Judging Freedom - Larry Johnson: Unconscionable Israeli Arrests

Episode Date: June 17, 2024

Larry Johnson: Unconscionable Israeli ArrestsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thank you. Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, June 17, 2024. Larry Johnson will be here in just a moment on the evidence of Israel arresting scores of people, Palestinians, without any evidence, and on the reactions to President Putin's peace offering. But first this. You all know that I am a paid spokesperson for Lear Capital, but I'm also a customer, a very satisfied customer. About a year ago, I bought gold and it's now increased in value 23%. So $100 invested in gold a year ago is now worth $123. You have $100 in the bank, it still shows $100, but $100 in the bank is now worth 24% less. Inflation has reduced all of your savings, all of your buying power and mine by 24%. And gold is largely immune from that. If you want to learn how gold will soon hit $3,200 an ounce,

call Lear Capital. 800-511-4620 or go to learjudgenap.com. Get your free gold report. Same experts who predicted the 23% rise that I've enjoyed have predicted this $3,200 an ounce gold. Learn about how to transfer this to an IRA. Protect your savings. 800-511-4620. Learjudgesnap.com. Tell them the judge sent you. Larry, welcome here, my dear friend. Thanks, Judge. I want to start with the peace offering by President Putin. And the words he used, we're going to play the clip in just a minute. It's a long clip. It's a long statement he made. We're going to play the guts of it. The statement he made at the very end about as soon as he gets assurances from Ukraine, Russian forces will immediately, on the same day, withdraw.

Chris, if we have that, please. The West is ignoring our interests and at the same time, forbidding Kyiv to negotiate, all the while hypocritically calling us to some kind of negotiations. It just seems foolish. Ukrainian troops must be fully withdrawn from Donetsk and Luhansk peoples' republics, and from the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. And I draw your attention to the fact that it includes the entire territory of these regions within their administrative borders, as they existed when they joined Ukraine. Once Kiev declares its readiness and starts the genuine withdrawal of its troops from these areas, as well as officially notify about the abandonment of

plans to join NATO, our side will immediately, literally at the same minute, follow the order to cease fire and start negotiations. Immediately, literally at the same minute. Of course, they had a much better deal on the table, negotiated in Istanbul, an inch thick, initialed by the negotiators until the U.S. got involved. Your thoughts on what President Putin did and said, and your thoughts on the reaction by Western leaders. Ukraine, under the leadership of Zelensky, has a great knack for making the worst deal possible. You know, if they would have settled two years ago in March of 2022 with Russia,

Luhansk and Donetsk would still be part of Ukraine, as well as Zaporizhia and Kherson. Now what Putin's saying is, OK, we're going to see Putin still doesn't have full control of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. And so he's basically said, OK, you're going to give those to us. That's the deal we're making or else we're going to take them. And he conveniently left out, deliberately left out any mention of Odessa. Well, you know, so here here's Ukraine in the West. We reject it. I mean, immediately rejected. Didn't even take time to consider it. Wouldn't discuss it. All right. So what Putin's going to do is he's

going to finish militarily taking Zaporizhia and Kherson and Donetsk, which means they're going to kill a lot more Ukrainians. They're going to take physical control of that. And then they're going to take Kiev and Odessa. Kiev is the Russian state. Kiev and Odessa. Yes. Yeah. He didn't say anything about those in his negotiation, but Kiev historically, I mean, that was the birthplace of the Russian church, you know, and we're talking over a thousand years ago. I think it was 998 AD. So they're, you know, they're not going to back away from that at all. Putin is very much

a lawyer. That's a real negative for him. Sorry about that, Judge. Understood. I'm starting a career with those folks. Understood. But he does do things from a legal standpoint and tries to dot the I's and cross the T's.

But, Larry, this is the first time I have heard you or any of our colleagues say you have reason to believe Putin will take Kiev. I mean, that's the capital. That's like cutting off the dead, isn't it? That's the end of it. Yeah, that'll be the end game here. Right now, so here's the interim deal. So if two years ago when they made the offer to settle things and to withdraw U.S. Russian troops from Donetsk and Luhansk,

it was conditional upon Ukraine saying, okay, we're not going to join NATO and we're going to respect the right of the people of Luhansk and Donetsk to rule themselves and to continue to speak Russian. And the Ukrainians said, hell no, that's not going to happen. We're going to defeat you. Well, how has that gone? Since then, they've lost Mariupol.

They're in the process of, you know, they've lost the large segments of Donetsk. Luhansk has been taken back. Parts of Zaporizhia are under Russian control. And Kursan, parts of the Kursan Oblast is under Russian control. And more each passing day. So, you know, they're like that bad poker player at the casino who's run out of money, got a bad hand dealt, and they continue to bet and try to bluff. Our friend and colleague Pepe Escobar referred to taking Kiev as a decapitation. And I guess it would be a decapitation because there'd be no governmental leadership structure remaining. I want to play for you the smug statements of Secretary General Stoltenberg

and U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin. We'll play them one right after the other. Cuts five and seven, Chris. It's not for Ukraine to withdraw forces from Ukrainian territory. It's for Russia to withdraw their forces from occupied Ukrainian land. And this proposal is a proposal that actually means that Russia should have the right to occupy even more Ukrainian land. He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about a peace.

I think, you know, that's exactly the kind of behavior that we don't want to see a leader of one country wake up one day and decide that he wants to erase borders and annex the territory of his neighbor. That's not the world that any of us want to live in. And so I think, you know, he is not, in my view, not in a position to dictate to Ukraine what it must do to pursue peace. Well, he should really look in the mirror and read American history if he's concerned about a country dictating to others. Yeah, well, I mean, just it shows he's, I guess he's sleeping through his daily intelligence briefings. You know, he's not paying attention. Actually, the fact of the matter is, Putin is in a position to dictate,

and that's where it's going to be. Just like the Allies at the end of World War II, when the Soviet troops took over Berlin, they dictated to the Germans what the terms of surrender were. It was unconditional. They weren't going to, you know, it wasn't let's make a deal. You know, they didn't get the, you know. The Germans didn't get to choose what was behind door number one, door number two, or door number three. It was take it or leave it. This is it. This is

what you're going to do. That's where this is headed. Okay. But by not mentioning Odessa and by using the word negotiations, Putin indicated a willingness and a desirability of sitting down at the table. With whom? Because Zelensky is not the lawful head of state anymore. I guess Lavrov and Blinken could sit down at a table if Blinken would talk to him. Well, they could still, there's still authorities, there's still elected members of the Rada in the legislature that are legitimate. There's also, you know, Sersky, the head of the military. So there's still people that could be negotiated with just as the Nazi government fell apart,

you found the surrender terms were being negotiated with members of the military, of the Wehrmacht. And so I think that's where this is headed because, you know, Putin again is giving them a chance to save some face, to save some territory, to save some control. A friend of mine pointed out to me today, and he's, he's tracks commodities and he tracks grain purchases. And what is happening is that parts of Donetsk and Luhansk that Russia has taken control of already will so dramatically increase Russia's control over international grain markets that they will be

the dominant force. It'll be like Saudi Arabia being the only country in the world that has most of the oil. So there are those kinds of economic implications here as well. Why do you think the West is so arrogant and so quick to reject the offer. What will it take for the West to recognize that Ukraine is on its last leg and the time to negotiate is now, before, I'll use Pepe's phrase, the decapitation? A punch in the nose.

I mean, it's going to take that. Love you, Larry. I mean, look, Putin and the Russians have tried reason. You know, they've signed multiple. You know, they signed up to Minsk one. They signed up to Minsk two. And that's what Putin went through in detail during his speech before the foreign ministry. And Pepe Escobar talked about that at length on your last broadcast with him.

And in that, you know, Russia was trying to play along with the West. F.E. Escobar talked about that at length on your last broadcast with him. And in that, you know, Russia was trying to play along with the West. Well, the West has completely lost credibility. They have no credibility anymore with the Russians. And so you can stay in denial. You know, you can continue to go out and buy that pair of pants that will fit around your groin waistband just because you tell the tailor to put a 36-inch waistband on it, but it's really 40. Well, that's where the United States and NATO are. We're lying to ourselves about how fat we are. Oh, we're skinny.

We're still in good shape. No, we're not. And they keep denying that Russia's making the military progress it is. Russia has hypersonics. Russia has air dominance. Russia has fixed-wing aircraft. Russia has artillery. Russia has an ample artillery shells. And Russia has 1.3 million soldiers. On all of those things, Ukraine is lacking. I think Russian patience is wearing thin. I want you to listen to this clip from Foreign Minister Lavrov, and you can tell me if you agree. Cut number one. You know, we don't ask the West to trust us. Trust is not something which is illustrating the Western positions, the Western actions.

And today there were many examples. I don't want to recite those failures to deliver on the promises, those failures to deliver on the legal obligations. Frankly, I don't care whether the West trusts us or not. The West must understand the real situation. They don't understand anything except real politics. Let them go to the people. You are a democracy, right? Ask the people what the West should do in response to Putin's proposals.

Pretty strong. Oh, man. You know, if you think that's strong, did you hear what former President Medvedev said? Well, he's really out there. No. What did he say? He said, is the West afraid of social explosions?

Let's arrange them. We need to throw all the most ominous night terrors into their media sphere. Use all their terrible phantom pains. No need to spare their psyche anymore. Let them shiver in their cozy homes. Let them shiver under their blankets. Are they yelling about our use of fake news? Let's turn their life into a complete crazy nightmare in which they are not able to distinguish wild fiction from the realities of the day. Infernal evil from the routine of life.

So there is a contingent on Putin's right, which is pulling him in the direction of decapitation. Oh, yes. You have the most senior foreign minister and the savviest foreign minister on the planet saying, we don't trust you anymore, you don't trust us, and we don't care. Yeah.

And remember, he was being diplomatic. Yes. Which, you know, instead of coming up and calling him a bunch of lying SOBs and using profanity, he was being diplomatic. But you've got to read what he's saying because that is so unusual for a diplomat like Lavrov with his skill and his experience. So when he's coming to that position, America needs to wake up and take him seriously. Before we get to the latest in Gaza, here's President Putin, very strong language. We are inching to the point of no return. Number eight.

Lastly, the self-centeredness and arrogance of Western countries have led us to a highly perilous situation today. We are inching dangerously close to a point of no return. Calls for a strategic defeat of Russia, which possesses the largest arsenals of nuclear weapons, demonstrate the extreme recklessness of Western politicians. They either fail to comprehend the magnitude of the threat they are creating or are simply consumed by their notion of invincibility and exceptionalism.

Both scenarios can result in tragedy. It is evident that the entire system of Euro-Atlantic security is crumbling before our eyes. At present, it is practically non-existent and must be rebuilt. To achieve this, we must collaborate with interested countries, of which there are many, to develop our own strategies for ensuring security in Eurasia and then present them for broader international deliberation. This is the task set in the address to the Federal Assembly, to outline a vision for equal and indivisible security, mutually beneficial and equitable cooperation and development on the Eurasian continent in the foreseeable future.

There's a mouthful or an earful, however you want to look at it. He's got bricks in there. He's got, we're not afraid of you, and you're probably afraid of us, but you don't understand us, but I'll let you go with it. Run with it, Larry. Yeah, yeah. No, look, you can't ignore. He is not Lindsey Graham, okay? He's not a guy that just shoots his mouth off and says all sorts of things.

He never delivers. You know, Putin delivers. If you go back to, you know, like February 21st, February 20th, somewhere in there, he gave a speech where basically once you listen to that speech, you knew that Russia was going into Ukraine. They had now reached the point that there was no other alternative for them to act. And when he's using the words that he's using there about that this could lead to tragedy,

what he's talking about is the potential use of nuclear weapons and that it's not Russia's first option. It's not Russia's preferred option, but they're reacting to what the West is not only saying, but doing. And as the West continues to kill Russian civilians in Belgorod with Western-backed weapons, I think you're going to now see the Russians step up. They're going to start, it will start, I think, with the taking out of ISR assets that are flying over the Black Sea, you know, Predator drones in particular, or Global Hawks or others

that are being used to collect intelligence on the location of Russian forces. Right. Russia will start taking them, taking those down. They'll move. I think eventually to, you know, they're going to ratchet this up.

They're not going to go in one dramatic, you know, blow, but they're going to, they're going to start increasing the pain. The West is going to feel, and you're going to have to have the military commanders step back and say, okay,

we're not ready for this because, you know, just the fact of trying to mobilize troops and to deploy them, there's this process under, under the, what's called JOPES, the joint operation planning execution system. Right.

It's called tip fiddle. It's called TIPFIDL. It's the time phase deployment of troops. And I know like in 2003, before we invaded in Iraq in March, or I guess January of that year, that process started a year before. So you're looking at a long time to ramp up and move U.S. forces, conventional forces, if you're going to fight the Russians. Russians aren't going to wait. They're not going to give us time to build up.

They're not going to give us time to get ready. Once they see that we're making offensive moves, once we put F-16s into Romania, Russia is going to react. And they're going to react with violence, not with words. Here's Foreign Minister Lavrov just in April talking about nuclear. Currently, the United States and its NATO allies persist in their fixation on dealing a decisive blow to Russia. They seem prepared to keep opposing our nation, using Ukraine as their last stand, so to speak. Simultaneously, Western nations are precariously teetering towards a direct

military confrontation involving nuclear powers, carrying potential catastrophic outcomes. Sounds like the Russians are prepared for everything, Larry. Yeah. Yeah, well, look at, you know, compare the United States and Russia. Russia has air defense systems that are capable of intercepting intercontinental ballistic missiles. The United States does not. That's not to say that Russia's got a perfect system that would prevent them all, but at least they got a reasonable chance of survival. Russia has underground shelters to take care of its population in places like Moscow, St. Petersburg, other major cities that are capable of housing millions of people that have food and supplies, medical,

everything that's needed to sustain life. Can you imagine going down and having to live for even 24 hours in the subways in New York City? Oh, God. You know, so Russia's prepared for these contingencies because they've been through it before, not a nuclear war, but they've been attacked. They've been invaded.

They've had their people killed by foreign invaders. And so they are ready to deal with that contingency. The United States never has. I mean, you know, we dealt with the Brits in 1812. Okay. That was it. And, you know, we sing about Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans. I have the feeling that some of the Johnson boys, some of your direct ancestors were there.

Yeah, there were a couple. Right. We're a cranky lot. God love you. Before we go, I thought I was going to talk to you about this, but it was before Putin made his offer. You either wrote or spoke about recently large numbers of arrests in Israel without any suspicion or probable cause, but just on the basis of ethnicity. What is the Israeli government doing now? Well, what I did is I looked at the statistics that are published by the Israeli foreign ministry.

So understand, these are not Larry Johnson numbers, Larry Johnson opinions. These are the numbers, the official numbers of attacks and deaths by, you know, I'm putting quotation marks around terrorist attacks. In 2023, separating October 7th, 2023, the Israeli foreign ministry reports 11 terrorist attacks. So you think, okay, they've had 11 terrorist attacks. You would expect if those, the perpetrators of those attacks

were arrested, they would be put into jail and suspected collaborators. And these attacks were not mass casualty. They were basically one person shooting another person, stabbing another person, driving a car into another person. Okay? The Israelis put over 5,000 Palestinians in prison. Now you're going, whoa, wait a second. What were the crimes? Well, they're not charged with any crimes. They're picked up and detained because the Israelis can pick them up and detain them and put them in prison. And we're not just talking men between

the ages of 18 and 40. We're talking children, some as young as 10 years old, 11 years old. We're talking women. We're talking older men. It is arbitrary arrest and detention with no due process, with no charges leveled. And, you know, to me, that was one of the clearest illustrations of this discrepancy between the actual numbers of terrorist attacks and this huge number of people that the Israelis are detaining. And I want to boil this down to it's pure intimidation. What are they gaining by jailing 10-year-olds?

Hey, what they're gaining is a new generation of people who are going to seek revenge. Right. You know, when that happens to children like this, it scars them. Just like some child who's been a victim of sexual abuse, you know, sometimes they grow up, you know, to carry out some of the same acts. Correct. You know, this is creating a nightmare for Israel. It's not creating warm,

fuzzy feelings among the Palestinians about the Israelis. It's reminding them that they are living with a brutal dictatorship when it comes to how they are treated. They're not treated with any kind of due process. They're simply arbitrarily picked up, thrown into prison, and in many cases, subjected to torture. Larry, always a pleasure, my dear friend, no matter what we talk about. Thank you very much. Look forward to seeing you with Ray McGovern at the Intelligence Roundtable on Friday. I'll be there. Thank you, Judge. Thank you. Coming up tomorrow at 8 o'clock in the morning Eastern Time, Pepe Escobar. At 2 in the afternoon Eastern, Phil Giraldi. At 3 in the afternoon Eastern, Karen Kwiatkowski. Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thanks for watching! I'm I'm I'm I'm