WEBVTT - Steve Schmidt explains how America must respond to Hamas’ attack on Israel

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<v Speaker 1>At six point thirty in the morning on October seventh,

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<v Speaker 1>the State of Israel was attacked by Hamas terrorists. The

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<v Speaker 1>casualties are extraordinary and unfathomable. This was an attack against

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<v Speaker 1>civilians and many were killed. To put this attack in perspective,

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<v Speaker 1>to help Americans understand its dimensions, if it were to

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<v Speaker 1>have happened in the United States, adjusted for our population,

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<v Speaker 1>more than thirty thousand Americans would have been killed, old women,

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<v Speaker 1>old men, three year olds, babies, mothers. The terrorists came

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<v Speaker 1>and they slaughtered Jews in their homes. In fact, it

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<v Speaker 1>was the worst episode of mass violence directed against Jews

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<v Speaker 1>who were hunted and slaughtered at an industrial scale since

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<v Speaker 1>the show, since the Holocaust, since the Waffen SS pursued

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<v Speaker 1>and machine gunned the Jews. Understand this. This was an

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<v Speaker 1>attack by a terror organization, a terror organization that exists

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<v Speaker 1>for the purposes of denying the existence of the Jews

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<v Speaker 1>and the Jewish state, that seeks to eradicate it, that

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<v Speaker 1>seeks to finish the work of the Nazi genocide. Hamas

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<v Speaker 1>is not searching for peace or compromise. Hamas seeks only

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<v Speaker 1>the destruction of the State of Israel. What did Hamas

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<v Speaker 1>do with the billions of dollars of foreign aids that

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<v Speaker 1>flowed into Gaza. Did they build schools, hospitals? Did they

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<v Speaker 1>invest in technology, did they build a port? Did they

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<v Speaker 1>try to create an economy? Did they try to lift

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<v Speaker 1>their people up out of poverty and misery? Now they

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<v Speaker 1>built a cult of death, and they armed themselves to

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<v Speaker 1>the teeth, readying for an attack aimed not at their freedom,

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<v Speaker 1>but at the destruction of the Jews and the Jewish state.

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<v Speaker 1>The creation of the Jewish State in nineteen forty eight

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<v Speaker 1>stands as a profound moral achievement in the aftermath of

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<v Speaker 1>the Holocaust and the near annihilation of the Jewish people.

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<v Speaker 1>Their eradication across much of Europe, where they had lived

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<v Speaker 1>for millennia, contributing building champions of arts and science and literature,

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<v Speaker 1>the last surviving peoples from antiquity, though always hunted, always hated,

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<v Speaker 1>always chased, until in nineteen forty eight, their homeland was

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<v Speaker 1>re established, and since then Israel has had to defend

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<v Speaker 1>itself over and over and over again from attack. But

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<v Speaker 1>in a moment of time where normalization between former enemies

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<v Speaker 1>was at hand, Iranian back to Moss Struck and what

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<v Speaker 1>will come next is an escalation of the war of

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<v Speaker 1>the conflict. Because no nation, no nation, can tolerate what

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<v Speaker 1>Israel has just endured. Every nation has the right to

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<v Speaker 1>defend itself and its people, and that includes the United

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<v Speaker 1>States of America. There is something missing from the reaction

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<v Speaker 1>in the coverage in the United States about this tragedy.

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<v Speaker 1>There have been no government officials who have yet stepped

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<v Speaker 1>before a podium, looked directly into the camera and addressed Thomas.

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<v Speaker 1>In addition to the slaughter of israelis, you have killed Americans.

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<v Speaker 1>And it doesn't matter if they were wearing a Maga

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<v Speaker 1>hat or an aoc T shirt. What matters is they're Americans.

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<v Speaker 1>And those Americans have been killed, and those Americans have

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<v Speaker 1>been kidnapped, and that is unacceptable. And the government of

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<v Speaker 1>the United States of America must act. In war, innocent

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<v Speaker 1>people die. But this war was visited on Israel by Iran,

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<v Speaker 1>by Hamas, by the forces of barbarism and chaos. And

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<v Speaker 1>now when the world watches the Jewish state defend itself,

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<v Speaker 1>fight for the existence of its people, we will see

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<v Speaker 1>the manifestation of virulent anti Semitism. Already we see it.

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<v Speaker 1>We see it in the protests in New York sponsored

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<v Speaker 1>by the Democratic Socialists of America. We see it in London,

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<v Speaker 1>we see it in Sydney. And what we see is

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<v Speaker 1>a very specific type of hatred, a very specific type

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<v Speaker 1>of cancer. It takes a great deal of hate to

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<v Speaker 1>look at a people and to blame them for their murder,

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<v Speaker 1>to blame them for the people who hate them so

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<v Speaker 1>much that they wish to see their existence cease. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the nature of anti Semitism, and we will see

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<v Speaker 1>it play out this attack where children were murdered. It

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<v Speaker 1>is an act of barbarism and inhumanity. The Jewish people

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<v Speaker 1>in the State of Israel have a right to exist,

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<v Speaker 1>and their existence is an urgent moral matter. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>why at this hour, the American flag is flying off

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<v Speaker 1>the back of some of the most powerful naval vessels

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<v Speaker 1>that have ever existed in the whole of human history,

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<v Speaker 1>that are steaming at flank speed towards the Israeli coast

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<v Speaker 1>and the Eastern Mediterranean. American power is present because Americans

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<v Speaker 1>have been killed, and because our ally Israel has been threatened, attacked,

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<v Speaker 1>because Jews have been chased and murdered in the broad daylight.

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<v Speaker 1>A machine gunned down by twenty twenty three's version of

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<v Speaker 1>the wathn SS. Today they're called Tomas. They can also

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<v Speaker 1>be called Hezbollah. It is almost that the war will

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<v Speaker 1>escalate and Israel will be fighting on multiple fronts, on

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<v Speaker 1>the northern border with Lebanon, on the West Bank, and

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<v Speaker 1>on the Gaza Strip. This is the chaos that the

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<v Speaker 1>Iranian terror state has fomented. It's what they hope for.

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<v Speaker 1>They want this destabilization, and so does Vladimir Putin. The

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<v Speaker 1>world stands on the edge of the Abyss. The fire

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<v Speaker 1>is drawn closer. Regional conflicts have the ability to merge

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<v Speaker 1>and to become global in nature. The Russians are in Syria,

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<v Speaker 1>the Russians are on the Black Sea. The Russians in

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<v Speaker 1>Iran are yoked together each other's principal arms suppliers. The

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<v Speaker 1>United States of America must be strong, It must be firm.

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<v Speaker 1>There was an American president who said something once. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>we would pay any price, bear any burden, support any friend,

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<v Speaker 1>oppose any foe. This must be American policy in this

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<v Speaker 1>urgent hour, and the President of the United States must

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<v Speaker 1>speak clearly, unequivocally, and directly to the American people about

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<v Speaker 1>the urgent moral issue at hand. This war has come

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<v Speaker 1>to Israel, not by Israel's choice, but now that it

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<v Speaker 1>has come, Israel must fight it. They must defend the

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<v Speaker 1>Jewish people, they must have found the Jewish state, and

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<v Speaker 1>the United States must stand by Israel unequivocally, but not

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<v Speaker 1>without conditions. There is something that must be said. There

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<v Speaker 1>is an urgent warning inherent in this attack. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>warning for the American people. There is something that has

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<v Speaker 1>happened in Israel over the last eight months, something that

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<v Speaker 1>has happened also in the United States. There has been

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<v Speaker 1>a great national distraction caused by politicians, caused by people

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<v Speaker 1>who are supposed to be the leaders, people who are

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to serve the interests of the nation above their

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<v Speaker 1>personal interests and above their ambitions. Bb Net and Yah,

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<v Speaker 1>who paralyzed his country, distracted, it caused mass chaos because

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<v Speaker 1>he sought to stripty Israeli judiciary of its independence to

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<v Speaker 1>protect himself from prosecution in corruption trials. The cost of preparedness,

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<v Speaker 1>the chaos that this unleashed was lost on nobody in Israel.

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<v Speaker 1>Senior national security officials time and time and time again

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<v Speaker 1>said the country is at its lowest state of readiness

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<v Speaker 1>and preparedness ever. The country was divided. The country was

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<v Speaker 1>looking inwards, all of the things that come with a

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<v Speaker 1>faction loves its power, and loves its ambition and loves

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<v Speaker 1>its voice so much that they stopped caring about the

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<v Speaker 1>idea of the nation, its purpose. And when that happens,

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<v Speaker 1>tragedy ensues. This is the price of an attention, This

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<v Speaker 1>is the price of unpreparedness. It's war, it's death, it's

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<v Speaker 1>suffering at an industrial scale. But now the war has come,

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<v Speaker 1>and the only choice for Israel is to decisively win

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<v Speaker 1>this war and to remove this threat which can no

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<v Speaker 1>longer be abided. And let's understand one last thing. De

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<v Speaker 1>Escalation is an immoral proposition, and it is code for

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<v Speaker 1>an anti Semitism, deposits that Jewish humanity is not worth defending,

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<v Speaker 1>that the Jews exist at someone else's for barons. The

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<v Speaker 1>Jews will fight back, Israel will defend itself, and America

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<v Speaker 1>will stand firm by her side because the lessons of

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<v Speaker 1>history are clear. Never again wasn't a slogan. It was

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<v Speaker 1>the most essential moral lesson in human history. There can

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<v Speaker 1>never be another holocaust. And the United States of America

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<v Speaker 1>must see to it that there will not the mistakes

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<v Speaker 1>of our past, where we turned a blind eye, where

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<v Speaker 1>the ship to Saint Louis returned to Europe, sending its passengers,

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<v Speaker 1>many of them to their death. Let's remember that shameful

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<v Speaker 1>moments in chapters, and let's say in this country, never again,