Judging Freedom - Alastair Crooke : Will Netanyahu Blame Gaza Failures on Trump?

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

Alastair Crooke : Will Netanyahu Blame Gaza Failures on Trump?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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And with Ollie's in-app on-demand health screenings, tap real experts whenever you need peace of mind. Visit ollie.com slash crossover and use code crossover for 60% off your first box. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, December 22, 2025. Alastair Crook will be with us in just a moment. When the Gaza peace deal collapses, if it's even a peace deal, will Netanyahu blame Trump. But first, this. History tells us every market eventually falls. Currencies collapse. And look at where we are now. 38 trillion. in national debt. Stocks at record highs defying gravity.

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And that's why I buy my gold and silver from Lear. And right now you can get up to $20,000 in bonus medals with a qualified purchase. Call 800, 511, 4620 or go to Lear Judge National. App.com today. Alstair, welcome here, my dear friend. I'm fascinated with some of your writings. I'm always fascinated with your writings over the weekend, one of which opined that there are people in the Middle East

who believe that President Trump is more interested in acquiring Arab money than he is in bringing peace in the Middle East. Is there much of a basis for that view? Yes. Oh, definitely. Within Israel, within the circles around Netanyahu, they are becoming rather, can I put it a bit sort of bluntly, there's a certain degree of bias remorse that having put Trump into his position in the United States, they expected something rather different and they feel he's been, he puts, if, you like the relationship with Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the UAE higher than that of Israel in many cases. I'm not saying that he does. I'm saying this is the feeling that exists within Israel is that he is sort of mesmerized by the billions, the trillions on offer. And his family are making so much money out of that. That by comparison, Israel's

interests of becoming subsidiary to the interests of the Gulf states with their money and their projects and Trump building towers in various parts of the Middle East, but also the family, the Whitkoff children, the Trump children, all making lots of money out of the Gulf. So they see it as pulling him away from Trump, if you like Netanyahu's. interests. And they see that in practical terms. They see that in terms of the Gaza ceasefire, where they are completely at odds with Trump on this. Netanyahu wants the first part of the second stage, which you recall Trump deliberately left undefined to get the ceasefire going and then left that. But Netanyahu wants Hamas disarmed. And

removed from power. First thing, then international forces, all the rest later. And of course, what Trump is proposing is the reverse. International forces, you know, technocratic government, and then finally at the end of the process, look at what to do about Hamas. So that's a real rift. But the rift exists also on Syria because Trump would like an agreement. I mean, Barack, Tom Barak virtually says this, you know, what Trump wants is an agreement, something, you know, headline, something that's, you know, Syria and Netanyahu shown sort of, you know, coming together and there's a great PR exercise there.

And Netanyahu and Israel actually just want to be able to have freedom of military action wherever they choose across Syria. And that, of course, is disrupting Tom Barak's plans for some sort of, you know, event which will signal the sort of coming together of the new Syrian regime and Israel. And the same with Lebanon. Israel wants to keep bombing the south of Lebanon

and wants to keep bombing Hezbollah in complete flagrance of the agreement of the ceasefire and really you know what um um barak's once and which is what whitkoff had suggested some time ago when he in his talk with um tucker kalsen and he said you know actually we want Lebanon to normalize with Israel and to become part of the accords so all of these things are causing a sense of division in the Netanyahu camp, just before he is going to Miami, I think, on the 27th or 28th,

it flies on the 28th, Netanyahu and family, are going to Miami to Palm Beach on the 28th and are expecting to have a meeting with Trump on that day, although Trump is standing off a bit, and they say, well, it hasn't been put in finally on the agenda, well, Nanyahu is expecting two meetings, one on the 29th and one later. And at the moment, it's unconfirmed.

But this touches on the other issue, which is really irritating, if you like, Israelis and where they are questioning merits, the value of Trump, his presidency. And that is the question of Iran, because in the question of Iran, Netanyahu has made it very clear this is still a top priority. But the dilemma is Trump attack these four sites, these sites in Iran and claims everything was obliterated. Nothing to do here. No more to see. Nothing to see. Let's move on. And what Bibi is planning, he has just changed, pointed his military secretary as the head of Mossad. And Mossad only works to the prime minister, no one else. And his

military secretary is known to have sort of radical ideas on Israel's nuclear deterrent Roman Goffman and so and it's sort of think rather similar late to Netanyahu

so there is a suggestion in Israel that this is the motive the real motive to this forthcoming visit to Mara Lago if it happens on the 29th of January the summit going to be an important one because really what what how Netanyahu has a new way

of presenting it from or at least he hoped to have a new way so he's not going to go in and and talk about their nuclear weapons per se because Trump says they're obliteration so what he's saying is oh beware actually Iran is rebuilding its ballistic missile capability it's really not just re-arming, it's reorganizing it. It's doing it in a different way, and it's a threat, and what he's doing is conflating the two. He says, well, you know, these new missiles, this new defense capacities that Iran is getting,

actually is covering for the nuclear one. This is going to be the shield for the nuclear program. So we won't be able to hit the nuclear programs if we had to. if they continue with these ballistic missiles and these missile program. So he's conflating the two together to say, you know, what we're really targeting is the ballistic program and we want you to assist. We can do it alone, but it would be much better if the United States comes and assists us.

So Netanyahu is going to make the argument that Iran does not have the moral or legal authority to build ballistic missiles to protect itself from an attack from Israel. Exactly, exactly. He's going to conflate the two things together and say, you know, the danger now from Iran, we thought it was a nuclear program, but no, it's really their new rearmament with their missiles, their air defenses, their putting new defensive systems across Iran, which would prevent us in any case being able to take action. against the nuclear program.

So this is how he's going to present it, according to all the reports in the Hebrew press, about the plans for this meeting. And he will talk about the stage two in Gaza. But really, I mean, they've already made a decision. They're not going to go and attack Trump on the Gaza. They're just going to let it fail. They believe that Trump's

Phase two is almost certain to fail. Events will overcome it and it will fail. What is, I mean, we know that the ceasefire has been a failure because the IDF is killing people because they mistakenly cross imaginary lines, lines that are not even shown on the ground. But what is supposed to happen in phase two? Is this Tony Blair becoming the Governor General? I think actually he's being kicked out. out. Apparently, the Arab states were successful. Again, Arab state, you know, again, it

comes back to that money issue. Trump being mesmerized by the trillions, listened to the Arab states who said, you know, Blair is not the person for this. But there's no agreement on what to do, what this international security force. But it's supposed to come in, and they want Egypt particularly to come in. Now, Egypt may be Sisi, may be in Miami, more or less at the same time, and you can guess what's being planned, you know, another sort of great, you know, love in at Mara Lago between Sisi and Netanyahu. Only Sisi is very reluctant to be engaged in this, and very reluctant to participate in this international security force because he thinks it means disarming Hamas and that's going to cause a huge ruction internally in Egypt.

Right. Why would Hamas disarm while Netanyahu and his fanatics are running the government when they've said they want to slaughter every Palestinian? Well, that's precisely what Hamas has said. We're not disarming and this is causing the, that's why Netanyahu is so angry with Trump because Trump isn't insisting on that, and the disarming of Hamas is the first priority. He's saying, well, let's get the security force, let's get a technocratic government into Gaza first, and then eventually we can think about what to do about Hamas.

And some people in Washington have been saying, well, you know, Hamas might just have to be a part of the new government. And then, now, who hates this language, dislikes it intensely. And so there really are sort of sense of, you know, disappointment. And I would go as far as saying, you know, there are, I mean, sometimes they would, you know, Netanyahu talks about his discussions with Trump. And he says, you know, he comes out exhausted. And he says, you never know where you are when you're talking to Trump.

It's exhausting. And then one day it's one thing. the next day it's another thing. You never know where you are with him. And this is why I think they're approaching the nuclear thing, because, you know, Trump tried to block it by saying, oh, it's obliterated. We don't have to discuss this.

So they're coming at it at this angle from the ballistic missile side in order to say, no, well, now we need to do, it's the missiles that are a problem, because that's what's enabling Iran to continue with its nuclear program. And all of this is really at odds because they just don't trust that Trump will back them up on Iran, you know, because he gave the green light, but then he said it's been obliterated, which rather sort of put a ceiling to that, if you like, a project. So they're not happy.

And, you know, this is coming in a background of, you know, general feeling of mistrust, which you see. I know others that are going to talk about Venezuela and so on. But, you know, now the three ships have been seized. Now a Russian ship has been attacked in the Mediterranean with drones. Apparently, the SBU, that is the Ukrainian secret service, claim that they did this and they damaged this tanker as it was leaving the Mediterranean.

But all of these, you know, are suggesting very much both to China and indeed to Russian, say, well, look, we read the NSS, the strategic statement, you know, which said China is no longer, you know, a primary threat, but it is an economic competitor. And look what's happening. You've just seized, you know, a Chinese-owned Panama flag tanker going from Venezuela to China. Do you think we're going to just sit back and think this is, oh, business is usual? I mean, this is lawless. They're completely lawless. Well, it's an act of war.

I mean, these seizures and blockades are actually defined as an act of war. He's going to bring it back to Gaza for a minute because there was this, and you commented on it in one of your writings of the weekend, there was this bizarre statement made at a Hanukkah party at the White House where the American Uber Zionist Fox commentator Mark Levine referred to President Trump as the first Jewish president. And Trump, even though, of course, he's not Jewish agreed. And then Trump went on to say, you know, you're lucky you have me because most American conservatives hate Israel. How are statements like that viewed by the Zionists

or the Netanyahu people? They view it as damaging. Just to be clear, I mean, You might imagine that they would be sort of pleased that, you know, the suggestion that they had a Jewish, the first Jewish president of the United States, but they're not because they can see what's happening. And they're acutely aware how the wind is changing amongst young Americans, particularly in the MAGA form. And they will have seen, and they followed very closely, you know, the arguments that TP. USA that has just concluded in the US and they see you know the the the the strong feelings that are generated and so I think they would have thought this and the

embrace that was given to Merriam Adelson again after the Knesset one but you know yes you've got everything you asked for from me I mean they see this is gratuitously rubbing up the America firsters in the wrong way. And so, you know, in many ways, I mean, I think they would be, and someone put it like this, I think they'd be quite happy if he actually just disappeared Trump, that is. I don't know, I mean, I'm not suggesting they have any plans to disappear him at all. I wouldn't say that. But I'm saying, you know, they're looking at the midterm elections and what the prognostications are there. And I think, you know, they're reviewing their endorsement and their support for Trump and thinking, you know, well, what next?

And where should Israel go, given that its first priority is to command, you know, the conservative republican element in the United States? Here's Secretary of State Rubio on Friday, sounding his Zionist best. Chris, cut number 16. Everyone wants peace. No one wants to return to a war. If Hamas is ever in a position in the future that they can threaten or attack Israel, you're not going to have peace. You're not going to convince anyone to invest money in Gaza if they believe another war

is going to happen in two to three years. So I would just ask everyone to focus on what are the kind of weaponries and capabilities that Hamas would need in order to threaten or attack Israel as a baseline for what disarmament needs to look like? Because you're not going to have peace. If two years from now, Hamas is launching rockets or killing Israelis or carrying out, God forbid, another 7th of October-type terrorist attack and so forth, you're not going to have peace. So who's going to invest in a peace, who's going to invest in rebuilding a place that's going

to get destroyed again in a future war? So that's why disarmament is so critical. Now, what that entails, we're going to leave that to the technical teams to work on. It would have to be something, obviously, that they're willing to agree to, that our partners can push them and pressure them to agree to. It also has to be something that Israel agrees to. In order for that to work, both sides have to agree on it, and we need the space to do it. But that's the way to think about it, okay? You cannot have a Hamas that can threaten Israel in the future.

If they can, you won't have peace. Has blinders on. The IDF is continuing to slaughter children, because, that wandered to the wrong side of the street. Exactly, but I think it also underlines something that I think is quite dangerous for the United States, this fracture that exists between what people are suggesting is anti-Semitism and support for Israel.

Because really in the middle of this, what everyone is saying, well, you know, Islamist are the threat, are the threat that we must remove, that we have to be fighting Islamists. And as you will make call, I mean long ago, I mean more than 20 years ago, I was warning the United States, and I went to Washington specifically to say, it is a great danger to define everything as political Islam.

and to make no differentiation between groups that are not a threat to the United States or to the West and others that are distinctly dangerous and threatening to the United States and to Europe as a whole. And I said it will end up with bombs in your cities if you go down the route of supporting the most extreme Islamic jihadist. I mean, the most jihadist elements of political, of it, and call it all political Islam. Is a Sufi an Islamist, and therefore must be killed as an enemy? Of course not. Is an Islamist who simply wants to live in a society and the values of Islam? And there are values, good values in Islam, as well as there are factions of Islam, which are a threat to us.

But unless there's a differentiation and an understanding, a differential understanding that some groups are a real threat, and they are a threat, and others are not a threat, and that Muslims may want to live in a society under Islamic values, is another thing. But we seem to be going down the road again, again after all these years that I mentioned to. Washington, long ago, just to call everything, you know, political Islam, without differentiating, without understanding it, without making a separation of the components and treating them differentiating. Then we will end up alienating much more of the Islamic world than we intend or want and moving us towards a confrontation, because the outcome of this dilemma,

a real argument that is taking place within United States about the role of Israel within the American polity could back far in terms of, if you like, just categorizing nearly all Muslims, whatever their background and whatever their sentiments, as Islamists, dangerous. Like conflating, you know, these movements in Palestine with, if you like, the jihadists of the Wahhabist jihadists

that we've seen in Iraq and elsewhere, the headcutters, all those people, those dangerous people, who support the management of savagery as their guiding piece of work. Those people, I mean, need to be, if you like, removed. But who's supporting those? The Friends of America, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, both Wahhabi states. That's where it came from. Originally it came from, actually, to go right back,

it came back from the father of Kim Filby, the famous spy. He was an advisor to Ibn Saude in the last century, and he said to Ibn Said, look, we will support you against the other factions in the Middle East, and Wahhabism is the tool that you can use. These extremists from the Nedge desert, these are the tools by which you can control the whole of the Middle East. And that sets it up, and we use them in Afghanistan, we used them in Iraq. in Syria, the most extreme elements, we are the ones that we have been backing consistently for the last decades. And now I can see us going into another round of that by saying everything is the fault of the Islamists. I hope not. Wow. Last question. What do you think the Chinese will do about the seizure of this tanker? I think they will

certainly react. It's not just the tanker. The other thing that happened at the same time was, and again, you have to say, what is Trump thinking when they gave 11 billion of weapons to Taiwan in these last days, announced 11 billion, including missiles, intermediate range missiles that can strike from Taiwan into mainland China across the straits. Yes. attack arms and other Haemars, long-range missiles that can bridge the straits and go straight into China. And the Chinese, you'd be very surprised to hear, are furious. And they say, and I just don't know

how to explain it. What is Trump thinking? I mean, I thought he wants and understands that some sort of relationship with China is in the US's economic interest, because the situation in America is economically fragile. Why are you going to do this? Because, you know, what China will do is they won't attack. There won't be an attack in Taiwan, whatever people may fantasize about that.

But he has economic tools. And I wouldn't be surprised if we see a big sell-off in U.S. treasury bills or that the rare earths suddenly dry up coming to the United States. There will be a reaction. Just as Putin promised a reaction to the strike on the tanker. It happened on Friday in the middle of his, you know, long answer in question, speech, and he said, Russia will react to this attack on this tanker.

It sounds like there will be plenty of us to watch and look for during the coming Christmas holidays. Alastair, thank you very much. Thank you for your time. Thanks for accommodating my schedule, as always. Merry Christmas to you and your family. We'll see you in two weeks. All the best, my friend. Thank you very much, and happy Christmas to you and to your mother.

Oh, thank you. She'll love hearing that. Thank you, Alistair. All the best. Coming up later today to 10 this morning, Ray McGovern at 1130, Larry Johnson, to this afternoon, Professor Glenn Deeson at 4 this afternoon, Scott Ritter, Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thank you.