On this episode of the show, Glenn takes a deep dive into the complicated relationship between the Arab world and the United States, and its relationship with Israel. They discuss the pros and cons of each country s relationship with the U.S., and how important it is to have a strong ally in the Middle East.
00:01:25.600I mean, it could be at this point, you know, those oil, all three oil companies have China, have other, have India, have other countries they could deal with.
00:01:36.140Do you not think Trump knows that leverage?
00:01:38.740If the guy, the king of leverage of presidents we've ever had is not George Bush, is not Obama, is not senior, it's not maybe senior because he had some experience on the CIA side.
00:01:59.440But at the same time, you think that any president, including Trump, could put Israel in its place, could cut Israel off in any meaningful way, could threaten Israel without repercussions?
00:02:12.380It's the same way, I think, if you run for president as a hundred percent anti-Israel, I don't think that's the wise move if you run that way.
00:02:31.480Let's say Trump really put the genuine clamps down on Israel, like withheld military aid, withheld economic aid, didn't protect them at the UN the way we've been doing, any of the things we do with Israel because he's angry at Netanyahu, punishing Netanyahu.
00:02:46.680The hell that would rain down on Donald Trump from all of these power centers that control media, that control politics, that control Wall Street, that control Silicon Valley would be immense, would be a shitstorm of the highest proportions.
00:03:22.960And where I'm going with, they've tried to do the same thing to them.
00:03:25.220What I'm trying to say is the following.
00:03:26.340I think there's a difference between the notion of, you know, like for example, we're going to do a funny skit for one of our channels and say, you know, we'd like to thank our sponsors today.
00:03:39.500We believe we're the only company in the world that's gotten sponsored from Qatar as well as Israel.
00:08:52.140I'll believe it when I believe it when the U.S. actually takes concrete steps, not leaks to Axios or the Politico, you know, that there's tension between Trump and Netanyahu.
00:09:04.140There was a lot of that around the negotiations over Iran.
00:09:07.240And I think that ended up being a ruse.
00:09:08.600You don't think there's tension between the two?
00:09:11.040Yeah, I'm sure there was tension between Obama and Netanyahu.
00:09:13.960And one of the last things Obama did on the way out is sign a $40 billion aid deal to guarantee Israel $3.8 billion automatically every year from the U.S. Treasury on top of whatever.
00:09:43.620And, again, by the way, I could fully be wrong because of who comes after Trump.
00:09:48.520But also, just not to defend Obama, since this is the last person I want to defend, but one of the things he did on his way out—and, you know, he's on his way out, but okay.
00:09:56.860He did sign that $40 billion deal, which is still in a plaque, this memorandum understanding with Israel, you know, $3.8 billion every year, automatically on top of the $20, $25, $30 billion we give them every time they want to start a war, plus the money we give to Egypt and Jordan, which is mostly for Israel, all the other expenses.
00:10:13.020But then also on the way out, there was a Security Council resolution to condemn Israel for its occupation of the West Bank, which the U.N. wanted to declare illegal.
00:10:20.020The U.S. has always vetoed any anti-Israel resolution.
00:10:22.660Obama refused to use his veto power, didn't vote for it, but abstained.
00:10:26.020And that's what allowed the resolution in the Security Council to pass.
00:11:39.180I think Trump—if Trump were to take meaningful steps against Israel, I think the amount of threats and punishments and attacks that would be unleashed would be almost impossible to overstate.
00:15:59.960Well, to be clear, like if you talk about it morally and ethically, I do think what Israel has done in Gaza is one of the worst crimes, certainly of this century.
00:16:07.120So I don't want to pretend that I'm nuanced about that.
00:16:10.500However, I think when we're talking about U.S. policy toward other countries, toward the region, you have to be analytical about it.
00:16:16.920It's not driven by, you know, self-righteous moralism.
00:16:20.220This is better for content, by the way, if you think about it.
00:16:28.600If you and I were just screaming at each other about Israel and its morality in Gaza, it would, you know, you would, oh, look, they got into the screening match.
00:16:35.940But I think this is much more substantive, much more important, much more.
00:16:41.020I trust he's looking at this as a business deal.
00:16:43.080And the only thing is, when I sold my, and I hope he does this, you know, when you leave and you're trying to put certain rules and guidelines in place to make sure some of this stuff doesn't repeat itself, we're going to see if he's going to be able to pull that off.
00:17:01.580And that's why I say I hope you're right.
00:17:02.640But at the end of the day, I also think among all the other things Trump's weighing, and I think your analysis of his view of the Middle East is exactly right, he's also weighing, and he'd be stupid not to, the things that the pro-Israel lobby could do to him and to things he cares about if he were really to take action against Israel.
00:17:30.560He's human, and he has, you know, kids and their businesses and his grandkids and things he cares about, and anyone who cares about things is vulnerable.
00:17:56.880When you have kids, like I tell my kids, man, be friends with other kids who have things to lose.
00:18:01.920You want to befriend kids who have nothing—and let me tell you, when I was 16 years old, I probably wasn't the best kid to be friends with.