Your response to what took place in Hebron this morning?

Look, I think that to your earlier introductory comments, Hamas is far from ceased its activities.

And I think that, you know, it's always been a tandem activity between Gaza and the West Bank today and Samaria.

I think that the other dimension that's playing out here, of course, is the upcoming looming elections.

Let's not forget who is also pulling the strings when it comes to dealing with Hamas and Hezbollah and the Houthis, the Iranians, as far as the Islamic Republic of Iran.

And so they, too, have a vested interest in trying to move this along, trying to agitate the situation.

And I would argue, parenthetically, in a different sphere, They're also the ones controlling the attacks on Saudi Arabia vis-a-vis the Houthis in Riyadh.

Ramarowski?

If it's not Netanyahu, there might be a new prime minister who is tougher on Iran, tougher on Palestinian terrorism than he was, because there are people in Israel that think he wasn't tough enough.

Thanks, as always, for having me.

I mean, the two main runners, obviously, the contender for Netanyahu's job is Gadi Eisenkot, who is the former Israeli chief of staff.

It's also worthy of note that he was also part of the war room cabinet.

The small kitchen cabinet that Netanyahu put together early on in the war, Eisenkot lost a son and a nephew during the course of this war.

So from the Israelis' public constituency, he's somebody who's obviously sacrificed a lot, obviously is a man who's given a lot to the country itself.

From a policy standpoint, I would say that their policies wouldn't differ that much when it comes to Iran and when it comes to Gaza.

Is that still playing a factor in the prime minister's election?

That's what I'm curious about because I visited Dubai and I visited Abu Dhabi and I went into Oman and And these were all seemingly the most Western, Middle Eastern emirates that you would find, weren't they?

Yes.

I mean, look, the Omanis have been, you know, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, I mean, you know, Oman, they appreciate Western society.

The religion of the day there is mostly focused on the economics.

And so the freedoms that you see articulated in those kind of societies is a dimension of that.

They are not theocratical.

They are not authoritative in the same way that Iran is.

But with the United States involved in the war in the Middle East, what if China made a move against Taiwan and Russia made a move against, say, Poland? We used to wonder how World War II could possibly have happened, but this seems like it's happening maybe right before our eyes or the threat of it anyway.

Uh, that's what I'm curious about because in, in, uh, I've visited Dubai and I visited Abu Dhabi and I went into Oman and, uh, these were all seemingly the most Western Middle Eastern emirates that you would find, aren't they?

Uh, yes.

I mean, look, the, the, the Oma- the Omanis have been, uh, you know, they, they, they, uh, oh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, I mean, you know, Oman, uh, they appreciate, uh, Western society.

The religion of the day there is mostly focused on the economics.

Uh, and so the freedoms that you see, um, you know, articulated in Oma- in those kind of societies i- is a dimension of that.

Um, they are not, uh, theocratic.

Oh, they are not authoritative, uh, in the same way that Iran is.

What did you think when you heard President Trump say that if Oman gets in the way that, uh, the United States will bomb them?

That can't have gone down very well in Israel.

Well, good morning and thank you for having me.

I appreciate it.

So, you know, to your point, let's contextualize and let's kind of put it into context here.

I mean, yes, the Israelis are the one missing piece on the chess table that are not around the table at all.

And all of these decisions are being made without them around.

And part of the linkage to Israel, of course, Israel is linked to all of this, has to do with the fact that the Iranians and also, as a result, the Trump administration, in particular J.D. Vance, has insisted over the connection to Lebanon.

I mean, it's been going on for a while.

I think it's terrible.

uh... yeah it's not that they're not they're not a good thing uh...

i think that there are uh... obviously uh...

Many motivations and objectives, but as we see, you know, again, we're dealing with a terrorist regime.

Even as of this morning, four Israeli soldiers were killed Israel time, and as a result of that, of course, the official signing, you know, did not take place in Geneva today.

Nor should it have.

Right.

Go ahead and keep making ballistic missiles that you can shoot at Israel.

Right

... of the institution.

A- if I as a professor make you feel uncomfortable by what I said, but it forces you to go back and read something, I'm doing my job.

My job is not to be here and cajole and to, you know, your feelings, and make sure you feel good about...

You know, this is not...

But there is a groupthink mentality, it's become a therapy session, about the fact that we have to make everybody feel good about what's going on, and nobody can question or challenge ideas.

That is where the, really the essence of the academy has been lost as far as inquisitive research, as far as honest discourse about debating ideas in a way, where today the academy has lent itself, if you don't like an idea, you shut it down through cancel culture.

Yeah.

What's real, what's not, and where do we go from here?

Sure.

Good morning, and thank you, as always, for having me.

I mean, look, I think we need to understand the goals and objectives between the two actors here and how it's all played out.

I mean, there is a need by the administration to come to some kind of deal or try to figure out a deal that would work well as far as the economics of this, ending the war, and how wars play out at large.

The difference is that Iran is engaged in a forever war.

I mean, we're dealing with the authoritarian theocracy that has been dominating Iran for years as it views and abuses its own people.

I guess there are worse things to aspire to than winning the Nobel Peace Prize, but do you think that the president has sent mixed messages in terms of how everything looks after this is all over, sir?

And we're supposed to have a ceasefire, but they keep shooting at us.

Well, this is, uh, the, and a- as you and I have discussed for, uh, for, for, you know, for, for, for quite some time now, uh, the Iranian pattern is very set, and they have used, uh, all of this, even under this, the so-called ceasefire, as an opportunity to buy time.

And, you know, and we know that they have been using that time to regroup, re-arm.

Uh, armaments have been coming in as far as military technology from the Russians.

Surveillance technology has been coming in from the Chinese, and they're buying time.

And one of their biggest assets, which is also critical to understand, and you and I have also, you know, a- a- have dove into this for, you know, for quite some time, is, of course, that, uh, the American landscape, I mean, Western media, any time there is an attack on the current administration, uh, the midterm elections, all of that plays into the Iranian propaganda, and they get to play the victimology card.

And so from their, from their model of success, as we have known and learned to see for decades now, they would like us to go back to the, you know, the Obama JCPOA deal, where they get paid billions of dollars, and, uh, and we think we're giving them carrots, and they're gonna go away and continue doing their nefarious activity.

We're gonna have to go in.

So I guess first, when you heard the news, just your reaction.

Well, first of all, there are many reactions.

I think it's an historic moment as far as what's going on in the Middle East in general.

This is the largest operation, the kind of war that we've been in since the war with Iraq.

Taking out of Khamenei is a monumental event.

tremendous moment as far as our war on terrorism.

I think those are the significant move.

What would be the best thing, as someone who really knows this area, for Iran to do moving forward? What would be ideal as far as leadership?

So I guess first, when you heard the news, just your reaction.

Well, first of all, there are many reactions.

I think it's a historic moment as far as what's going on in the Middle East in general.

This is the largest operation, the kind of war that we've been in since the war with Iraq.

Taking out of Khamenei is a monumental moment.

tremendous moment as far as our war on terrorism.

I think those are the significant move.

What would be the best thing, as someone who really knows this area, for Iran to do moving forward? What would be ideal as far as leadership?