:01] is not putin the colonel of the kgb [30:04] in terms of his outlook in his methods [30:07] yes [30:08] no okay we're going to have to explore [30:11] that next time [30:12] that's a bit of a riddle to me so i just [30:16] want to reiterate to everyone watching [30:17] this [30:18] thank you very much for spreading the [30:20] word please reach out to us with your [30:22] questions with your comments [30:24] and if you would like either elliot or [30:26] myself to [30:28] do a zoom with you with you a group [30:30] where you [30:31] are uh please reach out to us we would [30:34] be more than happy to do it [30:36] there's so much to talk about and as i [30:39] started with everyone have a good [30:41] safe winter god bless
In this episode, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki shares a thought about the weekly Torah portion. Then, history and military expert Elliot Chodoff responds to a strange Russian news story about Syria's Assad , by taking us on a historical journey toward understanding how and why Russia is involved in the Middle East. Specifically, why is Syria so important to them?
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