Verdict with Ted Cruz - May 20, 2021


Israel Under Attack

Topics
hatred for Israel
Hosted by
Ted Cruz
Mentioned
Joe Biden Netanyahu Obama White House Trump Hillary Clinton Bob Menendez Bernie Sanders Rex Tillerson John Brennan Taylor Force Barack Obama John Kerry Jim Mattis Ayatollah Historic Schumer Zoom
What Happens in Wuhan, Stays in Wuhan 14 Months to Slow the Spread ft. Steve Deace

Episode Stats


Length

28 minutes

Words per minute

159.14

Word count

4,605

Sentence count

355

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Toxicity

30

sentences flagged

Hate speech

32

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) travels to the Gaza Strip to discuss the rocket attacks being fired into Israel by Hamas and why they should be taken as evidence of ongoing Palestinian terrorism. He's joined by Sen. Michael McCarty (D-Massachusetts) and Michael Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, to discuss what exactly is going on in the Middle East and why we should care.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.500 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.540 Violence has broken out in Israel as Hamas is firing rockets into the state of Israel.
00:00:10.160 Israel defending itself.
00:00:12.380 And our host of this show, Senator Cruz, will be headed where the rockets are flying in the coming days.
00:00:19.740 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:00:26.520 Welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:00:28.420 Senator, I'm very glad that we are doing this episode from our very comfy studio here in Washington, D.C.,
00:00:36.020 and that we're not doing it under rocket fire in Israel. 0.97
00:00:39.120 But you, you madman, are headed right into where the violence is. 0.88
00:00:43.840 So, Michael, you're saying you're not going to come with me and do a podcast on location alongside the Gaza Strip in a bomb shelter? 0.97
00:00:53.120 You know, I've gotten sick of Zoom over the last year.
00:00:56.160 This will be an instance I think I'd prefer Zoom.
00:00:58.980 I think Skype a further distance would be great.
00:01:01.600 All right.
00:01:02.760 You can Zoom in from Beirut.
00:01:04.840 Oh, great.
00:01:05.560 Wonderful.
00:01:06.260 The far more peaceful, yes.
00:01:08.080 You are headed there.
00:01:09.540 I am.
00:01:09.880 Into a conflict that I think we can say without exaggeration is the most complex conflict on planet Earth.
00:01:18.800 I think a great many conservatives, even, you know, certainly the leftists, but even a great many conservatives don't really know what exactly is at play here,
00:01:28.680 what exactly the two sides stand for, or why there seems to be perpetual violence.
00:01:33.920 And I, to some degree, would count myself in that category.
00:01:36.740 So, Senator, if you wouldn't mind, please explain it.
00:01:40.040 Well, Israel is surrounded by nations that, for most of the existence of the modern state of Israel, have wanted to drive it into the sea, have wanted to destroy it. 0.95
00:01:50.000 If you look at Israel, the only reason Israel exists today is that it is militarily able to defeat its neighbors. 0.94
00:02:00.580 There's been a whole history of Middle East wars where Arab nations joined together, attacked Israel.
00:02:08.360 Every time they do it, they lose.
00:02:09.980 And, in fact, Israel gains territory.
00:02:13.940 That strength has been critical to Israel's existence.
00:02:16.980 If you look at what's happening with Hamas terrorists, these are terrorists in Israel that do not believe Israel has a right to exist,
00:02:28.400 that they do not want there to be a Jewish state on the face of the Earth. 0.99
00:02:31.940 They want to obliterate it. 0.96
00:02:34.120 And they engage in deliberate, repeated acts of violence.
00:02:39.620 Terrorism, they target individuals, they target civilians, they target women and children.
00:02:43.840 They, whether it is suicide vests and blowing up cafes or discotheques or malls, but they also use rockets. 0.75
00:02:57.760 They use typically low-tech rockets that are fired into Israel over and over and over again, seeking to cause mayhem.
00:03:05.560 And they're doing a couple of things.
00:03:06.900 One, they want to destabilize Israel. 0.86
00:03:10.740 They want to create fear.
00:03:12.220 And I'll tell you, I've been to Israel many times.
00:03:15.920 I've been along the Gaza Strip where the folks there are used to, you know, having a siren go off and having to run to a bomb shelter
00:03:26.980 because in 10, 20, 30 seconds, a rocket could explode and kill you.
00:03:31.320 And it has an effect.
00:03:33.720 I mean, I've talked with Israelis who, you know, it's like PTSD. 1.00
00:03:38.320 I mean, they're dealing with, I mean, it's really frightening when you're playing with your child
00:03:43.280 and suddenly have to run and hide because of fear of being killed.
00:03:46.880 But another reason Hamas does this is they count on the media to be their propagandists. 0.81
00:03:55.300 They know that Israel will have to respond, that if you start, I mean, imagine how people would react in Washington, D.C.
00:04:03.220 if suddenly folks in Maryland began firing rockets into D.C.
00:04:07.480 Like you would respond and you would respond with military force.
00:04:11.860 Inevitably, Israel responds and goes after the terrorists and the press predictably takes the side of the terrorists and paints Israel as the bad guys.
00:04:21.220 Now, I think also for people who are unclear of what Hamas is, it's confusing because they're terrorists in that they target civilians to achieve political ends.
00:04:29.860 It's a very basic definition of terrorism.
00:04:31.360 But they're also sort of the government elected by the Palestinian Arabs, even though Palestine is not a nation, but there were elections in 2005.
00:04:41.200 And the people there who participated elected this terrorist group to represent them.
00:04:47.220 That's right.
00:04:47.920 And not only that, that you have the Palestinian Authority, which is the governmental entity in the portions of Israel that are controlled by the PA that pays terrorists.
00:05:01.620 So if you, Michael, go strap dynamite to your chest and you walk into a mall in Tel Aviv and you blow yourself up and you murder a bunch of other people, you murder a bunch of Israelis, the Palestinian Authority will pay your family a stipend in perpetuity. 0.82
00:05:19.320 They literally are essentially paying bounties. 0.99
00:05:22.140 You know, go blow yourself up and we'll take care of your family for you and we'll celebrate you as a hero and martyr. 0.92
00:05:28.880 And that is profoundly dysfunctional. 0.99
00:05:33.460 It is.
00:05:34.920 But the media and the Democrats play this game of moral relativism.
00:05:38.640 Well, they say, well, both sides are doing wrong.
00:05:41.060 No, you know, years ago, the first time I visited Israel was in 2012.
00:05:49.320 So nine years ago.
00:05:50.780 And first time I traveled there, I went and visited a hospital on the northern border of Israel, right alongside Syria, the Ziv Hospital.
00:06:03.120 At the time, that hospital had provided over eight million dollars in free, uncompensated care to Syrians injured in the horrific civil war playing out there.
00:06:16.320 And I heard stories from Israeli doctors, Israeli nurses, how how you would have a little Syrian child, a boy or girl, go to sleep in their bed and a bomb would go off and blow up their home.
00:06:32.680 And they would wake up and they'd wake up in an Israeli hospital being treated.
00:06:37.260 And these little girls and little boys were terrified, terrified of whatever injuries they had, but even more terrified that it was Israeli doctors that were treating them.
00:06:47.380 Right, right.
00:06:47.860 And, you know, one of the physicians there told me about a woman who was a Syrian woman who who said my whole life.
00:06:56.680 The government I've been told was there to protect me now they're trying to kill me and my whole life, the people I've been told that hate me and want to kill me now you're saving my life.
00:07:08.620 Right, right.
00:07:09.320 And it's so I wrote a number of years back a an op ed that was called A Tale of Two Hospitals.
00:07:17.500 And it said you can tell a lot about a society by how they treat their most vulnerable and a hospital is a good place to start.
00:07:26.640 And I compared the Ziv Hospital where they'd given all of this free care to Syrians wounded in the civil war.
00:07:34.600 And I contrasted it to a hospital in Gaza, which is in the southern part of Israel.
00:07:39.480 It's under the control of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, where Hamas had based their headquarters in the basement of the hospital.
00:07:51.960 And what they were doing, now mind you, this is a Palestinian hospital.
00:07:54.980 In other words, the hospital is filled not with Israelis, but with Palestinians. 0.97
00:07:59.380 And they were using Palestinians as human shields.
00:08:02.700 And so you have mothers giving birth. 0.55
00:08:04.340 They're literally using the mothers and the infants just being born as human shields.
00:08:09.600 And from Hamas's perspective, it's a win-win. 0.99
00:08:12.760 Either, as ended up being the case, Israel will refrain and not attack the headquarters from which they're planning terrorist attacks on Israel.
00:08:22.240 Okay, that's a win.
00:08:23.040 If like Israel is afraid to attack their headquarters, Hamas is happy about that. 0.98
00:08:26.900 Or on the flip side, if Israel does attack the headquarters, there will be a bunch of Palestinian patients, mothers and infants killed.
00:08:37.500 It's great PR.
00:08:38.380 And it's great PR. 0.98
00:08:39.380 They know that CNN, they know that New York Times, they know that the Democrats will say, see, the Israelis are monsters, we told you.
00:08:45.660 So either way, and the practice of human shields is something Hamas does a lot. 0.91
00:08:50.980 So this conflict is not particularly complicated.
00:08:54.460 Obviously, the history is very complicated.
00:08:56.380 But which side we should be on is not that complicated.
00:08:59.140 If you elect Hamas terrorists to represent you and if you celebrate in the streets on 9-11, as happened, I remember watching it play out live 20 years ago, then it doesn't seem like the United States should really support whatever national cause you want to represent. 0.74
00:09:17.040 And Israel has been a good ally, we've been good allies to Israel, that seems perfectly ordinary.
00:09:22.420 Why is it that so many prominent Democrats are against Israel and are supporting the Palestinian Arabs?
00:09:30.520 What is the argument?
00:09:32.680 What am I missing here?
00:09:34.540 Well, the far left hates Israel.
00:09:37.300 And actually, the far left frequently traffics in anti-Semitism, where they despise Israel's right to exist.
00:09:45.360 Look, Israel is a nation that shares America's value.
00:09:49.460 Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East.
00:09:52.500 We provide about $3 billion a year in military assistance to Israel.
00:09:57.540 That produces enormous military advantages and national security advantages to the United States.
00:10:05.520 I am the strongest defender of Israel in the U.S. Senate.
00:10:08.980 And I resolved to be that when I was elected.
00:10:11.740 But I defend our support of Israel not as a welfare case, not like we're helping out this, you know, poor-on-their-luck neighbor. 0.56
00:10:22.000 Right, right.
00:10:22.660 We're not just a national charity, right?
00:10:24.680 I mean, it's good to be charitable, but that's not the primary purpose.
00:10:27.020 It benefits America.
00:10:28.480 So you look at all of the enemies of Israel are enemies of America.
00:10:33.160 You look at the Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader, the so-called supreme leader of Iran.
00:10:39.340 He leads mobs in chanting death to America and death to Israel. 0.83
00:10:46.100 They call Israel the little Satan. 1.00
00:10:49.660 They call America the big Satan, the great Satan. 0.96
00:10:53.540 And when Israel is fighting her enemies, Israel is fighting our enemies. 0.95
00:11:02.400 Not only that, the Mossad, their spy network, is second to none.
00:11:06.640 It is incredibly effective.
00:11:08.880 And so we get massive national security benefits from what they do with our assistance.
00:11:13.980 For example, the Mossad did this raid on Iran that uncovered this cache of documents showing their nuclear program, that they were actively working to develop nuclear weapons, even when they said they were not, that they were lying.
00:11:30.120 It proved that they were lying.
00:11:32.420 And by the way, they gave those documents to America.
00:11:34.680 So they went on a commando raid, seized these documents.
00:11:38.000 I mean, it's like something out of Jason Bourne.
00:11:39.840 All of that is very much benefits us.
00:11:45.640 Well, you're certainly right here in particular when you're talking about these prominent Democrats who hate Israel and don't think it should exist.
00:11:53.280 I mean, there are elected Democrats who have repeated the slogan from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, which is to say Israel will cease to exist as a nation state.
00:12:06.020 And that state will be turned over to the Palestinian Arabs. 0.99
00:12:08.360 So it's hard to be more antipathetic than that.
00:12:12.380 Well, and listen, the barrier to Middle East peace has never been Israel.
00:12:18.700 Nobody wants peace more than Israel. 0.95
00:12:20.500 Look, it's Israeli babies that are being murdered. 0.83
00:12:23.000 It's the citizens that live in the fear of terror.
00:12:25.640 Remember, the barrier to peace is the Palestinians who, number one, refuse to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. 1.00
00:12:34.720 They refuse.
00:12:35.600 Their objective is to abolish the entire nation of Israel. 0.99
00:12:39.240 Yeah. 0.57
00:12:39.840 And secondly, they refuse to renounce terrorism.
00:12:42.580 In fact, they continue to pay people to commit acts of terrorism and murder innocent civilians.
00:12:48.360 Until those two things change, you can't have meaningful peace.
00:12:54.280 I will say, though, that all of us have been benefited from an incredible object lesson the last year of what works in the Middle East and what doesn't. 0.92
00:13:05.120 So for years and years and years, Democrats have said there can be no peace, you can have no Arab-Israeli peace until the Palestinian situation is resolved.
00:13:15.460 John Kerry said this as Secretary of State in 2016.
00:13:18.120 Yes.
00:13:18.360 He said it's impossible to solve until we solve the Palestinian situation. 0.93
00:13:22.180 Well, it turns out that's totally wrong.
00:13:23.740 Yeah.
00:13:23.860 That's now been objectively disproven.
00:13:26.700 Think about it.
00:13:27.400 Last year, we were seeing this flowering of peace across the Middle East.
00:13:32.900 Yeah.
00:13:33.540 Historic.
00:13:34.160 The first peace agreements in decades, the Abraham Accords. 0.54
00:13:38.120 As you know, I was there at the White House when the Abraham Accords were signed.
00:13:43.160 And why were they signed?
00:13:45.840 I think it's important to understand because there's a reason we had peace last year and there's a reason we have war this year.
00:13:50.960 And it's based on the policies of America last year and the policies of America this year.
00:13:57.200 Why did we have peace last year?
00:13:59.000 I think the single biggest thing that changed was clarity about where America stands.
00:14:05.520 So you and I have talked before about the two biggest foreign policy decisions that Trump made.
00:14:12.920 The first was the decision to move the United States embassy to Jerusalem.
00:14:17.680 Yeah.
00:14:17.740 You know, Israel was the only country on earth where we didn't have our embassy in its capital city.
00:14:21.640 And it had been U.S. policy for decades to move the embassy to Jerusalem.
00:14:26.580 We just never did.
00:14:27.480 Every president said they would do it, and we just never did.
00:14:29.340 Both Democrats and Republican presidents had promised to move the embassy, and then they didn't.
00:14:34.160 And the reason why—so there was a big fight in the Trump administration about, do we move the embassy?
00:14:38.000 Both the Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and the Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, both of them vigorously argued against moving the embassy.
00:14:48.340 They said if we move the embassy, the enemies of Israel will be enraged.
00:14:52.240 They will attack.
00:14:52.960 It will cause violence.
00:14:54.140 There will be violence in the streets, they said.
00:14:56.240 And I made the case vigorously to President Trump, we should move the embassy, that it would make absolutely clear to both our friends and enemies that we stand unequivocally with Israel.
00:15:09.500 And I think there's power in clarity.
00:15:13.500 Trump agreed with me, moved the embassy, and I was there the day the embassy opened up, just over three years ago.
00:15:24.460 That very same week, and I don't think it's coincidental, the Trump administration announced we were pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.
00:15:35.180 That's the most important foreign policy decision Trump made.
00:15:39.440 Same dynamics, both state and defense opposed pulling out of the deal.
00:15:43.500 I made the case repeatedly to the president in the Oval Office.
00:15:46.920 We needed to pull out of the deal.
00:15:48.080 And again, he agreed with me, and he overruled his own State Department, his own Defense Department.
00:15:53.200 Those two decisions are what produced the Abraham Accords, and I'll tell you why. 0.95
00:15:58.740 So when the Abraham Accords were being signed, I spoke with the foreign ministers and the ambassadors of both the UAE and Bahrain.
00:16:08.780 Both of them said the same thing.
00:16:10.400 They said, it is now clear to us that America stands unequivocally with Israel.
00:16:20.020 We want to be friends with America, so we'll be friends with Israel.
00:16:23.600 It was that clarity, and notice there was no resolution to the Palestinian situation.
00:16:29.060 It was simply they were making a decision. 0.80
00:16:31.500 Being friends with America is a big damn deal, and so we'll suck it up and make peace with Israel. 0.97
00:16:39.840 Now, fast forward to Biden. 0.94
00:16:41.240 What does Biden do?
00:16:42.040 Biden, from day one, begins undermining Israel, begins undermining Netanyahu.
00:16:50.080 By the way, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Joe Biden and the Democrats hate him.
00:16:53.920 Yeah, oh yeah.
00:16:54.500 They hate him.
00:16:55.740 They loathe him.
00:16:56.500 Didn't Obama try to oust him?
00:16:58.000 Yes, the Obama—they sent their political operatives to Israel to help run the campaign of his opponents.
00:17:05.700 I mean, they despise him because he's strong and unequivocal, and to be honest, Netanyahu is more pro-America than the Democrats are.
00:17:16.240 They despise Netanyahu.
00:17:18.180 They began sending—Biden has sent over $100 million to the Palestinian Authority.
00:17:24.620 So why did the money stop?
00:17:26.900 The money stopped.
00:17:27.760 We had been giving aid to the Palestinian Authority, and we actually passed a law in Congress called the Taylor Force Act.
00:17:33.080 The Taylor Force Act is named after Taylor Force, who was a Texan.
00:17:36.940 He was a veteran, and he was in Israel and was killed by a terrorist in Israel.
00:17:41.120 Yeah.
00:17:42.460 And the Taylor Force Act said, we're not going to send U.S. taxpayer money to any governmental entity that pays terrorists.
00:17:51.060 That kills our people, yeah, yeah.
00:17:52.020 But, like, if you're cutting checks—and by the way, it's a major budgetary line item for the PA, funding the families of the martyrs, funding the families of the terrorists who committed acts of murder.
00:18:03.780 Because of that, the Trump administration, following the Taylor Force Act, cut off the cash, said, you don't get any more money.
00:18:10.040 What had Biden said?
00:18:10.820 Oh, we're giving you the money.
00:18:11.800 Over $100 million. 0.98
00:18:12.780 And by the way, these are the same clowns that are now firing rockets in to Israel. 0.98
00:18:19.000 Right. 0.98
00:18:19.180 Hamas is also funded by Iran.
00:18:23.920 Biden's number one foreign policy objective is to reinstate the Iran nuclear deal.
00:18:28.720 And, you know, the funny thing is, when you undermine our ally and when you praise the terrorists and you say you give them money and you say you're going to give them more money, suddenly they start engaging in more acts of terrorism and firing rockets.
00:18:42.460 And they know that the press and the Democrats will side with the terrorists.
00:18:46.420 And we're saying that, especially from the squad.
00:18:48.200 Yeah.
00:18:48.900 So I think this is actually such an important point, both when you think of Iran, you know, enemy state actors, and when you think of politicians, our opponents here in the United States, you can judge a man by his enemies.
00:19:04.560 And so when I'm trying to think of this issue, which is so complex, and I look and I see the squad, AOC, Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama, all these radical politicians that I think are wrong about everything.
00:19:21.900 When I see that they uniformly are against Israel, and then I look at the people who are supporting Israel and in the United States, but state actors as well, to me, I think, okay, if I don't know anything else about this conflict, it is likely that I am going to come out on the side of Israel here. 0.86
00:19:40.260 Just look at where the people are lining up.
00:19:42.360 I think you're right, and it's worth noting that the politics on this has changed a lot.
00:19:48.480 So for a long time in Washington, there's been a bipartisan consensus in support of Israel.
00:19:55.280 AIPAC is a political action committee that works to encourage American-Israeli cooperation and support.
00:20:04.500 It's assiduously bipartisan.
00:20:06.320 And I actually agree with the principle that we should have as much bipartisan cooperation when it comes to standing with Israel as possible.
00:20:14.120 Israel wants to continue to exist, whether it's Democrats in office or whether it's Republicans in office. 0.56
00:20:21.920 That changed very significantly during the Iran deal.
00:20:25.580 So the second term of Obama, they're negotiating the Iran deal.
00:20:29.620 Netanyahu said, and I agree with him, that the Iran deal was an existential threat to Israel, literally going to the very existence of Israel, that a nuclear Iran, the odds are unacceptably high that the Ayatollah would use nuclear weapons on Israel. 0.96
00:20:45.560 That's how much they despise the Jews.
00:20:49.560 You know, the head of Iran's nuclear program, who, by the way, has since met his maker and many say at the hands of the Mossad.
00:21:02.300 That has not been confirmed, but it is.
00:21:03.900 I can't imagine.
00:21:04.900 No, it's hard to believe.
00:21:06.420 He had written into his last will and testament that he wanted written on his tombstone the following.
00:21:13.600 Here lies a man who sought the annihilation of Israel.
00:21:19.560 Now, think for a second just how much hatred you have to have to want. 0.92
00:21:28.200 That's all you want to be remembered for is I sought to annihilate them. 0.99
00:21:33.460 That's what a lot of people don't get is these people want to kill every Jew in Israel. 0.99
00:21:43.420 And when you're dealing with bullies, when you're dealing with tyrants, weakness doesn't work. 0.95
00:21:49.560 Yeah.
00:21:50.880 But this actually, this very point raises an objection that the leftist media and politicians bring up, which is, look, sure, Hamas is firing at the civilians, and that's bad.
00:22:02.060 Yeah, they probably shouldn't do that.
00:22:02.980 But they're firing these dinky little rockets, and the response from Israel has been disproportionate because they have better funding and they've got better weapons. 0.77
00:22:12.520 And so it's unjust for Israel to respond in a stronger way than the way in which they've been attacked.
00:22:17.740 Well, Israel has a responsibility to protect itself and to stop Hamas. 0.93
00:22:22.820 And if you fire rockets, try to murder Israeli citizens, you're going to get a serious military response.
00:22:28.720 That's why Israel exists. 0.97
00:22:30.060 Also, if you're in a fight with a bully, I don't know, it's been a while since I've been in grade school, but I was not told if a bully punches you, punch him exactly as hard as he punched you.
00:22:40.920 I was told if a bully comes out and threatens you and punches you, you punch him twice as hard.
00:22:46.300 I didn't think anyone punched anyone at Yale.
00:22:49.360 It's really more of a slap.
00:22:50.720 It's actually a bit of a slap and a tickle.
00:22:52.180 Yeah, or just, you know, sit down and try to understand each other.
00:22:58.280 So, look, that's absolutely right.
00:23:02.020 Let's take this past week what has driven the press crazy, which is that Israel bombed a building that happened to be the headquarters of the Associated Press.
00:23:13.520 Now, it also happened to be the headquarters of a major operation for Hamas in the building.
00:23:18.620 An intelligence operation.
00:23:19.520 And, you know, Netanyahu has said publicly that he had compelling intelligence that showed that there was a Hamas operation headquartered in that building.
00:23:29.520 And it's been reported that he shared it with the U.S. government, with the Biden administration.
00:23:34.740 I haven't seen any classified information on that, so I just know what's been reported.
00:23:38.240 Yeah.
00:23:38.300 But a couple of points on this.
00:23:42.320 Number one, that's consistent with Hamas' pattern of using human shields, of locating in the AP headquarters.
00:23:51.080 Number two, I'll wager $20, AP knew that.
00:23:54.240 Of course.
00:23:55.020 That they knew exactly, because you know what?
00:23:57.940 Those Hamas guys were their sources.
00:23:59.740 Yeah.
00:23:59.900 I mean, they are propagandists for the terrorists.
00:24:03.720 It does raise a question.
00:24:05.560 Why did the AP have an office in Gaza?
00:24:08.580 And there have been incidents in the past, by the way, that shows a bit of a deeper relationship here between these journalists and these terrorists.
00:24:15.860 Well, and one of the things, actually, that the Israelis do, so they try to do everything they can to minimize civilian casualties.
00:24:22.940 They go so far.
00:24:25.360 So, for example, they notified the AP, get out of the building.
00:24:28.560 Yeah.
00:24:29.340 So that the reporters were not there when they leveled the building.
00:24:32.480 The AP knew.
00:24:33.800 Yeah.
00:24:34.260 They knew exactly.
00:24:35.680 You know, some years back, there was a story about Gaza.
00:24:40.760 In Gaza, Hamas was storing their missiles in a kindergarten.
00:24:46.160 Yeah.
00:24:46.380 So they're literally, and they're using, by the way, Palestinian kindergartners are the human shields. 0.87
00:24:50.400 Um, I passed legislation that, that imposes sanctions on any organization that uses human shields.
00:24:57.460 I also passed a bipartisan resolution condemning the use of human shields as a war crime.
00:25:02.860 So this has been an issue that I've been the leading voice in the Senate for a long time against using human shields.
00:25:10.320 But I got to tell you, when, when they put the missiles in the kindergarten, Hillary Clinton was asked about it.
00:25:16.400 And, and her defense, she said, well, you've got to understand, Gaza is very small. 0.98
00:25:24.220 So there's no other place to put the missile, which is such utter garbage. 0.98
00:25:31.640 Even by Hillary Clinton standards, that is a weak excuse. 0.99
00:25:34.620 It is a very weak excuse.
00:25:36.880 But you've got the Democrats are apologists.
00:25:39.680 They're cheering for the terrorists.
00:25:40.980 And the point I was starting to make before, you used to have a bipartisan agreement on Israel.
00:25:45.780 When that broke was the Iran deal.
00:25:48.720 Because what happened is the Obama White House told Democrats, pick, you either pick us or Israel.
00:25:56.680 Yeah.
00:25:57.640 Um, and Democrats picked partisan politics.
00:26:02.980 Uh, if you remember Bob Menendez, Democrat from New Jersey, became the first Senate Democrat to speak out against the Iran deal.
00:26:10.340 The day he came out against the Iran deal, the Obama Justice Department leaked that they were indicting Bob Menendez.
00:26:19.200 That's wow.
00:26:20.280 The timing, actually, I remember they indicted him on the.
00:26:22.940 It is the exact day they leaked it.
00:26:25.160 And that was a bare knuckle punch.
00:26:27.400 It was meant to tell every Democrat.
00:26:30.900 You get on board or we will come after you.
00:26:33.400 That's how they, that's how rough they play.
00:26:35.580 Yeah.
00:26:35.760 Um, and I got to tell you, I had ambassadors from major European allies in my office during the Iran deal saying, help us. 0.98
00:26:43.920 Look, the Obama White House is twisting our arms, forcing us into this dumbass deal. 0.98
00:26:49.420 Yeah. 0.99
00:26:50.540 Um, and, and we need help.
00:26:52.260 By the way, these European allies are now big supporters of the deals because they want to make money in Iran.
00:26:57.460 But at the time they, they realized how crazy it was.
00:27:01.060 Um, and AIPAC, look, I've done a lot of work with AIPAC.
00:27:06.660 I got to say AIPAC found its credibility very badly damaged because it said its number one objective as we've got to stop this deal.
00:27:17.840 Virtually every Democrat said, go jump in a lake.
00:27:20.040 By the way, Schumer kind of played to oppose it, but he did nothing to oppose it.
00:27:23.500 Right.
00:27:24.420 Um, and then not a single one of those Democrats lost in the subsequent election for doing that.
00:27:30.620 And, and AIPAC ended up being substantially weakened because the Democrats learned that they could tell him, go jump in a lake on their central issue.
00:27:41.780 And not only would there be no consequences, AIPAC would turn around and raise money for them.
00:27:45.380 Well, you know, this, this actually gets to the point we were talking about earlier, which is that clarity has a lot of power to it.
00:27:51.340 And, and especially on this issue, as the, as the battle lines, political battle lines have really become clear here, people need to pick a side.
00:27:59.020 You know, if you stand in the middle of the road, you're going to get hit by a truck.
00:28:02.220 Senator, uh, we're now running out of time.
00:28:04.300 I hope that you are not hit by a truck.
00:28:06.120 Uh, I trust that you will be very safe.
00:28:08.600 I wish you a very good trip into Israel.
00:28:10.420 And I look forward to seeing you back here in America, not over there, but back here in America to discuss it very soon.
00:28:16.900 Next year in Jerusalem.
00:28:17.800 Next year in Jerusalem.
00:28:19.320 I'm Michael Knowles.
00:28:20.360 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:28:30.520 This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is being brought to you by Jobs, Freedom and Security Partners.
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