1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: There have been very few things harder to achieve in 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: foreign policy, maybe nothing harder to achieve in foreign policy 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: than peace in the Middle East. Nobody was able to 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: see that coming, and yet just this past week we 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: have had an historic deal for peace in the Middle East, 6 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: and we happen to have a guy who was there 7 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: for all of it. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz. 8 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,599 Speaker 1: Welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz. I'm Michael Knowles, Senator. 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: I have to point out that this past week we've 10 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: seen not just one but two historic milestones, a pathway 11 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: to peace in the Middle East and episode fifty of 12 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: Verdicts with Ted Cruz. I don't know which one is 13 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: more historic. Look, it's been fifty episodes, and I got 14 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: to say, you know, when it was clear to me 15 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: you weren't paying attention, as when the fellow came up 16 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: with a little clicky thing and said episode fifty, Oh, 17 00:00:57,480 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: what's that called, by the way, the clicky thing. That's 18 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: called the clicky thing. Actually that's the technical term for it, 19 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: and you apparently had no idea, so you weren't listening 20 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: to him when he said episode fifty times of my 21 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: eyes glazed over, absolutely because I was. I was focusing 22 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: on this other I suppose more minor historic milestone piece 23 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 1: in the middle of the world piece. Yet you know, 24 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: I just think you need to re examine your priority 25 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: in Michael, You're right, absolutely well. I wasn't there. I 26 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: wasn't there for the Abraham Accord. At the White House. 27 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: You've got President Trump, bb Net and Yahoo, leader of Bahrain, 28 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: leader of the United Arab Emirates. What makes this historic? 29 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,839 Speaker 1: And what happened? So the Abraham Accords they were signed 30 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: this past week and the signing was on the south 31 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: lawn of the White House. So I was there, and 32 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: then they had chairs set up outside. It was beautiful 33 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: September day, probably seventy degrees outside. I mean, it was 34 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: as pretty a day as you ever see in Washington. 35 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: And their number of US gathered on these little white 36 00:01:55,720 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: wooden folding chairs, and out out from the White House 37 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: comes the President comes Bbing Nat Yahoo, the Prime Minister 38 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: of Israel, and then the Foreign Minister of the UAE 39 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,519 Speaker 1: and the Foreign Minister of Bahrain, and they each give 40 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: speeches and then they sit at a table down below 41 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: and each of them signs the agreement. And what has 42 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: happened is both the UAE and Bahrain have normalized relationships 43 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: with Israel. In other words, they're treating Israel just like 44 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: any other country, and that's a big damn deal. This 45 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: is the first time an Arab country has normalized relations 46 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: with Israel in twenty six years. The last time was 47 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:45,639 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four Jordan. What about before that? Before that 48 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: was Egypt nineteen seventy eight, Camp David. Wow. So this 49 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: doesn't happen very often, and I think it's an extraordinary 50 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: step forward in terms of bringing East to the region, 51 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: but also piece globally, because look, for a long time 52 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: the Middle East has been a powder keg yea and 53 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: diffusing the tensions, and it was really fitting the Bahrain 54 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: piece was announced on September eleventh, and I pointed out, 55 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: I said, you know, there are a few greater acts 56 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: of revenge we can have on the terrorists who committed 57 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: that horrific attack on September eleventh, then to bring about 58 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: peace in the Middle East and make help make Jews 59 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: and Arabs and Americans friends. Yeah, well, you mentioned nineteen 60 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: seventy eight. So we've been working on piece in the 61 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: Middle East since at least the Carter administration. I suppose 62 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: further back than that. And I know this is probably 63 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: a simple question, but I think sometimes when we think 64 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: about our own domestic problems, we do wonder this, which 65 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: is why is America always trying to broker peace in 66 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: the Middle East? Why do we care? Well, Israel's a 67 00:03:55,920 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: unique country. It is the world's only Jewish nation. Was 68 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: founded in nineteen forty eight, so it's just over seventy 69 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: years old, um seventy two. And it you look at 70 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: nineteen forty eight, it was coming out of World War Two, 71 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: it was coming out of the Holocaust, six million Jews 72 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: being murdered by the Nazis and and the State of 73 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: Israel was formed for many reasons, one the historical connection 74 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: of the Jewish people to Judah and Samaria and to 75 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: the land of Israel, but also to ensure that that 76 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: never again, what's something like the Holocaust happened, that there 77 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: would always be a Jewish state where where Jews could 78 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: be be safe and avoid persecution. Now, when Israel was 79 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: formed in nineteen forty eight, the Arabs nations all declared war, 80 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: and there was war after war after warm It was 81 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: not something that happened happily. It's not that their neighbors 82 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,159 Speaker 1: did not celebrate. To put it mild, and you know, 83 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:10,040 Speaker 1: you think about it, you A, in Bahrain are nearby 84 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 1: neighbors who until this week didn't recognize Israel because because 85 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: some people have been saying, well, it's not a peace 86 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: deal because the UA in Bahrain they've never been in 87 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,039 Speaker 1: open war with Israel. So oh, you know, guys, look, 88 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: it's not a big deal. Forget about it, okay, And 89 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: that's just a weird argument. Listen. Democrats are scrambling because 90 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: President Trump helping broker a peace deal in the Middle 91 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: East really counteracts their narrative as him as the embodiment 92 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,280 Speaker 1: of everything that is terrible in the world, right, And 93 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: so there's a combination. Joe Biden, when the UAE deal broke, 94 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: he said, well, this is really the culmination of his work, 95 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: and so it's convenient. You know, it's a big deal 96 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: if Biden's trying to take credit for it, yea. And 97 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: then the other sort of democratic talking point is well, 98 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: it's not that important because they weren't actively in a 99 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: state of war firing missiles at each other. They didn't 100 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: recognize each other, they didn't acknowledge the Arab States, UAE 101 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: and Bahrain didn't acknowledge that Israel existed as a nation 102 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,919 Speaker 1: as a Jewish state. And I think it's important to 103 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,919 Speaker 1: pause and reflect how this came about, because part of 104 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: the reason that we're seeing the left, both the media 105 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: and the academic world and Democrats pushing back so hard 106 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: on this is these Abraham Accords are the culmination of 107 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: a very very different approach Trump took than Obama Biden, 108 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: and the Obama Biden approach doesn't work, and the approach 109 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: we've taken the last four years does well. This is 110 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: the issue. I remember when Barack Obama was running this 111 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: is two thousand and eight, people told me if I 112 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:46,919 Speaker 1: voted for John McCain, we'd get more wars in the 113 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,359 Speaker 1: Middle East, which was true. I voted for John McCain, 114 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,039 Speaker 1: and we got more wars in the Middle East, even 115 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 1: though Barack Obama got elected. We haven't had one of 116 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: these peace deals in twenty six years, right, So what 117 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: did they do wrong? What did Trump do right? Because 118 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: we were told Trump was going to lead to World 119 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:07,599 Speaker 1: War three? Yeah, and to some extent, those are different 120 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: issues of their parallel issues. I do think too many Democrats, 121 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: including the Clintons, including Hillary and too many Republicans, including 122 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: John McCain, had been too eager to get US into wars, 123 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: had been too eager to use US military force. And 124 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: I think that that has been an important, worthwhile shift 125 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: the last four years, is to be much more restrained 126 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: in terms of when we get into foreign entanglements, to 127 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: use a phrase from George Washington, with respect to Israel. 128 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: I think there were two decisions early on in the 129 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: first year of the Trump administration that really set the 130 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: stage for this, and they were intertwined. I think these 131 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: are the two most important foreign policy decisions President Trump 132 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: has made. The first was moving the embassy in Israel 133 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: to Jerusalem. Now, we had our embassy in Tel Aviv. Yeah, 134 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: Telvi's not the capital of Israel. Jerusalem the capital of Israel. 135 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: We had our embassy in Tel Aviv because the Palestinians 136 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: lay claim to Jerusalem as well, and so it was 137 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: viewed as if you have your embassy in Jerusalem, you 138 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: are somehow favoring Israel's choice of its capital city. Now, 139 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: mind you, we have our embassies in the capitals everywhere 140 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: else on Earth. Yeah, just this one exception that we didn't. 141 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: When the Trump administration began that there was a big 142 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: debate within the administration about whether or not to move 143 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: the embassy because presidents had been promising to do this 144 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: for decades. It had beneficial US policy, and just no 145 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,439 Speaker 1: one actually did it. Obama promised to do it. George W. 146 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 1: Bush promised to do it. Bill Clinton promised to do it. 147 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:42,960 Speaker 1: Both Democrats and Republicans had broken that promise over and 148 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: over and over again. In twenty seventeen, the Trump administration 149 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: both the State Department of the Defense Department opposed moving 150 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: the embassy. Yeah, you had Rex Teller Senna, Secretary of State, 151 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: had Jim Madness he was Secretary Defense, and they both 152 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: didn't want to move the embassy. And the reason they 153 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: said they didn't want to move the embassy as they 154 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,079 Speaker 1: said it would enrage the enemies of Israel and the 155 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: enemies of America. This is a foreign policy battle I 156 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: engaged in very actively, and so I mean I spent 157 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: a lot of time talking to the President, leaning in 158 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,559 Speaker 1: making the case. Look, the enemies of Israel and America 159 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: they hate us anyway. It's not like there's suddenly some 160 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: other day where they break out in hosannas and start 161 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 1: singing songs you're not going to appease them, and that 162 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: appeasement word. We're going to come back to that, because 163 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: that appeasement word is very, very important for understanding the 164 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: shift and path that led to this piece agreement. The 165 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: past week, there were voices in the White House who 166 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:42,079 Speaker 1: were arguing against moving the embassy to Jerusalem because they said, 167 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,199 Speaker 1: this will make peace harder to achieve in the Middle East. 168 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:47,679 Speaker 1: We want to see peace in the Middle East. If 169 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: we move the embassy, it will tick off everyone who's 170 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:52,320 Speaker 1: angry with Israel, and that makes it harder to achieve. 171 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: And you saw this throughout the mainstream media as well. 172 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: This was being echoed in the popular press, and the 173 00:09:57,440 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 1: case I made to President Trump and the case I 174 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: made repeat it in the White House, as I said, look, 175 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: there is virtue to clarity and lack of ambiguity. If 176 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 1: we move the embassy, it will be seen by both 177 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:13,959 Speaker 1: our friends and our enemies as a statement that the 178 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: United States stands unapologetically in four square with Israel, and 179 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: that there's a president who is not going to be 180 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 1: cowed by the New York Times or CNN. At the 181 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 1: end of the day, the President agreed with me. He 182 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: overruled his own state department, he overruled his own defense department, 183 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: and he moved the embassy. I was there when we 184 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 1: opened the embassy in Jerusalem. It was in May of 185 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:43,440 Speaker 1: twenty eighteen. It was actually on the date of the 186 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: seventieth anniversary of the creation of the modern state of Israel. 187 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: And it was powerful, it was emotional. There's literally dancing 188 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: in the street in Jerusalem. It's I've been to Jerusalem 189 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 1: four times. I've never seen jubilasian like there was when 190 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: we opened the embassy. And what I argued to the 191 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: president when he was debating whether or not to move 192 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 1: the embassy, is I said, listen, are Arab allies, Jordan, Egypt, 193 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 1: the Saudi's UAE said, they will all publicly denounce the 194 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 1: decision because they feel they have to for domestic political reasons. 195 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:22,439 Speaker 1: They'll feel obliged to denounce it. But what I argued 196 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:27,679 Speaker 1: is I said, secretly, they will be overjoyed. And here's 197 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:33,320 Speaker 1: why they will say. A president with the backbone to 198 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: move the embassy, maybe, just maybe, just maybe we'll have 199 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: the backbone to stand up to Iran and stop Iran 200 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: from getting nuclear weapons. And there are few things that 201 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,559 Speaker 1: have clarified the minds of our Arab allies more than 202 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: the Obama Iran nuclear deal, which put Iran on an 203 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: barreling path towards getting nuclear weapons, and I sent them 204 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: palettes of cash for famously over one hundred billion dollars. 205 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 1: I do not believe it is a coincidence that the 206 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: very same week we opened our embassy in Jerusalem is 207 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: the week the President announced he was withdrawing from the 208 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:20,559 Speaker 1: disastrous Obama Ran nuclear deal. Those two were connected, and 209 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: the same fight played out in the Trump administration on 210 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,359 Speaker 1: pulling out of the Obama Ran deal. State was opposed, 211 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: Defense was opposed. It was clear when President Trump was 212 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: running he said I'm going to get out of this 213 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,680 Speaker 1: Iran nuclear deal. The base hats so he actually didn't. 214 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: It is a little bit astonishing. The Iran nuclear deal 215 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 1: is one of the issues on which Donald Trump and 216 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: I sharply disagreed in the twenty sixteen primarily well, I 217 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 1: remember you were certainly opposed to it. So when I 218 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: was running in twenty sixteen, I pledged to do five 219 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,440 Speaker 1: things on the first day in office January twentieth, twenty seventeen. 220 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: One was moving the embassy to Jerusalem. Yeah. Another was 221 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: ripped the deal to shreds. So those were two of 222 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: the five things I pledged to do. Trump as a 223 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: candidate in twenty sixteen explicitly disagreed with me, and he said, no, 224 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: I'm not going to rip the deal off. I'm going 225 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: to renegotiate. I'm gonna try to get a better deal. 226 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:17,200 Speaker 1: And so we had we had, I mean, in several 227 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: presidential debates we disagreed on this policy issue. So you 228 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: fast forward to twenty seventeen, there's a debate within the 229 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:27,079 Speaker 1: Trump administration. Tillerson and Madis are both saying stay in 230 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,200 Speaker 1: the deal. Maddis kept saying a deal is a deal. 231 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 1: America has given our word. Yeah, And I kept pointing 232 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: out to Maddis, I said, no, America didn't give our word. 233 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: Obama signed that agreement with the explicit opposition of the 234 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: United States Congress. The America gives our word either when 235 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 1: we pass a statute or a treaty ratified by the Senate. 236 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: The Obama ran deal was neither. He made an end 237 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,959 Speaker 1: run to the UN to try to get around Congress 238 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: and the opposition. Once again, Trump agreed with me and 239 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,439 Speaker 1: overruled his own state and Defense Department. Now let's fast 240 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: forward and now those decisions. Part of the reasons those 241 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: decisions were so important is you look at the UAE 242 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: in Bahrain. You no longer had this moral ambiguity, this handwringing, 243 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: This is, oh, we don't want to take a stance 244 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: on Israel, we don't know what we believe, which I 245 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: think prolonged conflict. You talked about appeasement. The Obama Biden 246 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: path was appeasement over and over and over again. It 247 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: was undermining Israel, and undermining Israel ironically produces more terrorism, tension, warfare, 248 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: dissension in the Middle East. In the last couple of weeks, 249 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: I've spoken with the UAE ambassador, I've spoken with the 250 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: Saudia ambassador. So Saudi Arabia has not normalized relationships, but 251 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: we yet We've been told there could be other countries, 252 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: as many as nine countries that will join on to 253 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,280 Speaker 1: this sort of a piece deal. And look, the Saudis 254 00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 1: are the whale. They're they're the biggest of the players. 255 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:05,080 Speaker 1: That is outstanding, and Bahrain is very closely allied with 256 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 1: the Saudis. Most people think that Bahrain would not have 257 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: done this without the Saudis, at least giving implicit approval 258 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: to it. The Saudis also announced, and this is historic 259 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: as well, that they would allow Israel to have over flights, 260 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: to have their airplanes fly over Saudi Arabian territory. That's 261 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: a big deal. Used to be, Israel had to fly 262 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: around Saudi Arabia because Saudi Arabia would not allow Israeli 263 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: planes in their airspace. Both the UAE ambassador and the 264 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: Saudi ambassador in the past week, when I spoke to them, 265 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,520 Speaker 1: they said, listen, we are doing this because we want 266 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: to be friends with America, because it is important for 267 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: us to be friends with America, and we know that 268 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: it is important to you for us to be friends 269 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:56,479 Speaker 1: with Israel. We know where you stand. It's the clarity, 270 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: and they said, that's why we're doing this. There's something 271 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: called the Iran echo chamber. Okay, So that was when 272 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: Barack Obama was president, they were negotiating the Iran nuclear deal. 273 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: There was a so called echo chamber that it's locus 274 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: was the National Security Council under Obama, but it was reporters, 275 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: it was academics, it was think tanks, and it was 276 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: all these lefties who were pushing the Iran nuclear deal. 277 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: They viewed that as the single biggest foreign policy accomplishment 278 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: of the Obama presidency. And it's all predicated on a piecement. 279 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: It's predicated on if we give Iran one hundred billion dollars, 280 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: they'll make nice and won't make nuclear weapons. Even though 281 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: the Ayatola regularly chance death to America and death to issue, 282 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: it should be made clear this is not ambiguous here. 283 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: You've got a country that chants death to America. You've 284 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: got a country that is an open, explicit alli of 285 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: the United States, and yet or under the Obama administration, 286 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: it made us all scratch our heads. They thought the 287 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: path to peace was to make nice with the people 288 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: chanting death to America. This obviously they look Middle East 289 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,719 Speaker 1: piece is perhaps the most complicated foreign policy issue. So 290 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,159 Speaker 1: just to simplify here, because it seems like there's so 291 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 1: many layers. We were told for a very long time 292 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: that supporting Israel was the cause of this chaos and 293 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,920 Speaker 1: violence in the Middle East. It would seem to be 294 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: that the opposite has been proved true. We were told 295 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,439 Speaker 1: by the leaders of these countries that they hated our 296 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:28,479 Speaker 1: support for Israel. Explicitly, and yet behind closed doors and 297 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 1: in their own interest, it would seem that they actually 298 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: have supported American clear support for Israel. Is that right? 299 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,880 Speaker 1: Am I clarifying here a little? I think that's right. 300 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 1: On the latter point, they haven't as much explicitly supported 301 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:43,920 Speaker 1: it as I think it is in their interest and 302 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: they are. You know, I've joked you. Remember Barack Obama 303 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: was given the Nobel Peace Prize in two thousand and 304 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 1: nine right after he was elected. He'd literally I don't 305 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,160 Speaker 1: think he'd unpacked his boxes yet, he was still trying 306 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: to find a stapler. I believe it was nine days 307 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: after he was sworn in he was nominated for the 308 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: Peace Prize, and he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 309 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: for not being George W. Bush, but the fact that 310 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 1: he was. By the way, why didn't you win a 311 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: Nobel Piece prize? You're not waited, I know where's my 312 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 1: phone call? So they awarded him that prize, But you 313 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 1: look at I've joked that in retrospect, Obama may have 314 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: deserved it because he did something heretofore impossible, which is 315 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: he united the Arabs and the Israelis. All he had 316 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:33,160 Speaker 1: to do was put in place a plan to give 317 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:35,920 Speaker 1: one hundred billion dollars to the Ayatola Kamnee that he 318 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 1: could use to develop nuclear weapons to threaten all of 319 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 1: their lives, and suddenly the Jews and the Arabs are like, 320 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: holy crap, are you out of your money? Well, because 321 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 1: this introduces an aspect that I think is often overlooked 322 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: when people are trying to ravel with this, which is 323 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: they think of the issue as Jews versus Muslims, and 324 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,359 Speaker 1: that's that's a simple. But of course we're talking about 325 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: nation states here, and there are a lot of these 326 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,919 Speaker 1: Arab states that don't particularly like Iran. So you've instead 327 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,920 Speaker 1: just two and there's a divide between Sunnies and Shiites. 328 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 1: And so Iran is a Shiite state and most of 329 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,920 Speaker 1: the Arab states are are Sunni states, and so there's 330 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 1: a religious divide within Islam between the Sunnies and Shiites. 331 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,159 Speaker 1: And and they're fully aware of what Iran is capable of. 332 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:20,640 Speaker 1: I mean, Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism 333 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:25,159 Speaker 1: in the world. But yet both Obama and Joe Biden, 334 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:28,200 Speaker 1: who was very active in foreign policy as Vice president, 335 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: they fully believed in appeasement. I've also joked there's a 336 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: reason we don't see the Neville Chamberlain school of foreign policy. 337 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: Neville Chamberlain was Prime Minister of Great Britain, championed appeasement 338 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: of Adolph Hitler and said, if we just give him 339 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: what he wants, everything will be fine. And history teaches 340 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:55,360 Speaker 1: us that appeasement doesn't work, that it's provocative, that actually 341 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: weakness and appeasement to a dictator, to a tyrant makes 342 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:01,639 Speaker 1: war were more likely. This is where a lot of 343 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,439 Speaker 1: the media gets it backwards. Yeah, listen, I agree with 344 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:09,200 Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan, who talked about and emphasized and built his 345 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 1: foreign policy on peace through strength, that if you want 346 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: to avoid war, be strong enough that no one wants 347 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: to mess with you. Well, it's interesting on that point 348 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:21,239 Speaker 1: of peace through strength. And we were told at that 349 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: time that Reagan's a cowboy, he's a warmonger, he's crazy. 350 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: I guess we were told the same thing when the 351 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:27,959 Speaker 1: Trump administration came in as well. But there is an 352 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: irony here to both of those administrations. We really did 353 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: get that piece. I mean, it's not just an empty slogan. 354 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: When you have weakness, you're inviting this kind of aggression. 355 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:40,879 Speaker 1: Look in eight years in the White House. The biggest 356 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 1: nation Reagan ever invaded was Grenada. He was reluctant to 357 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: use military force, as Trump has been as well, And 358 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 1: I think that is exactly right. I think there were 359 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: too many cowboys in the GOP and the Democratic Party 360 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: that option A was always send the marine, yes and listen. 361 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: If there's a threat to the national security of the 362 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,399 Speaker 1: United States, if Americans lives are being threatened, that's what 363 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: the armed forces is forced to keep us safe. But 364 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: being reluctant to pull that trigger, I think is the 365 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 1: right thing to do, not to put our sons and 366 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 1: daughters in harm's way, but also being clear and strong. 367 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: It's why the moving the embassy was such an important 368 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: pivot point. And you know, look, I'll give you an 369 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 1: example of Obama Biden and their policies. Back in I 370 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 1: think it was twenty fourteen. I was in Israel and 371 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: I had a meeting set up with net and Yahoo 372 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: and and I've gotten to know Bobe well. Yeah, And 373 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,879 Speaker 1: the meeting was set up and the US ambassador to 374 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 1: the Obama ambassadors named Daniel Shapiro, and Shapiro told me 375 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: the meeting was the next day with Babe and he said, 376 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,159 Speaker 1: he said, you are not meeting with Net and Yahoo 377 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,479 Speaker 1: without me? Did? He just said, flat out you were 378 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: not going to meet with him without me? And and 379 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: I said, well, listen, this this is a trip I 380 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,760 Speaker 1: set up. I set up this meeting. I didn't go 381 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 1: through you, and you're not invited to the meeting. Yeah, 382 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: you know, so I am a senator. You don't get 383 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: to tell me what to do. Well, and Shapiro comes 384 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 1: back and he threatens me, says, well, then i'll pull 385 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,400 Speaker 1: your security. So when you're traveling in Israel, you get 386 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,120 Speaker 1: a security detail from the embassy. Right. Um, he said, 387 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:28,640 Speaker 1: I'll pull your secure security. I said, fine, within within 388 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,920 Speaker 1: an hour. I'll hire a private security if you want 389 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:34,440 Speaker 1: to do that. And it was clearly a bluff. Yeah, 390 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:37,360 Speaker 1: they're not going to let the US senator go without security. 391 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: But what was obvious is John Kerry, who was Secretary 392 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: of State, had told Shapiro, you keep an eye on 393 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,360 Speaker 1: cruise and don't you dare let him in a room 394 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 1: together with baby. That we don't want this because they 395 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,920 Speaker 1: they hated Net and Yahoo and they hated me, right, 396 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:56,960 Speaker 1: and the last thing they wanted was us talking to 397 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 1: each other, right, And so but you had a picture it. 398 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:05,200 Speaker 1: So Ambassador Shapira is not a very big guy, and 399 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: we were literally bumping chests standing in front of the Knesset, 400 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,239 Speaker 1: which is the Israeli parliament, and we're I mean, it 401 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 1: was a junior high like chest to chest of him 402 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: saying I'm coming and me saying you're not invited. And 403 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: he backed down. And so the next day, well and 404 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,880 Speaker 1: clarity and ambiguity and and and so the next day 405 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 1: when you when you go and meet with with nat 406 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: Jah who, there's a conference room that you do all 407 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: the meetings in, and so if you look at any 408 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:42,200 Speaker 1: picture of any delegations, it's in Israel. There's Israeli flags, 409 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:43,639 Speaker 1: and you take a picture with a prime minister and 410 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:45,320 Speaker 1: you sit at the conference table and talk about issues. 411 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: And so I've done that multiple times. This time we'd 412 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: pre arranged with with Bebe's office that we'd come into 413 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 1: the conference room, but that Bobe would say, here, come 414 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 1: on back to my office head And so I went 415 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 1: back to his office, which is actually not that big 416 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 1: an office. It's right adjoining the conference room. And we 417 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: sat down and I had brought two cigars. Bibe loves 418 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: to smoke cigars. I knew I liked that guy, and 419 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:13,200 Speaker 1: we lit up to Monte Cristo's and we sat there 420 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 1: smoking cigars and for I don't know, an hour, maybe 421 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: a little bit longer. We talked geopolitics, we talked Middle East, 422 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,719 Speaker 1: we talked Middle East, peace, America, the world. And I 423 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:30,159 Speaker 1: gotta say that may have been the single coolest moment 424 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: I've had in the entire US. Like it Look, you 425 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: get a chance to meet all sorts of people. You 426 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:42,639 Speaker 1: meet presidents, you meet senators, you meet cabinet officials, you 427 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:47,679 Speaker 1: meet heads of state, Bby Nanna, who was one of 428 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 1: the most serious, impressive, brilliant world leaders I've ever encountered. 429 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: And I'm sitting there smoking a montice Cristo cigar at 430 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 1: his office, going what in the hell am I doing here? 431 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: Like like like it was it was surreal. I kept 432 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:05,959 Speaker 1: thinking like it was candid camera, someone was gonna come 433 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,960 Speaker 1: out and say this was all a joke. But part 434 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 1: of it is net Ye, who has a seriousness, a gravity. Listen, 435 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: he leads a country that historically has been surrounded by 436 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,720 Speaker 1: enemies that would drive them into the sea. Yeah. Um, 437 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: and he's been running it forever, it seems so let 438 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,440 Speaker 1: me give it an analogy from literature, and you're gonna 439 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: laugh at what the literature is um, which is a 440 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 1: children's book that I read as a kid. Did you 441 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: ever read the series called The Great Brain the Grit 442 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,640 Speaker 1: No I had. I didn't. I read The Mediocre Brain. 443 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 1: That's probably didn't work out, all right. So the Great 444 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 1: Brain is it is? It's a seven book series that 445 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: I read as a I don't know it's a kid. 446 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 1: It's by John D. Fitzgerald. J D. Fitzgerald, and it 447 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: he is the younger brother and it's talking about his 448 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: the middle brother, Tom D. Fitzgerald, and the older brother, 449 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,919 Speaker 1: swind Fitzgerald. And Tom, the middle brother, is a convent. 450 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,399 Speaker 1: I mean, he's just a huckster and he's always coming 451 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:05,560 Speaker 1: up with these sort of scams to con the other 452 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: kids out of something, and sort of think Tom Sawyer 453 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,879 Speaker 1: and painting the fence. But every chapter was a different 454 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:16,879 Speaker 1: elaborate Cohn. And they're growing up in Utah, if I 455 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:22,359 Speaker 1: remember correctly, at essentially the turn of the nineteen hundred, 456 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: so late eighteen hundreds, early nineteen hundreds. And in one 457 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:31,840 Speaker 1: of the books, early on, Fitzgerald is explaining he said 458 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 1: he said, you know, when we were growing up in Utah, 459 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,639 Speaker 1: I said, almost all the other kids were Mormon. Yeah, 460 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:42,480 Speaker 1: And he said, my family, we weren't Mormon. And he said, 461 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: it really wasn't all that hard. It was simply a 462 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: batter of me learning to whip all the boys my age, 463 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: and Tom d learning to whip all the boys his age, 464 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:53,720 Speaker 1: and Swendy learning to whip all the boys his age. 465 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,679 Speaker 1: And once we did that, they were very, very tolerant. 466 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: It's amazing how tolerant a boy can be when you 467 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:04,840 Speaker 1: can whip it. There's a geopolitical lesson there. I read 468 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 1: that probably at age ten, and it's stuck in my 469 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 1: brain then. And that's frankly Israel's view. It's amazing how 470 00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:15,920 Speaker 1: tolerant their neighbors can be when Israel's military has defeated 471 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 1: them over and over again, and the qualitative military advantage 472 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: they have is part of what produces peace in the 473 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:27,680 Speaker 1: Middle East. And so this past week was a big deal. 474 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:29,359 Speaker 1: It's a big deal. I think we should celebrate with 475 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,199 Speaker 1: Monte Cristo's and we will hopefully bring peace not just 476 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:34,320 Speaker 1: to the Middle East but to the Southeast as well. 477 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,879 Speaker 1: And then rejoin you over here for the next episode. 478 00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 1: In the meantime, I'm Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with 479 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: Ted Cruz. This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is 480 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: being brought to you by Jobs, Freedom and Security Pack, 481 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: a political action committee dedicated to supporting conservative causes, organizations, 482 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,479 Speaker 1: and candidates across the country. In twenty twenty two, Job's 483 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: Freedom and Security Pack plans to donate to conservative candidates 484 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 1: running for Congress and help the Republican Party across the nation.