Transcript [00:00] So, I came across another amazing video [00:03] from Victor Davis Hansen. I don't want [00:04] to be doing this every day talking about [00:06] what he has to say, but he raises some [00:08] interesting points. And I want to play [00:10] this uh this monologue from him. And the [00:15] main reason I want to play it is not [00:17] because of the points he makes, although [00:18] he makes some excellent points, but it's [00:20] because of some what I want to add to [00:23] it. some things that he leaves out of [00:25] the conversation, not to disagree with [00:27] him, but to add on to what he was [00:29] saying, some important information. The [00:31] subject here is [00:33] Israel as an ally of the United States [00:36] in comparison to other allies of the [00:40] United States. That's the subject of the [00:41] video. Before I do that, I just want to [00:43] remind you of all the good stuff that we [00:45] do over at Israel 365. [00:47] Israel365news.com [00:50] is a very important news website you [00:51] should be going to. And in the [00:53] description of this video, you have a [00:54] link to our YouTube channel, the Israel [00:57] 365 News YouTube channel. And I uploaded [01:00] a video there today, an interview with [01:02] Dr. Morai Khedar, one of the most [01:04] respected experts on the Middle East and [01:08] the Muslim world in Israel. And it's a [01:10] fascinating interview. We get into the [01:12] theology [01:14] of Shia Islam as separate from Sunni [01:17] Islam. Shia Islam, the theology of the [01:19] Iranian regime, and how by an [01:22] understanding of how Shiites think, what [01:25] they believe, we can have a deeper [01:27] understanding or a clearer [01:29] understanding, I should say, more [01:30] accurate understanding of what is [01:32] happening in this war. So, please, when [01:33] you're done with this video, go over to [01:35] the Israel 365 News YouTube channel and [01:38] have a look at the video. We uploaded it [01:40] today, an interview with Dr. Morai [01:41] Khedar. And while you're there, you can [01:43] check out all the other videos we've [01:44] been putting up there. Uh, I hope you'll [01:46] find them interesting. [01:47] Now on to the the um the video from [01:51] Victor Davis Hansen. [01:54] >> Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for [01:56] the Daily Signal. There's been a lot of [01:57] talk in connection with the ongoing Iran [02:01] war about our allies. Specifically, [02:04] people are suggesting that Israel has an [02:07] inordinate role to play in our decision [02:09] to attack the theocracy in Iran. And [02:12] there's even posters going around of [02:14] Israeli puppeteers and we're the [02:16] puppets, which is kind of ironic when [02:18] we're a country of 340 million people [02:22] and Israel is tiny and 11 million and [02:24] they of course don't direct American [02:26] foreign policy. But I before I get to [02:29] Israel, I'd like to talk about our other [02:30] allies. Here we are uh in an existential [02:35] fight with Iran. And remember, it's a [02:37] 47-year war. They have attacked [02:39] [clears throat] our embassies in Beirut, [02:42] Kenya, Tanzania. [02:45] They blew up our Marines. 241 deaths in [02:49] um Beirut. [02:51] We've Kobar towers. They killed people. [02:54] They've sent assassination uh teams all [02:57] over the world. Killed a lot of Jewish [03:00] people in Argentina. They tried to kill [03:03] former national security adviser John [03:06] Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike [03:08] Pompeo, Donald Trump. [03:12] Uh it's not true that they only killed [03:14] 600 Americans with shape charges. I [03:17] think most people in the military that [03:19] were acquainted with that. It's more [03:22] like 1,500 and thousands were maimed. [03:25] And it was not just in Iraq. It was also [03:27] in Afghanistan. In other words, they [03:29] sent shaped charges into the hands of [03:32] Islamic militants who used them in a [03:35] variety of ways, specifically IEDs, to [03:37] kill Americans. That went unanswered as [03:39] well. They've taken hostages. They [03:42] killed 41 Americans. Their surrogates, [03:45] Hamas did on October 7th, and we of the [03:48] 1200 Israelis that were butchered, men, [03:50] women, older people, 41 were American [03:52] citizens. I could go on, but we've been [03:55] in a 47-year war with this country um [03:59] since its birth in 1979. And remember, [04:04] it was birthed on one fact. It took over [04:07] the American embassy and took our [04:08] diplomatic personnel as hostages. That [04:11] was never really replied to. And now uh [04:15] they have bragged in the negotiations. [04:17] They had an out. They had an out just [04:19] don't make a bomb. don't keep giving 50 [04:22] million a year to uh a month to [04:24] Hezbollah, 50 million to Hamas or 50 [04:27] million to the Houthis. Just don't do [04:29] that. And they wouldn't do it. So here [04:31] we are in a war and now we're blaming [04:33] many people in the United States, Israel [04:35] as the instigator. But I like to talk, [04:38] as I said, about our other allies. [04:40] First, Spain has already announced that [04:42] we cannot use the NATO base u near [04:46] Gibralar, a key base that governs [04:48] traffic in and out of the Mediterranean. [04:50] we cannot use it for operations against [04:54] Iran. In other words, they're saying [04:55] that we don't want any part in this war [04:58] and you, the United States, cannot use [05:01] this base, which is supposed to be for [05:04] NATO operations. And NATO has been on [05:07] the record of criticizing Iran [05:10] [clears throat] and saying it should [05:11] denuclearize. This is kind of ironic. [05:14] Spain Spain did the same thing. If you [05:16] remember in 1986, it told Ronald Reagan, [05:19] "If you're going to hit Libya, you [05:21] cannot fly over our territory from bases [05:23] in England." I think it cost them about [05:26] 2500. [05:27] France did the same thing. Can't fly [05:29] over the Iberian Peninsula. 2500 mile [05:32] detour for us to do that. Um, they've [05:37] been very vocal that they will not meet [05:39] their 5% uh armament. They've barely I [05:43] don't think they've quite met the 2% [05:45] unless they did it recently. Then we [05:47] turn to France. France has already said [05:49] from the very beginning that this was a [05:51] dangerous war and basically wanted no [05:53] part in it. The most surprising though [05:56] is the United Kingdom. The United [05:58] Kingdom under Prime Minister Stormer has [06:01] said that they cannot use that key base [06:04] for long range bomber operations in [06:07] Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. [06:10] England has always allowed us to do [06:12] that, but they said we can only use it [06:14] for defensive operations. What does that [06:16] mean? [06:18] What does it mean when you fly into Iran [06:20] to stop them from shooting missiles at [06:22] the Emirates or Israel? That's an [06:24] offensive operation. It it was [06:26] incoherent. [06:28] And then in in addition, it decided it [06:30] would keep away from um it wouldn't [06:33] really weigh in. And then when it it had [06:36] a base in Cyprus that was hit or was [06:40] going to be hit targeted, then all of a [06:42] sudden the UK said, "Well, we'll send [06:45] one destroyer, but we're not even able [06:46] to send it for the weekend cuz we don't [06:48] want to pay overtime pay." [06:51] What's going on with our allies? Does [06:54] Does Mr. Stormer remember the 1982 [06:56] Falcon Wars? Remember Faulans? Argentina [07:01] took it. Britain wanted to go halfway [07:03] around the world. They didn't have the [07:05] wherewithal to do it. We didn't really [07:08] want to offend an Argentine. Even though [07:11] there was a dictatorship in Latin [07:12] America, we were trying to create a [07:16] solidarity in our backyard. The [07:18] dictatorship in Argentina was [07:21] reprehensible, but not as represensible [07:23] as the Iranian dictatorship. And what [07:25] did we do? Al Heg, our Secretary of [07:27] State, said we should triangulate. [07:29] Reagan said, "No, give them 2 million [07:31] gallons, 2 million gallons of gas. [07:34] They're out of gas. They'll be stranded. [07:36] Give them satellite reconnaissance. Give [07:39] them 200 Sidewander missiles. Give them [07:42] anything they want. If they lose a [07:43] carrier, you give a United States Marine [07:45] carrier and give it to them." It was [07:47] just a blank check to Margaret Thatcher. [07:49] Do they forget that? Cuz they're going [07:51] to remember it because we're not going [07:52] to do that again in extremists from what [07:55] they have done. Germany. [07:58] Well, no need to talk about Germany. [08:00] Chancellor Mertz was in the White House. [08:02] He kind of had a hang dog look. He had a [08:04] hang dog look because a week or two [08:06] earlier and to a huge crowd in Germany. [08:08] He was trashing the United States and [08:10] and Trump himself. [08:12] Then we get to Israel. Uh besides the [08:15] Israel is the only democratic consensual [08:18] government in the Middle East that has [08:20] been a lifelong friend of the United [08:22] States that it's provided essential [08:26] um intelligence to us about our enemies [08:30] and the people who have been killing us [08:32] such as Hamas on October 7th [gasps] and [08:36] Hezbollah for 40 years. We haven't [08:39] replied to them effectively. We we've [08:42] sent some battleship shells under [08:44] Reagan. We've done a few things, but [08:46] they are the ones that have taken out [08:48] our enemies. [08:50] And by the way, it's very rare for the [08:53] United States to have a capable ally. [08:55] Israel is capable. I'll give you one [08:58] example. If you count all of the planes [09:00] that are ready to fly, jet fighters that [09:03] Britain has, Israel has more, a lot [09:06] more, a hundred more. If you count all [09:08] the planes that France does, 200, [09:11] [snorts] Israel has 300. If you count [09:13] the planes that Germany has, 150, Israel [09:17] has 300. What I'm getting at is the [09:20] so-called big powers of NATO themselves [09:24] with these huge populations of 80 [09:26] million, 60 million, 55 million. They [09:30] don't have the air capability that tiny [09:34] Israel does. And [snorts] right now they [09:36] are fighting side by side with us. And [09:38] that those 300 planes are being used [09:41] every day to take out the ability of the [09:44] Iranians to do what? Fund the people who [09:46] killed Americans and Hezbollah, Hamas, [09:50] the Houthis. Make sure they do not send [09:52] missiles toward Europe. Remember Barack [09:54] Obama? He gave um missile defense away [09:58] in 2012 in Seoul in that quid proquo [10:01] with the Russian government. That [10:02] missile defense was aimed at protecting [10:05] Europe from a potential ballistic [10:07] missile attack from where? Iran. [10:12] In conclusion, we have a very strong [10:14] ally in Israel. We It's one of the most [10:17] capable countries in the world and we [10:20] have some unreliable eyes allies in our [10:23] formal alliance. We should remember that [10:25] before we start making accusations that [10:28] the Jews or the Israelis are pulling the [10:30] strings of American diplomacy and [10:32] military decisionmaking. Thank you very [10:34] much. This is Victor Davis Hansen for [10:36] the Daily Signal. [10:39] >> Okay. [10:42] So, so let's talk about this. So, it's [10:44] uh so Victor Davis Hansen made some good [10:46] points there and I just want to address [10:49] a few of them. So, first of all, [10:51] remember I've been saying if you've been [10:53] watching this channel, I've said in a [10:54] number of videos, and it's so important [10:56] to remember this with everything going [10:58] on all over the world with problems of [11:00] Islam and Sharia and Muslim takeover in [11:02] Europe, and it's a big subject these [11:04] days. [11:06] The Muslim populations in the West, the [11:09] Muslim populations in Europe, the Muslim [11:11] populations in America are more pro- [11:15] jihad. They are more radical [11:18] than the Muslim populations in the [11:20] Middle East and certainly than the [11:23] Muslim governments in the Middle East. [11:25] And this seems counterintuitive to [11:26] people because you tend to think of the [11:28] Muslims in the West as being more [11:29] Western. [11:31] But it's this is actually not the case. [11:33] And I've talked to Muslims uh or former [11:36] Muslims who know who who are very well [11:38] informed about that community and this [11:40] has been confirmed [11:42] from what they tell me. It's also been [11:43] confirmed by some news items, the most [11:46] famous one, the United Arab Emirates, [11:48] saying that they're no longer going to [11:49] fund scholarships for their for students [11:51] from the UAE to to [11:54] go to school in England because they [11:56] will become radicalized by the Muslim [11:58] Brotherhood on those campuses. And they [12:00] don't want them falling because if a [12:01] Muslim student goes through the UAE to [12:03] England, he's going to find a mosque. [12:05] He's going to find some Muslim friends. [12:07] and the mosques. And here's the key of [12:09] this point that the that the mosques by [12:12] and large in the west and the Islamic [12:15] and and the Muslim organizations in the [12:17] west are much more tied to the Muslim [12:19] Brotherhood and the terrorist networks [12:22] than the actual Muslim countries in the [12:24] Middle East. So when you look at these [12:26] European nations like Spain, like the UK [12:30] who are hedging about about fighting [12:32] against jihadist regime in Iran, you got [12:35] to remember that a big portion of their [12:36] electorate, a growing portion of their [12:38] electorate, it is Muslim and is pro- [12:43] jihad and they have to be sensitive to [12:46] those political forces and this is just [12:48] a sad sad fact about where these [12:49] European powers are. That's one point I [12:51] wanted to I wanted to raise. He [12:53] mentioned that the NATO powers uh you [12:56] know they were they're they're [12:58] struggling to pay 5% [13:00] on military which is what they're being [13:03] required to do by NATO. [13:05] Spain has refused to pay it just out and [13:07] out refused to raise it to 5%. You know [13:10] what Israel pays as a percentage of GDP [13:13] for military? 8.8%. [13:16] Israel invests it carries its own [13:18] weight. a lot of there's this uh there's [13:20] this perception or this uh this canard [13:22] that's out there that that you know [13:24] America pays for Israel's military right [13:26] so let's get into that a little bit this [13:29] is a topic that uh you know in the [13:31] America first movement especially in the [13:33] younger part of the America first [13:34] movement where they where there's a lot [13:36] of a lot of ignorance about the [13:39] realities of these situations [13:41] so in the America first movement uh one [13:44] of the things that that they're fond of [13:45] saying is that is that uh you know [13:47] America pays for the Isra Israeli [13:49] military. Tucker Carlson says it all the [13:50] time in a video I made recently about [13:52] Tucker's rant about about the temple [13:55] patches on Israeli army uniforms which [13:57] is on this channel. You can find it. Uh [13:59] he I made a comment in there also [14:01] because he said, "Oh, you know, we pay [14:02] for their military. We pay for all [14:04] that." Okay. So, first of all, as a [14:05] percentage of Israel's military budget, [14:08] the the military aid that America gives [14:11] to Israel, [14:13] besides the fact that it gets invested [14:14] in American companies, but I I never [14:16] even make that argument because it gets [14:17] invested in the military industry and it [14:20] gets taken from the American taxpayers. [14:21] So, that's not an argument that really [14:22] works. [14:24] But just as a percentage of the Israeli [14:26] military budget, okay, [14:29] it is approximately 10% of the Israeli [14:33] military budget, which is not not [14:34] insignificant. It's $3.8 billion, but [14:37] that's from before this war. It was 11% [14:40] I think in in 2023. [14:43] So before this war, it was 11%. Israel's [14:45] been spending a lot more on defense. [14:47] However, at the same time, Israel's also [14:49] been selling lots of weaponry. Israel. [14:51] In the last four months alone, Israel [14:53] has sold more than10 billion dollars of [14:56] air defenses. They get $3.8 billion from [15:01] the US government in military aid. And [15:03] those those air defenses, that's that's [15:05] revenue to the to the uh defense [15:08] ministry in Israel, to their industry. [15:10] So besides all of that, there's another [15:14] argument that I want to make that I [15:15] don't see other people making, and I [15:16] think it's an important one. I made it [15:18] once on the Charlie Kirk show actually [15:21] uh last year I was one of my appearances [15:24] on the Charlie Kirk show. I brought up [15:25] the following issue and this is what I [15:26] wanted to you know I think you know to [15:28] add it to the arguments. So here is a [15:31] map of America's global military [15:33] presence and you can find maps like this [15:34] online. This is just one that I located [15:37] and so it has all the different [15:39] countries where the US has maps and [15:40] there's blue and there's red. They're [15:42] all US bases. Some of the bases are in [15:45] allied countries and have a kind of like [15:47] joint responsibility for them, but still [15:49] American bases. Okay? So, doesn't matter [15:51] the, you know, the pink or the blue [15:53] don't really matter that much. But I [15:54] want you to look at this map of the [15:56] region around Israel. Okay? So, here's [15:58] Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, [16:01] uh, UAE, Bahrain, right? We have all [16:04] these different countries that have US [16:06] bases, right? So, take a look at that. [16:09] So, there is a base in Jordan. That's an [16:11] air that that's that's a massive air [16:13] force base in Jordan. There's a base [16:15] there in the Sinai in Egypt. There's two [16:17] bases in Saudi Arabia. There's a few in [16:19] Iraq. There's a few in Syria, [16:22] Cyprus. There's US bases all over the [16:24] place. All over the Gulf, you see all [16:25] these tons of bases out here. All these [16:27] dots are US bases. [16:31] You know why Israel's blacked out? [16:33] Because all the countries that are [16:34] grayed out or blacked out on the map do [16:36] not have US military bases. [16:39] Why is there no US military base in [16:41] Israel? Why is that the case? [16:44] You know why? Because it doesn't need to [16:46] be. You see, [16:50] $3.8 billion in foreign aid to Israel. [16:54] Israel is the largest recipient of [16:56] foreign aid. True. Yes, it's true. [16:58] Israel is the largest recipient of [17:00] foreign aid. What's the problem? Israel [17:03] gets $3.8 billion [17:06] military aid. [17:08] Jordan gets $1 billion in aid just [17:12] straight up hand out. It's part of the [17:15] It goes back to the peace deal that they [17:16] signed with Israel back in the 90s. [17:18] Okay. But Jordan gets [17:21] $1 billion in aid. So that's less than [17:23] 3.8. What's the problem? [17:27] There's a massive air force base, US Air [17:29] Force base in Jordan. [17:32] There's also another training base [17:33] that's not uh that is not on that map, a [17:35] smaller base. [17:38] What does it cost to operate that US Air [17:40] Force base? All the equipment, all the [17:41] personnel maintaining that base. [17:45] I bet it's billions of dollars. It's a [17:47] it's a massive US Air Force base in [17:49] Jordan. [17:51] But that's not called aid. You see, the [17:53] bases in Saudi Arabia are not aid. The [17:56] bases in Iraq and in Syria and in Egypt [18:00] and in all those other countries you saw [18:01] on that map, none of that is foreign [18:04] aid. That's defense spending, right? So [18:08] Jordan only gets $1 billion in aid. [18:10] Israel gets 3.8, [18:13] but Jordan also has a US Air Force base. [18:16] So if we if we if we stop with the [18:19] labels, defense spending versus US aid [18:23] and just look at it as foreign spending, [18:26] spending on security around the world. [18:30] And in Jordan, there's a billion dollars [18:32] in aid plus [18:35] a US Air Force base plus another smaller [18:37] training base. Add up that amount and [18:41] compare it to the 3.8 billion that [18:43] Israel gets and the US doesn't have any [18:44] bases in Israel. [18:47] Now, I don't know what it costs to run [18:48] an air force base. [18:51] My point here is that this whole [18:54] discussion of foreign aid, Israel's the [18:57] largest recipient of foreign aid. Yeah. [18:59] And look at that map I just showed you [19:01] again. Look at that map. [19:04] Okay, look at that. All those bases are [19:06] not counted as foreign aid. [19:09] So if instead we make the conversation, [19:11] how much money is America spending on [19:13] the security of other nations? [19:16] How much money is America spending on [19:18] the security of other nations nation by [19:20] nation? I don't think Israel's even [19:23] anywhere near the top of the list. [19:26] And why is there no base in Israel? [19:28] because there does not need to be. [19:29] Because Israel is a reliable ally. It is [19:32] a reliable ally. And that's why you have [19:34] bases all over Europe. Look how many [19:37] bases there are in Europe on this map. [19:39] Look at that. Tons. Why are there bases [19:42] all over Europe? Because there need to [19:44] be. Because these countries can't take [19:46] care of themselves. They have lost the [19:48] will to defend themselves at all. [19:51] Besides the fact that there's going to [19:52] be tremendous damage to the US [19:53] relationship with Spain and the UK, at [19:55] least for the duration of the Trump [19:56] administration, [19:59] look, [20:01] European nations have lost the desire to [20:05] defend themselves. They have lost the [20:07] desire to defend themselves militarily [20:09] and they've lost the desire to defend [20:11] their cultures from being taken over and [20:14] overrun by Islam. They are suicidal. [20:18] They don't. They've just lost their will [20:21] to live and their will to fight. And [20:22] Israel still has a will to live and a [20:24] will to fight. And Israel is a reliable [20:26] ally like Victor Davis Hansen said. All [20:29] right, that's it for this one. Thanks [20:30] for watching, folks. God bless you. Stay [20:32] safe.
