The following article is a lightly edited transcript of an interview with Yair Netanyahu on The Josh Hammer Show. You can view the full interview here:
Josh Hammer: How do you assess the differences between the Trump administration's approach to the region versus the Biden administration's approach, and what, from your perspective, has gone wrong when it comes to America's involvement—or lack thereof—in the Middle East?
Yair Netanyahu: The source of all chaos in the Middle East—the recent violence and terrorism—is Iran. This war is not just an Israel-Gaza war. It's Israel against Iran with Gaza. Hamas, an organization of Hamas, is one proxy. Hezbollah in Lebanon is another proxy. The Houthis in Yemen disrupting the whole international maritime trade is another proxy. The previous administration was very tough on Iran and understood that Iran is the source of all problems in the Middle East and terrorism—and not only against Israel and the United States. They call Israel the "Small Satan" and America the "Big Satan." But also, most of the Arab countries in the Middle East see them as a tremendous threat as well. The Trump administration was very tough on them and put sanctions on them. That was very close to crippling their economy and collapsing their economy, causing them to change course. They were scared. They were afraid of the United States, and they kept quiet. When they kept quiet and were contained, Israel flourished in the Middle East. Israel, together with my father and President Trump, made four historical peace treaties between Israel and four Arab-Muslim countries: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. We were very close to a peace treaty with Saudi Arabia as well, which is the most important Arab-Muslim country in the world. In recent years, there has been a different approach of America toward Iran, and I think that is the source of all problems in the Middle East.
Josh Hammer: Iran is the "head of the snake," as I think many in the IDF refer to it—I think some in the U.S. understand that Iran is the head of the snake as well. Looking at the fallout after October 7th, you've seen some different trends. On the Left, you have what some refer to as this "red-green alliance" between the woke social justice activists—the same folks who were out there marching for Black Lives Matter in 2020. They were out there with the Women's March in 2017. They basically just adopt whatever is the current cause of the day. Now they are out there marching for the so-called "Palestinian" cause. On the other hand, you have seen the rise of a segment within the American Right, and to an extent perhaps the global Right, that is sounding a lot like Charles Lindbergh—a lot like the old kind of 1920s-, 1930s-era isolationists. I'm very far from being a neoconservative, but I'm also very far from being an isolationist. I think that there is a middle ground there. What would be your response to both of these camps? Both of these camps seem to have some glaring logical fallacies, some logical inconsistencies. So why don't we take those one at a time and explain what's wrong with both of those?
Yair Netanyahu: Regarding the woke-progressive camp, it's quite ironic that they are siding now with the Palestinians because in the Palestinian territories, being gay is punishable by death, and they execute for it quite often. It's not just theoretical, actually: LGBT people from the Palestinian Authority flee to Israel and get refugee status in Israel because they know that they will be safe in Israel. Women in the Palestinian territories face severe inequalities. Women are officially, according to the law, under the position of men—either her father or her husband. There's no problem if a father or a husband decides to murder his wife or daughter; it's called family "honor killing." All minorities have been persecuted: Christians have been persecuted and ethnically cleansed throughout the Middle East, and throughout the Palestinian Authority. In every place, that is, except Israel in the Middle East. It's quite ironic that the woke-progressives are siding with these people that hate them.
They hate Christians, white people in general, and everything America. They hate it all. Osama Bin Laden is a big hero in the Palestinian Authority—apparently now in the United States too, on TikTok! On the other hand, Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East—the only liberal country in the Middle East, where we even now have a gay speaker of the House. We have the biggest gay parade in the Middle East. We had a woman prime minister decades ago. We have human equality for Muslims, for Christians, for everybody. That goes all the way to our ranks in the government, in our parliament and supreme court, everywhere. So, that's regarding the "red-green alliance."
Regarding the new isolationist voices on the conservative side, the United States is the greatest power in the world—the greatest superpower in the world. And the great superpower can walk and chew gum at the same time. We saw with the Trump administration that the southern border was closed. There was hardly any illegal immigration at the time of the Trump administration. And at the same time, the Trump administration was very actively involved in foreign affairs, including containing Iran and bringing the peace accords—together with my father—to the Middle East.
Iran already has Israel inside the range of all of their missiles, but they're building ICBMs—which are intercontinental ballistic missiles—that can also reach the eastern coast of the United States. It's a fact; they're not hiding it. They actually brag about it. These ICBMs will be able to carry nuclear weapons, and they're very close to having a nuclear weapon. Think about ISIS. Everybody understood that ISIS was a problem for America, although it is in the Middle East. Iran has the same ideology of ISIS, but with tons of oil and on the verge of having a nuclear weapon. So, if ISIS, this relatively small group of terrorists, are a threat to America, then a country with over 80 million people with a big chunk of the world's oil on the verge of having a nuclear weapon and then building intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the U.S.—well, that is definitely a problem for America, not just for Israel.
Yair Netanyahu is the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The views expressed in this interview are the conversationalists' own.
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