Episode Transcript
Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.
Use Ctrl + F to search
0:03
From the opinion pages of The Wall
0:05
Street Journal, this is Potomac. Watch.
0:09
Relations between Israel and the
0:11
By Demonstration continue to deteriorate
0:13
After his real killed seven
0:15
relief workers for World Central
0:17
Kitchen in Gaza. Israel is
0:19
taken responsibility for the bombing,
0:21
which it said was based
0:23
on faulty intelligence, but reaction
0:25
in the Us in the
0:27
rest of the world has
0:29
been increasing hostility to a
0:31
Jewish state. What happens now
0:33
in U S is relations.
0:35
What does all of this
0:37
mean for the Gaza. War
0:39
welcome, I'm Polish. You go with
0:41
the Wall Street Journal opinion pages
0:44
and I'm here with my colleagues
0:46
Kim Stressful and Bill Mcgurn. So
0:48
Israel has apologized for the bombing
0:51
and that says it's conducting an
0:53
investigation. But let's listen to Jose
0:55
address the celebrity chef who runs
0:57
World Central Kitchen and was workers
1:00
were killed saying the strike was
1:02
deliberate followed by you a spokesman
1:04
for the State Department, Matthew Miller
1:07
on Israel's accountability. We were. Targeted
1:09
deliberately not stop until everybody was
1:11
that in these com boy these
1:13
happen over more than one point
1:15
five one point eight kid on
1:17
it so these was not use
1:19
our bad lag and situation where
1:21
hopes will drop the bomb in
1:23
the wrong place or not these
1:25
was over One point five one
1:27
point eight kilometers with a berry
1:29
defy humanitarian convoy that had signs
1:31
in the top in the rules
1:33
that cannot be that rob an
1:35
army the has hundreds of drones
1:37
above gotta the. Chief of Staff for
1:40
the Israeli Defense Forces has come out said
1:42
it's and beside it was a misidentification so
1:44
by took that to me. Meanwhile they were
1:46
targeting those cars are not believe that it
1:48
was World Central Kitchen that was operating those
1:50
vehicles at the time. But
1:52
that said, we need to wait and see
1:54
the outcome of this investigation. Does to know
1:56
with any confidence what it was that happened
1:58
in. We're going away. to do that. But
2:01
it doesn't really matter how they made
2:03
the mistake. At the end of the
2:05
day, you have seven dead aid workers
2:07
who are there trying to deliver humanitarian
2:09
assistance. So whatever the mistake that happened
2:11
inside the IDF, it's unacceptable. And they
2:14
need to do better. And they need
2:16
to put measures in place to ensure
2:18
that it doesn't happen again. Harsh criticism
2:20
from Jose Andres, the world central kitchen
2:23
head, and no
2:25
doubt painful, terrible episode seven
2:27
innocent aid workers killed. It's
2:29
truly awful. And
2:31
it's understandable as anger. But as you
2:34
heard from the State Department spokesman, there
2:36
doesn't seem to be any evidence that
2:38
this was deliberately an attempt to kill
2:40
the aid workers. The US seems to
2:42
be agreeing, or at least believing the
2:44
Israel point that it was a case
2:48
of mistaken identity. Kim,
2:50
if nothing else, what we know is
2:52
certainly isn't in Israel's interest to have
2:54
done this, because the condemnation
2:56
is made life more difficult for its
2:59
campaign in Gaza. Yeah,
3:01
I mean, there's a lot we still
3:03
don't know about here. Netanyahu came out
3:05
and apologized. They said that they
3:07
will investigate it, check it, there's going to
3:10
be a full review. I do think that
3:12
this is very important because it is what
3:14
distinguishes a democracy, the speed
3:16
at which Israel came out and
3:18
admitted fault for this horrible tragedy,
3:21
and said that there would be a review
3:23
and that it would be made transparent and
3:25
that people would know what would happen. This
3:27
is, I would say, in contrast, for instance,
3:29
to that hospital bombing
3:32
very early in the conflict in
3:34
which Hamas didn't take responsibility and
3:36
attempted to pin it on Israel. Very
3:39
tragic, though. And it just comes at
3:41
a terrible moment, because obviously it's a
3:43
moment in which Joe
3:45
Biden, unfortunately, is caving to
3:48
pressure on his left already.
3:51
He's worried about the upcoming election.
3:53
He'd been distancing himself somewhat from
3:55
Israel's war effort. He now came
3:57
out with his own statement. which
4:00
was also incredibly harsh. He said
4:02
he was outraged and heartbroken over
4:04
this. He said, Israel has not
4:06
done enough to protect aid workers.
4:09
Incidents like yesterday's simply should not
4:12
happen. Israel has not done enough
4:14
to protect civilians. And
4:16
this gets into growing questions
4:18
over Israel's thought of going
4:20
into Rafah. There's a big
4:23
push in Washington to try to dissuade
4:25
them from doing it. But between Biden
4:27
and a lot of heaping of scorn
4:29
by other world leaders, this
4:31
is certainly a new problem
4:34
Israel has to confront as this
4:36
conflict continues to drag on. There's
4:38
no downplaying the tragedy
4:41
here and the mistake. And
4:44
yet, I recall the episode
4:47
in August 2021
4:50
when the US on its way
4:52
out of Afghanistan mistakenly fired a
4:54
hellfire missile in Kabul, which
4:57
was aimed supposedly at ISIS
4:59
Khorasan planners who had killed
5:01
the Americans as we
5:03
attempted to leave. But
5:05
instead, mistakenly hit
5:08
a family and killed 10 civilians,
5:10
including as many as seven children.
5:12
That was a mistake. As
5:14
the Pentagon acknowledged at the time, we
5:16
now assess it is unlikely that the
5:18
vehicle and those who died were associated
5:20
with ISIS-K or were a
5:23
direct threat to US forces. None
5:26
of that is to deny the tragedy
5:28
of the event in Gaza,
5:30
but it does point out that in
5:32
wartime, these kinds of mistakes happen. Yes,
5:35
it does. That was a
5:37
good example, because remember, Paul,
5:39
initially the US Pentagon said
5:42
it was a righteous strike. It took a
5:44
little while for the real story
5:46
to come out. And I
5:48
don't recall outrage on
5:51
the president's part. I don't recall anyone
5:53
paying a price for this. And
5:55
I can understand mistakes to happen like
5:57
this. That's why we're so brutal. rule
6:00
because innocent people get killed.
6:03
But I think that's why you
6:05
have to be careful about not
6:07
self-righteously denouncing someone
6:09
for a difficult decision because it
6:12
didn't turn out well. You try
6:14
to minimize the threat and so
6:16
forth. I mean, I think Joe
6:18
Biden's outrage would be easier to
6:20
take if he were
6:22
clear in articulating goals, like he said,
6:24
Israel should be able to defend itself.
6:26
Kind of the same line he's taken
6:29
with Ukraine. He doesn't say
6:31
Hamas needs to be destroyed or
6:33
it has to win. And
6:35
I think it erodes Israel's
6:38
moral credibility when it's
6:40
constantly being sapped. Now
6:42
on the flip side,
6:44
the Biden administration is taking flack
6:47
from the pro-Palsidian crowd for continuing
6:49
to send weapons over there. But
6:52
I think when you don't lend
6:54
moral support to an ally, that
6:56
kind of aid becomes jeopardized itself.
6:59
And I would like to see the
7:01
president more forthright in what he wants
7:04
the outcome to be. Does he want
7:06
Hamas to be left there with a
7:08
nucleus? Does he want Hamas to
7:10
be destroyed? I'd like to see him be
7:13
more clear about what we're aiming for
7:15
with one of her allies. All
7:17
right. We're going to take a break.
7:19
And when we come back, we'll have
7:21
more on the tragic bombing this week
7:23
in Gaza and its implications for Israel
7:26
and the U.S.-Israel relations when we come
7:28
back. Max Levchin was
7:30
one of the original co-founders of PayPal.
7:32
And now he's leading one of the
7:34
biggest players in the buy now pay
7:36
later business. As CEO of a
7:38
firm, he's going head to head with the credit
7:40
card company. Credit, generally
7:42
speaking, is good. America runs on credit.
7:44
I think we let ourselves illustrate when
7:47
we decided that credit cards is
7:49
the optimal way of borrowing money. Here
7:51
an in-depth version of our conversation
7:54
with Max Levchin for WSJ's take
7:56
on the week. Plus other exclusive
7:58
content on WSJ's special. access
8:01
only for WSJ subscribers on Spotify
8:03
and Apple Podcast. Welcome
8:10
back. I'm Paul Gigo with Bill
8:13
McGurn and Kim Strassle here
8:15
on our daily Potomac Watch
8:17
podcast for Wall Street
8:19
Journal opinion. Let's build on
8:21
the point that Bill made, Kim,
8:23
in the last section where he
8:26
mentioned the pressure building on
8:29
President Biden through this episode on
8:31
the left. Of course, you have
8:33
Jose Andres, the leader of World
8:35
Central Kitchen, appearing everywhere, talking about
8:37
his claim that Israel did
8:39
this deliberately. You have the
8:42
Democratic left becoming increasingly impatient. Ben
8:44
Rhodes, who was one of the
8:46
architects of Barack Obama
8:49
policy in the Middle East,
8:51
which does not make him a moral
8:53
authority or strategic authority
8:55
in any sense, but he says
8:57
he was highly critical of Biden saying, as
9:00
long as there's no consequences against
9:02
Israel for what it's done,
9:04
then his rhetoric criticizing Israel
9:06
means nothing. You have
9:09
Jill Biden letting it be known, or somebody
9:11
letting it be known, that Jill Biden had
9:13
told Joe, Joe, you got to bring the
9:15
war to an end. Well,
9:17
thanks for that. Yeah, make it stop. Well,
9:19
thanks for that. We all want
9:21
it to stop. The question is how you
9:23
do it. And then Chris Van Hollen, the
9:26
Maryland Center, who's been one of the leading
9:28
anti-Israel voices in the US Senate, saying, I
9:30
hope this will be the moment where the
9:32
president changes course, quote, unquote, he
9:35
wants the administration to impose restrictions
9:37
on weapon deliveries
9:39
to Israel from the
9:41
US. I guess
9:43
my question politically, Kim, is this
9:45
pressure going to make any difference
9:47
in terms of the ultimate US policy
9:49
of support for Israel? In other words,
9:52
could Biden turn? That is the
9:54
fear. And by the way, I would
9:56
disagree with Mr. Rhodes, that rhetoric alone
9:58
is not damaging as we've been. we're just discussing,
10:00
I think that Joe Biden's
10:02
comments distancing himself from Netanyahu and
10:05
the very harsh criticism that he
10:07
has ladled out of late is
10:09
in fact very difficult because
10:11
as one of its strongest allies, it's
10:14
a signal to other world leaders to
10:16
back off as well too. And it
10:18
makes Israel increasingly isolated. So the rhetoric
10:20
is itself a problem. The
10:22
fear is that it grows into actual
10:25
policy changes. And you
10:28
mentioned Ben Holland, Chris Coons,
10:30
who's actually been one of
10:32
the bigger backers of Israel
10:34
in Congress. He's a Senator.
10:37
He came out today and said
10:39
that if Netanyahu were
10:41
to order the Israeli defense forces
10:43
into Rafah at scale and make
10:45
no provisions for civilians or humanitarian
10:48
aid, that he would vote
10:50
to condition future aid to Israel. You've
10:53
got also news reports, which
10:55
I find very concerning. This
10:57
has all been a discussion about the
10:59
next vote on the next branch of
11:01
Israel aid, but obviously there are arms
11:03
deals that are also in
11:06
the works. One of them involves
11:08
an $18 billion deal to transfer
11:10
among other things, F-15 fighters and
11:12
munitions. Apparently the president
11:14
sent informal notification of this deal
11:17
to Congress. And he so
11:19
far has not gotten sign off from
11:21
the two Democrats. So word is, is
11:24
that when this happens under the Arms and
11:26
Export Control Act, the president has to notify
11:28
Congress. And then the top
11:30
players on the Senate foreign relations and
11:32
House Foreign Affairs Committee have to say,
11:35
yes, the Republicans have supposedly said yes,
11:37
but Ben Cardin in the
11:39
Senate and Gregory Meeks in the House apparently
11:41
have not given their approval. So
11:44
we are already potentially moving to
11:46
a situation where Israel could be
11:49
struggling to get even
11:51
prior agreed equipment over to
11:53
them because of the politics here in the U.S.
11:56
That's of course, Bill, the pressure from
11:58
the. Democratic left,
12:00
for the most part, the people we've been
12:03
citing are, by and large, on the left
12:05
of the party. And yet,
12:07
when you look at the polling
12:09
that I've seen, the US public
12:11
support for Israel against Hamas seems
12:14
to be holding quite well at about two-thirds
12:17
of the public. The Wall Street
12:19
Journal poll in Michigan this week shows that
12:22
even in Michigan, which is, of
12:24
course, a locus of so-called Dearborn
12:26
Democrats, who are often,
12:29
nor many of them, are Arab Americans,
12:32
but also young people who disagree
12:34
with the US policy. But overall
12:36
in the state, the pro-Israel view
12:38
still prevails by
12:41
a substantial margin. So
12:43
my point is that the president would
12:45
pay a price politically if he
12:48
indeed were to start conditioning military
12:50
aid to Israel on certain
12:52
kinds of behavior, or if he were to
12:54
attempt to block Israel from
12:57
finishing the job against Hamas.
13:00
Yeah, I think it's part of
13:02
his tendency to kind of
13:04
take position, then mitigate it.
13:06
Like with Ukraine, he gives
13:08
him enough to keep footing, but I don't
13:11
think he's on the record said
13:13
Ukraine must win. He's been
13:15
saying that we must not allow Russia
13:17
to win, but he doesn't say we
13:19
need Ukraine to win. And the same
13:21
thing here. I think he's listening to
13:23
the wrong people. Paul, I look at
13:25
the polls the same way. The
13:27
majority Americans can distinguish between the
13:30
state of Israel and a group
13:32
that launches attacks, slaughtering
13:35
grandmothers and teenage girls
13:37
and babies, and they
13:39
know what side they're on. I think
13:41
it would be a stronger play. And
13:43
I think Biden had it originally, you
13:45
know, went over to Israel and visited
13:47
during wartime. If he had
13:50
stuck with that and tried to marginalize the
13:52
protesters. But now I think he's going to
13:54
get the worst of both worlds because
13:56
the people like us who
13:59
want to see a strong and
14:01
unequivocal defense of Israel and want
14:03
to see them win and absolutely
14:06
destroy Hamas and get hostages back,
14:08
including the four Americans they hold.
14:11
He's criticized from the right by them, but
14:14
the left is kind of onto his
14:16
game. They're not going to be appeased by
14:19
rhetoric. They're only going to be appeased
14:21
if Joe Biden really takes kind
14:23
of the view you have to cut off
14:25
aid and so forth, which I'm not sure
14:27
he'll do according to what they want. So
14:29
he's in a position where both sides
14:31
can kind of feel enraged. And of
14:34
course, the left is still going to
14:36
march on the convention. There's going to
14:38
be a lot of problems. That's the
14:40
passionate cause of the moment for the
14:42
left. And I don't think
14:44
it's going to obey. Well, we've been
14:47
talking about the domestic and political implications
14:49
of all of this. Of course, there
14:51
are global political implications, strategic, especially in
14:53
the Middle East, which is still in
14:56
a perilous position. We had the apparent
14:59
Israeli strike this week came against Iranian
15:02
Revolutionary Guard Corps building
15:05
and generals in Syria, targeted
15:08
strike that killed top generals.
15:11
Iran has vowed to retaliate.
15:13
We have on Friday the
15:16
annual Iranian Al-Quds day,
15:18
which might be a day they
15:20
launch reprisals at Israel, either
15:23
directly or through their proxies. We've
15:25
got a very tense position on the
15:28
northern border of Israel with Lebanon and
15:30
Hezbollah, the restive population
15:32
in the West Bank, Palestinians. And then
15:35
of course, the Gaza War is far
15:38
from over. So abandoning Israel
15:40
or seeming to abandon Israel, seeming
15:42
to stop it from finishing its job would have
15:45
real implications for what message we were
15:47
sending the world about how steadfast the
15:49
US is on behalf of a beleaguered
15:51
ally. Yes, and potential
15:53
implications for us. I would note
15:55
that the Iranian leadership
15:58
made clear that while While
16:00
they believe that Israel is behind
16:02
this, that they view America as
16:04
taking responsibility as well too. They
16:06
said America will have to pay
16:08
a price for this. We've
16:11
already had our troops under assault
16:13
and bases that we have in
16:15
Syria and Iraq from proxies funded
16:17
by Iran with drone strikes and
16:19
others. Three US troops killed back
16:21
on a base in Jordan in
16:23
a strike. I think
16:25
we can expect as well that those attacks
16:28
are going to ramp up and
16:30
maybe the area becoming more dangerous for
16:32
those that we have now trying to
16:34
keep things calm. I
16:37
think not just implications for what
16:39
has been a conflict that's largely
16:42
been centered in Gaza spilling out
16:44
over the borders, but further bringing
16:47
the United States in. This is what
16:49
happens when you don't show strong deterrence
16:51
and you don't stand by your allies. You
16:53
just make yourself more of a target. All
16:57
right, we'll take another break. When we come back,
16:59
we'll talk about Donald Trump and Israel. What would
17:01
he do differently if anything, when we come back?
17:05
WSJ special access gives you a
17:07
front row seat to some of
17:09
the Wall Street Journal's most exciting
17:11
content like the Quirkier Side of
17:13
Life, a new series that features
17:15
the fun, surprising stories our reporters
17:17
come across. The chief executive
17:20
walks 10,000 barefoot steps every day. He
17:22
recalls stepping on a bee, which put
17:24
him off earthing for a couple of
17:26
days, but he got back to
17:28
it. Check out the Quirkier Side
17:31
of Life on WSJ special access,
17:33
only for WSJ subscribers. Don't
17:37
forget you can reach the latest
17:39
episode of Potomac Watch anytime. Just
17:41
ask your smart speaker, Play
17:43
the Opinion Potomac Watch Podcast.
17:46
That is Play the Opinion
17:48
Potomac Watch Podcast. From
17:53
the opinion pages of the Wall Street
17:55
Journal, this is Potomac Watch. Welcome
17:59
back. Go with C F.
18:01
Potomac Watch podcast Wall Street Journal
18:03
opinion pages with Kim's Russell Pan
18:06
of Bill Mcgurn and let's a
18:08
pivot to what's leading political challenger
18:10
to president by Donald Trump. Has
18:13
been saying about the war in
18:15
Gaza and events and that he
18:17
made a call to Hugh Hewitt
18:19
so Radio show on Thursday morning
18:21
and I was asked of course
18:23
about events in Israel and the
18:26
what he said was he thinks
18:28
is just taking too long for
18:30
the Israeli government to finish the
18:32
job. He said that he wants
18:34
his real. To. Go
18:36
ahead because I'm not sure that I'm
18:39
loving the way they're doing it because
18:41
you have to have a victory and
18:43
it's taking a long time. And the
18:45
other thing I hate they put out
18:47
keeps all the time. every night the
18:50
releasing tapes of a building falling down.
18:52
They shouldn't be releasing tapes like that.
18:54
That's why they're losing the P R
18:56
war. Israel was absolutely losing a P
18:58
R War. And quote Kim, it's not
19:01
really grasp the nettle there. except I
19:03
guess he's not saying they shouldn't go
19:05
and or. Offer not committing any details.
19:07
he's a saying. They. Gotta move
19:09
fast. It's classic Donald
19:12
Trump. This is taking too long. The
19:14
Vault. I mean
19:16
one thing he also said of that
19:18
night I do think it was a
19:20
very key phrase. He said they need
19:22
to finish what they start in which
19:25
to me signals and Donald Trump is
19:27
sticking with Israel and saying that he
19:29
has their back in terms of their
19:31
objective. That yes, his complaint. As is
19:33
often Donald Trump when it comes to
19:36
international complex, he doesn't like anything that's
19:38
drawn out. He does I will. given.
19:40
as he doesn't understand that americans
19:42
also prefer to see complex and
19:44
quickly this is always been one
19:46
of the struggles when you in
19:48
the united states and anywhere is
19:50
engaged in a foreign com like
19:52
did keeping political will onside but
19:54
that's what we look to leaders
19:56
to do to explain the consequences
19:58
of early abandonment not
20:00
really Donald Trump's strong suit. I
20:03
think this distinguishes somewhat from Joe
20:05
Biden. He isn't being outwardly critical
20:08
other than a timeline perspective and
20:10
his professed worry that if this
20:12
drags on, it will be more
20:15
difficult for Israel to sustain it. And
20:17
there is a reality to that. You
20:19
know, I think it's interesting to me,
20:22
Bill, that he hasn't criticized Biden on
20:24
Israel. You know, he's kind
20:26
of stayed away from saying that Biden
20:29
should be more steadfast in support. He
20:31
hasn't said that Biden hasn't made the
20:33
point about Hamas holding US hostages. Why
20:36
do you think that is, Bill? I
20:38
don't know. I assume that
20:40
bolstering his gut instinct side
20:43
with Netanyahu is the
20:45
fact that Biden is being criticized
20:47
for not supporting him strong enough,
20:49
especially in rhetoric. So I would
20:51
have expected him to say more.
20:54
I think he will as he realizes. I
20:57
think to Donald Trump, a lot of
20:59
his political, if he thinks
21:01
that support for
21:03
Israel, strong support is
21:05
anti-Biden, I think he'll embrace it
21:08
more fully. But you point out
21:10
the politics are very odd because,
21:13
you know, the demonstrations,
21:15
people blocking airports like
21:17
JFK on behalf of
21:19
Gaza, along those people that
21:21
are very passionate would,
21:24
I think, be Bobby Kennedy supporters.
21:26
And he's also, he's anti-Biden. He's
21:28
been critical, been very strong. Yeah,
21:30
pro-Israel. Yeah, and reminds me, when
21:32
I was in Afghanistan during the
21:34
first war, they loved,
21:36
the Afghans loved the Rambo movies.
21:39
And then they found out
21:41
one of the ones, maybe the
21:43
last one, was filmed in the
21:45
Zionist entity. And
21:48
kind of dampened their enthusiasm. And
21:51
I kind of feel the protesters,
21:53
I don't think most of them
21:55
know Bobby Kennedy's position, but it
21:58
makes for strange bedfellows. I think
22:00
one of the things that's been shattered
22:02
in addition to the two-state solution is
22:05
kind of unfortunately a bipartisan
22:08
consensus on Israel. I think
22:10
the left is splitting the
22:12
Democratic Party from Israel, and
22:15
I think that's going to make for
22:17
all sorts of interesting politics, especially in
22:19
2024. And
22:21
I do think Trump was on to
22:23
it. It was a political point, not
22:26
a something point about taking long. You
22:28
know, when I was with Bush in
22:30
the White House, he always said, you
22:32
know, Bubba wants those troops home, and
22:34
it took three years to get a
22:37
successful surge strategy. Time
22:39
is generally not on the fighter's
22:41
side, the people trying to defend
22:43
themselves against terrorists. So if
22:45
that's, as Kim said, just kind of
22:48
an analysis of the fact, that's one thing. If
22:50
it signals, well, maybe I'll get
22:52
bored with support if this goes
22:54
on too long, that's a very
22:56
different thing entirely. Kim,
22:59
it is also in Joe Biden's interest
23:01
that this end soon, right? Because
23:04
the sooner it does, the conflict
23:06
in Gaza, the sooner he can
23:08
pursue the deal he wants between
23:10
Israel and Mohammed bin Salman of
23:12
Saudi Arabia to conclude
23:14
a peace deal or have them join the Abraham
23:16
Accords. That's still very much on the
23:18
minds of the Biden White House. Jake
23:21
Sullivan, the National Security Advisor, was supposed to travel
23:23
over there. So they still
23:25
want that to be done. And
23:28
then, of course, for the reasons Bill
23:30
has described about the pressure from the
23:32
Democratic left, they want this done well
23:34
before the Democratic Convention in
23:36
August, which could be
23:38
quite a damaging spectacle of internal
23:41
democratic division. Sure. This president
23:43
has all kinds of reasons to want
23:45
this done. I mean, one, obviously, he
23:47
would just like this conflict to be
23:49
over. It's one more overseas
23:51
distraction. He was already dealing
23:54
with Ukraine trying to keep
23:56
support marshaled to
23:58
continue getting aid to the U.S. that ally.
24:00
This is one more conflict that is
24:02
in many ways spiraling out of his
24:05
control. So you get that done and
24:07
not only do you take it off
24:09
the balance sheet, maybe you even get
24:12
a win after it, as you said,
24:14
with the peace deal. But also this
24:16
is just a president who prefers to
24:18
talk about domestic issues. He would much
24:21
rather be doing tours of the country
24:23
bragging about the infrastructure money he put
24:25
out and talking about abortion than he
24:28
would be foreign policy issues. I
24:30
don't know if he's going to get
24:32
that wish. Israel's been pretty clear that
24:34
this is going to take some time.
24:36
Donald Trump's advice to Israel notwithstanding, I
24:39
would wager that that country
24:41
understands that unless you actually
24:43
complete the mission and essentially
24:45
make it so that Hamas
24:48
cannot reconstitute itself and repeat
24:50
another October 7th, then
24:52
all of this has not been worth it. So I
24:54
mean this could still go on. We're
24:57
already at the six month mark here since
24:59
October 7th and in
25:01
that sense it is the longest
25:04
war in Gaza by far that has been fought after
25:06
a spate of Hamas
25:09
or Islamic Jihad attacks on Israel.
25:11
And this time Israel does
25:13
seem determined to eliminate Hamas.
25:15
And I think the question is how much
25:18
time it takes and in
25:20
what manner will it be accomplished.
25:22
Thanks Kim and thanks Bill. We appreciate
25:24
it. We're here every day on Potomac
25:27
Watch and we hope to see you
25:29
tomorrow. Thanks for listening.
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More