Israel Uncensored: Ambassador Ettinger’s Expert Analysis on US/Israel Relations

Josh hastened here Israel uncensored the malade of Israel network at the Land of Israel calm it is Monday January the 7th 2019 it is the first of spot five seven seven nine Rosh Chodesh the Jews around the world rush modish Shabbat hope you're doing well and your part of the world get in touch with me during the week Josh Atlanta visible calm on Facebook it's Joshua hastin and on Twitter at Josh hasted we have a very special show for you here today we're gonna get to our guests here in just a second give you a little bit of background US National Security Advisor John Bolton was in Israel arriving on Saturday night I think he he may still be here I'm not exactly sure I know he was running around yesterday and to discuss Bolton's trip here to Israel is ambassador Yoram Ettinger former consul general of the Southwest United States Minister for congressional affairs at the Israeli embassy in Washington an expert on Israeli US relations he's been a guest on the show before ambassador in agur it's an honor to have you back on the program smile thank you very much so according to The Times of Israel the White House sent us National Security Advisor John Bolton here to the region because of Israeli concerns about US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from Syria what is your take on number one the fact that the u.s. is pulling out of Syria number two John Bolton's visit here to the region yesterday well it's it's too early to call on the announcement made about pouring the US troops out of Syria it's too early because I don't know yet what are the current and the next steps taken by the u.s. in face of the ayatollahs in Iran in face of the Muslim Brotherhood in face of monster the Hashemites in Jordan all of which all of which would provide us a more realistic account of the significance of the pull out of the US troops which we already heard has been delayed maybe slightly maybe longer turn one significant element which I would like to emphasize is it's an error it's a mistake to refer to the u.s. potential pull out of Syria as if it has a significant impact on the Israel's national security Israel does not Israel does not need US troops in Syria to sustain its own national security Israel does not need us active personnel military support to sustain its own national security the major word percussion would be if indeed there is a pullout for the Hashemite regime in Jordan for applauded us Arab regimes in the Persian Gulf for the future state of Syria and Lebanon but Israel can take care of its own needs when it comes to John Bolton what I would like to remind people who may not be aware that John Bolton whom I've known for almost 30 years he was the chief leader behind the move to repeal Zionism racism from the books of the UN it was in 1991 initiative led by John Bolton he was then Assistant Secretary of State for international organizations and he did that although his direct boss Jim Baker was not exactly enamored with the with the idea but that initiative reflects the core of Ambassador John Bolton the National Security Advisor John Milton's worldview as far as Israel as far as the Jewish state as far as us-israel relations yeah I know over the years I think Bolton has proven to be a true ally and friend of the State of Israel I think that goes without saying yesterday the the Prime Minister called on the u.s. in a meeting with John Bolton publicly called on the u.s. to officially once and for all recognized the Golan Heights as part of the State of Israel do you believe that President Trump perhaps will listen to our prime minister after yesterday's remarks directly to Bolton I mean I would guess that John Bolton realizes that it's essential for the Galant to remain part of Israel but do you think that will have an impact on future US policies visa vie Israel controlling the Golan it's possible and it coincides and possibly also was generated by a move to that effect on Capitol Hill there is a move by some significant legislators to urge the administration to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights however I have a slight problem with that because certainly the Golan Heights is very critical for US national security but Judea and Samaria the mountain ridges of Judea Samaria they are the Golan Heights of Jerusalem they are the Golan Heights of Tel Aviv they are the Golan Heights of the entire coastal plain of Israel they got there the Golan Heights of ben-gurion airport there the mountain heights of freeway 6 so how can one refer to who have potential recognition of Israel's sovereignty or the Golan Heights without reckoning that much more important for Israel happens to be the mountain of Judea Samaria and last month please this race control of the Golan Heights is critical for America's interests and it's time that we at least in Israel realized that the u.s. does conduct its affairs based on its own interest not somebody else's interest if Israel would not be on the Golan Heights back in 1970 there would not be today the Hashemite regime in Jordan the only reason that the Hashemite regime in Jordan escaped and halation back in September 1970 when the Syrian military invaded Jordan when the Palestinians rebelled subverted the Hashemite regime in Jordan the only reason was Israeli deployment of its own forces to the joint Israel Syria Jordanian frontier which means the Golan Heights and within 48 hours without shooting a single bullet the Syrian military withdrew back to to Syria for Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights would undermine America's national security in the Middle East and certainly an Israeli withdrawal from the mountain ridges of the Goron Heights would doom to oblivion the Hashemite regime that is going to that would cause a ripple effect into Saudi Arabia into the entire Persian Gulf would be a great price for the ayatollahs for Russia for the Muslim Brotherhood a major major blow to America's national security interests it's amazing what you said before and I never thought of it like this you said you'd Judea and Samaria is the Golan Heights of Israel's coastal plain the airport the greater Tel Aviv area that that is a unique quote so I thank you for that that's I never thought of it like that but you're exactly right no doubt speaking of US interests because President Trump has made it clear that he has the interests of the American people in mind America first that's one of his slogans it has been since he was elected so it was revealed I believe yesterday or the day before that the Trump team team Trump has decided that they are perhaps going to push off the introduction of any us-based or sponsored piece plant here in the Middle East and I would like to know from you and now that Israel is heading towards elections come April the 9th is this a move specifically based on US interests is this president Trump doing the Prime Minister of Israel Bibi Netanyahu a favor because as we know if we'd start negotiating now whatever the parameters are of the Trump plan it could have a an impact on Netanyahu's and the Likud's chances for for sustaining a lot of Knesset seats if the Prime Minister being reelected is is that the thinking is Prime Minister Trump on board with Prime Minister with sorry president Trump on board the Prime Minister Netanyahu to a point where he is willing to delay this as a result specifically to help Netanyahu or perhaps it's just because of Elections in general that the US has decided to wait on this plan which the president by the way said he would introduce by the end of 2018 and that did not happen as far as the u.s. peace initiative and my hope is that the architects of US national security policy will wake up to the idea that with all due respect to the arab-israeli conflict to the palestinian-israeli conflict those are tumbleweeds tumbleweeds in face of the real stormy a smothered sandstorms threatening America's interest in the Middle East and beyond namely the u.s. in my mind should focus on the Iranian threat on the Sunni terrorism threat on the Russian encroachment into the the Middle East the the stability of the Sisi regime in Egypt the might regime in Jordan introducing an American peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians at this stage would ignore the track record of all US peace plans going back to the 1950s all of them failed now all of them were generated by very good intentions but all of them failed because they faced the reality of the Middle East and the reality of the Middle East is that whenever the u.s. presents a Peace Initiative it forces the Arabs to outflank that initiative from the more radical side and therefore it and fuels rather than water to the fire here in our in our regional moreover America's allies Arab allies in the Middle East certainly are way way way more concern about the ayatollahs machete at their throat then they are about an palestinian-israeli initiative and certainly the u.s. is aware to the fact that the only two successful peace initiatives have been initiated by the parties directly Israel Egypt Israel Jordan the u.s. played a major role in both those successful initiatives but not as an initiator as a deal sealer as a deal concluded facilitating the to punish to conclude their own direct initiative and there and I hope that when it comes to an initiative it will focus on that ayatollahs threat rather than on the palestinians there are certain rumors coming out of washington that there is an netanyahu Crown Prince Salman being around the corner maybe within few days maybe within weeks my hope is that there will be such a meeting but this meaning should again focus on the future of the house of CERN on the future of Sheikh Khalifa in Bahrain on their future and the survival of the current pro-american regimes in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in Oman and certainly bolstering the Hashemites in Jordan and Cici in Egypt not adding fuel to the israeli-palestinian fire which all due respect is not even a Junior League issue compared to the professional league issues of the real challenges facing America's national security in the Middle East today ambassador and eager we are out of time I hope the listeners understand and fully appreciate as I do your insight into all of these issues Israel US relations the situation here in the Middle East so I really want to thank you for your time ambassador Yoram Ettinger consul former Consul General Southwest United States Minister of congressional affairs at Israel's Embassy in Washington and as you can obviously hear an expert on us-israel relations and so many other things Middle East wishing you a wonderful day of what of a good Rosh Hodesh spot only good things I appreciate your time coming back on the show thanks so much for your analysis thank you and thank you for your determined initiative to educate the public at large thank you thanks so much for that you are listening to Israel uncensored on the Land of Israel network at the Land of Israel calm my name is Josh hastin we're gonna take a quick break come back with so much more news situation down in Gaza rocket launch last night we'll talk about in just a minute don't forget you can get in touch from the during the week Josh at the Land of Israel calm on facebook it's Joshua hastin and on Twitter at Josh hastin shout out to my main man Benjamin's rescue the in press key engineer extraordinaire without him we tonight at these shows done and Tabitha Epstein as well who works on our Land of Israel staff thanks so much and we'll take a short break don't go anywhere coming right back with the news if you want to improve relations between Israel and American Jews one of the things that you should do is encourage people to listen to the Land of Israel Network listen to Eve Harrow and listen to each I Fletcher and listen to Ari and Jeremy and slo-mo Katz and listened at Mike foyer and listen to Josh hastin because the Land of Israel Network has a mission and that's to spread love between Israel American Jews there's so much to love about Israel there's so much to love about Israelis and I think the Land of Israel Network is part of the solution you are all part of the solution you're listening to the Land of Israel network at the Land of Israel comm broadcasting the trees and beauty of Israel to the world [Music] and we are back Tashi stood here Israel uncensored on the Land of Israel never got the Land of Israel calm it is Monday January the 7th 2019 time is flying when you're having fun it is rosh chodesh wat it's snowed last night in Gush Etzion did you know this Ben last night in the gush we had snow it didn't stick to the ground but we had for I don't know for about an hour so there was some snow you can go to my facebook page and see my car with a layer of snow on it it is amazing to have snow it is really cold here in Israel today I am in Jerusalem this is Israel uncensored on the Land of Israel network at the Land of Israel calm thanks again to ambassador your anger that's inside folks you're just not getting in the mainstream media they're not getting it in many places so I thank him for his time and for his insight everything else going on here again so as he mentioned trop Trump's top aide John Bolton was here actually caused a little bit of a controversy what's really not controversial I mean who would think visiting the Western Wall would be such a big deal but John Bolton visiting the old city of Jerusalem the Western Wall and he got a tour of the western wall tunnel tunnels this of course upsetting Sipe Eric at the so called Secretary General of the PLO denouncing the visit on Twitter nothing new there but it was nice to see John Bolton he's a great friend of Israel he's a great friend as the Ambassador mentioned working to resend that Zionism is racism clause there as when when he was the US ambassador to the UN but Bolton images you can see him with ambassador David Friedman ambassador Ron Dermer at the Kotel yesterday in the old city of Jerusalem it was nice to see that now last night last night as I was sleeping about 3 a.m. Arabs in Gaza Hamas whomever launched a rocket towards the Israeli coastal town of Ashkelon the Iron Dome defense system intercepted the rocket how did this all start it again remember it was only a matter of time before things heated up again on the Gaza border yesterday morning Hamas or one of the other terror gangs and Gaza sent over some type of bomb I mean that's what really what it was a bomb it looked like it was in the shape of a drone attached to I don't know it looked like 50 or so balloons sent over it into Israel it actually was a legitimate explosive device again the goal is to murder Israeli children children are attracted by balloons the hope is that a kid will see balloons in a field and run out and pick up the balloons and get killed this is attempted murder so Israel then took action and struck different targets throughout Gaza and then of course as a result of that well that really is a result that's the excuse let's be clear as the excuse to that then Hamas launched a rocket so they send over incendiary device Israel of course responds and then Hamas blames Israel for responding and launches a rocket at about 3 a.m. the Code Red app went off I missed it I was sound asleep on my phone and the iron dome took out a rocket we will have to see here today Monday if the situation down in the South escalates any further with anybody who thought there was a legitimate ceasefire or there'd be quiet down there guess again at the same time Arab terrorists the night before last this was a miracle they fired at a bus at a negative bus travelling in the area of Bethel and you could see the pictures in the video on my Facebook page you see a bullet hole in the window to the left of the driver's seat and then another one to the right this is a true miracle a driver sustained light wounds from the shrapnel of the bullets miracle no doubt egged of course very very upset by the situation as more and more buses are being attacked by rocks and by here in this case a shooting attack egged I believe I don't know if it's still going on I know egged was planning a strike here for this morning in certain areas as a result demanding that their drivers and their passengers be secured I mean I think that's a you reasonable a request to put it mildly I actually noticed on the way into Jerusalem today a substantial or significant idea of security presence on the roads and I think it should be like that all the time I know the IDF is operating 24/7 but today I actually saw I I believe a more more significant presence especially in places like Toccoa and all these other places where there is daily daily Rach attacks and fire bomb attacks for those who thinks it's just a one-off or here and there I get messages from hot Salah you Davos and run at solid Judea and Samaria also known as rescuers Without Borders I get their messages and it's between 10 and 20 different incidents each and every day at the same time times of Israel reports that Israeli security forces on Friday night arrested a man an Arab whose two brothers have been implicated in two recent terror attacks Mohammed bar Goudie this bar gude tribe I'm telling you a lot of bad seeds in that bar goudi tribe detained by troops and Khobar village near Ramallah according to local media IDF officials said that his brother awesome is suspected of carrying out a deadly attack at even Asif on December the 13th Arab media said Israeli forces threatened family members they could be deported to Jericho if they did not give up awesome within days now I'm not sure what this deport a deportation to Jericho would do in terms of creating a deterrence it's probably an inconvenience to have to leave your town and move to a different city but that's another town which is controlled by the PA I say deport them out of the country send a clear message especially in these cases where we know that the family is involved in terror deport the entire family get them out of here send a message that if you carry out an attack if you aid in a bed a terrorist it was a member of your family you have the chance of being deported that should be that should be the thread that I believe would create deterrence yet at the same time and I don't understand this and this has happened many times before I don't get it maybe you could help me explain this I just don't get this at all this year reported by Israel national news on Friday the body of Rahman Abu Jamal who carried out a stabbing attack at the police station in armona Nats Eve about a month and a half and ago he was killed by I think police or security forces as he tried to carry out the stabbing attack his body was returned to his family this Friday afternoon why are we turning rid returning the bodies of terrorists why all they do is they have mass funerals even though they're not supposed to mass rallies where they call for the destruction of the State of Israel it incites and inspires the next generation that they too can die as a martyr in their view for carrying out murderous attacks or attempted attacks against Israelis why does Israel why is this a humanitarian gesture this is an enabler this is an another tool used to incite the next generation these funerals why do we turn over the terrorist body I don't think we have any obligation to do so I don't believe so I don't think there's some kind of law these are terrorists this isn't even like you know in a war where you turn over bodies of the deceased of your enemy this is an ongoing war of terror against the State of Israel no reason to return the bodies in some good news the country of Brazil plans to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem taking a book out of rather a page out of the book that's the expression of the United States Brazil plans to relocate relocate its embassy according to The Jerusalem Post from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem country's president yeah air bolson arrow confirmed in an interview with SBT television on Thursday saying that more radical Arab nations will object to the move but others will not and he doesn't care because he's going to do it anyway from what I understand well the Prime Minister of Israel was just over there a new strong relationship forming with Brazil in light of the fact that the president balsa narrow is a fan of the Jewish state and the Jewish people we're not sure exactly it says his quote is it's not a matter of if they're going to move the embassy to Jerusalem the question is when so the Brazilians working out when they or they are going to be I believe the third nation to move the embassy as it should be to our capital in Jerusalem Egypt's president in other news the president of Egypt al Sisi was on CBS the other day he gave this interview I don't understand how this happens he gave this interview and then he actually asked that see 60 minutes on CBS pull the interview why I mean I don't get it I don't know why he would say some things and then have it asked to have it pulled but he talked about military cooperation between Egypt and Israel saying it's reached an unprecedented level in Sinai where the Egyptians are battling Isis terrorists now Israel he says has been helping out in this battle but for some reason he I guess he got cold feet he wanted CBS to pull it and I didn't watch the interview but from what I understand they certainly aired the interview with the head of the nation of Egypt but you know there you see more cooperation Israel of course sharing that 240 clamoring border Israel built a security fence down there not necessarily only for terrorists but also infiltrators who were have been coming into the country over the last couple years according to foreign reports here The Jerusalem Post says the militaries of the two countries Israel need to meet regularly to exchange intelligence and the fight against Isis and Cairo has given the green light to Jerusalem to strike the terrorists by air so there you have the relationship between even even though you still can call it a cold peace between Israel and Egypt and finally one BDS fail which I'd like to report on the UK Pink Floyd tribute band as here in Israel playing a show bed did you go to the show yes Ben was there Ben brettski was there let him let him tell you about it let him come on the air and tell you about the UK Pink Floyd experience landing at Ben Gurion Airport Thursday night I saw images of a lot of different pro-israel advocates meeting them at the airport thanking them for coming and playing in Israel because of course Roger Waters the anti-israel anti-semitic hater BDS advocate try to encourage the UK Pink Floyd van not to come and play in Israel they did there was a whole issue whether they were gonna play his song songs that want waters had a hand on apparently they did not perform any songs that Roger Waters wrote another brick in the wall they didn't do and comfortably numb' and some of the more well-known songs but from what I hear it was still a great show and another BDS failed those trying to boycott the State of Israel if you're losing we just had four million tourists in 2018 UK Pink Floyd tribute band was here Bon Jovi's coming back this summer you haters are losing you're causing a lot of you're making a lot of noise that's for sure but the BDS will not succeed you guys are failing miserably and more and more people are visiting the Jewish state of Israel and with that if you missed any part of the show you can always go back and listen to it on demand either on the Land of Israel comms website on soundcloud on my facebook page on itunes a lot of ways you can get all of the wonderful programming and hear from all of the wonderful colleagues of mine my fellow hosts here at the land of israel network again big shout out to Benjamin brettski Tabitha Steen and everyone at Land of Israel nest network my name is Josh hastin for the 7th of January 2019 Rosh Chodesh schrott have a wonderful month to b'shvat right around the corner does not feel like spring here it is ice-cold it's about three degrees celcius at least it was this morning which is about 30-something degrees Fahrenheit and we had some snow again last night I hope it keeps snowing it's snowing in the north the pheromone apparently is getting a ton of snow hopefully the ski season will be opening here in the days head get in touch with me during the week - at the Land of Israel calm on Facebook it's Joshua hastin and on Twitter at Josh hastin most importantly we now and when we speak again next Monday please got everyone everyone out there and the wonderful world about be safe Shalom Shalom from a cold and blistery but beautiful Jerusalem eternal capital of the tuition fee facility level decision says Paul Tillich is a risk rooted in the courage of being free now I'm feeling pretty free right now I thought the courage take some risks because I've made a decision this is the last episode of season two I'm Rob Mike Weir and this is the Jewish story join Roth Mike foyer for the best Jewish history podcast the Jewish story on the land of Israel not