Judging Freedom - LtCOL. : Karen Kwiatkowski : Why Trust Netanyahu?

Episode Date: October 28, 2025

LtCOL. : Karen Kwiatkowski : Why Trust Netanyahu?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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Today is Tuesday, October 28, 2025. My dear friend, Colonel Karen Koukowski joins us now. Colonel Karen, thank you very much for accommodating my schedule. Haaretz reports that about 25 minutes ago, Prime Minister, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered, quote, forceful Israeli strikes in Gaza. I thought there was a ceasefire negotiated by the president's friend and the president's son-in-law.

I mean, can Netanyahu be trusted? Can anybody trust him? No. And actually, nobody really does trust him. And I think increasingly even Trump realizes that he has to be watched and constantly monitored, which the babysitting that was going on this past weekend, you know, you can't trust him. Actually, you can predict him, though, and this was predictable, I think. Is there a stated justification for this, or we don't know?

You know, I don't know about this latest one. What I really, what we know is from last week where they used, well, they blamed an explosion. You know, they're quick to assume that every sound they hear and every noise and every surprise is the enemy breaking the ceasefire. And then they are allowed to defend Israel. So that's very predictable. I don't know what this particular one was about. But I'm sure that according to Netanyahu, it was somebody else's fault. It wasn't their fault.

They didn't do anything except defend Israel. And, of course, we're getting a little bit tired of hearing that. Yeah. Was the Whitkoff Kushner-Trump Gaza deal a scam just to get the Israeli hostages return home? Was it a scam? Well, it's a long-running scam, I think. I mean, it was on a pop-up, oh, well, we got to get the hostages zone, let's do this deal. And this we saw at the 60 Minutes interview where this planning from Witkoff and particularly Kushner has been going on for two years, over two years, really.

I mean, this is a long-term project as part of the expansion of Israel into some of the more attractive parts of Gaza, once those parts had been vacated of their Palestinian people. that live there and that really have rights to that property. The, I think the 20 points came about very, you know, they're very fast. They weren't very well thought out. It was a very weird negotiation, you know, first off, it wasn't a negotiation. It was a dictate by the U.S. and Israel to Hamas, to the people of Gaza. This is what you're going to have to do. And they agreed a part of it.

They agreed up to the part of exchanging hostages, which please, please, please, as many people in Israel, of course. And I think it was something that Hamas also wanted, and the people of Palestine, one of the people of Gaza, particularly wanted to stop being bombed and targeted. So that worked for a few days. And now I think they've all alive, the living hostages have been returned, at least for the Israeli living hostages.

There's so many Palestinian prisoners, and I guess you could call them hostages also of the hospital. occupation. There's so many of them, and the small number that were returned, both bodies and live prisoners, yeah, they're glad to have it, but there's many, many more being held back. Whereas in Gaza, Hamas has nothing left to give back in terms of what there may be a few more bodies that they might return. But for the most part, Israel is done. They got what they wanted. And so now they continue with the plan. And that plan has been a long time in making. It's the plan of greater Israel, and it is particularly a plan that Kushner, shame on him,

but Kushner has been a part of, you know, how do we, where's the opportunities to build in greater Israel? Well, I think Gaza would be nice. There's nice beaches there. And again, Trump revealed this to us last spring, early on with his Gaza Riviera. Where do you think he gets such ideas, you know? He got them from Kushner. Kusner's selling this. Kusher is gathering money to be invested here.

And the only problem was, you know, they had to get rid of the people. So, you know, nothing's really changed. One of the chatters, you know, the people that write to us during the show, says this from a man who called two press conferences to deny that he had killed Charlie Kirk, too. Yeah, it's amazing. Here's what the New York Times just posted. The decision to immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip was an in a statement by Mr. Netanyahu's office on Tuesday night, that's Tuesday night, Israeli time.

His office later added that Mr. Netanyahu made the decision with the Israeli military to order the strikes and then informed President Trump, quote, before the action was taken, close quote. Hamas have violated the framework by not returning hostages. It must mean dead hostages. They returned all the living hostages by not returning hostages. and attacking our forces, said David Menser, a spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu on Tuesday night, Hamas did not immediately respond to the Israeli government's statement. Do the Israeli people think that war is over?

Well, I don't think they really, I'm not sure how they view, you know, the Israeli people don't get the images that we get of Gaza. they don't see it as they really, I think, in many ways believe their state propaganda that there's a big threat in Gaza and the government under Netanyahu is dealing with that threat by destroying Gazans and by destroying the infrastructure of Gaza. And I think they cheer that because that supposedly makes them safer. Most Israelis are not really thinking about this as a war that you would somehow negotiate peace. And this is why the 20 points really were kind of a show because, you know,

Israelis weren't demanding this. They just want to, you know, just kill the rest of them. I mean, they were mad at Netanyahu for the 20 living hostages or whatever, and they wanted them back. They were frustrated about that. But for the most part, getting them back really means, okay, now, BB, go, finish. Finish what you started and get this over with so we can go on to other things. I don't think they see it as a war.

It's actually, I don't know how they see it, but they don't see, and they certainly don't see it as a genocide. They really just see it as this is good for the Zionist state of Israel, except for the few, and it's a growing number, who realize it's not good for the Zionist state of Israel. You know, they've ruined their friendships, their trade, their alliances. They've made Israel very unsafe for both business and for actual Israelis who might want to live there. They've had huge immigration numbers. They're not sure how many of those people if and when they will return to Israel. They've got such a terrible reputation abroad as a result of Netanyahu's actions and policies. So it's not good for Israel, but I think for Israelis, it's just like, you know, they're not thinking.

And really, they don't think of the Palestinians as people, okay? And they don't think of them as people with the legitimate state. We saw this very clearly in what Netanyahu has said when I think, France and England, you know, recognize the Palestinian state. They're like, that's not going to happen. That's not going to happen. And we're taking over everything. And it's not theirs.

It's ours. That's how they think. That's how they proceed. Can Trump say no, then that's in Yahoo? Can he or will he? He certainly can. He can. Even if he is blackmailed, even if he is compromised in some way, even if, oh, he got

so much money for his election, he's not running again. I mean, unless he changes the Constitution, that's, probably not going to happen. So he doesn't need to cultivate future pro-Zionist donors, you know, what, to pay for his library? Who cares? I don't think Trump reads, so we don't need a library. But, you know, he can, he can overcome the barriers that have prevented him from doing it if those barriers are blackmail, if they are, he's compromised, if he needs money. All of those things I think Trump could easily overcome. He is friends with a number of people who give him information that makes him think that he can continue what he's doing in Israel and it'll be

okay. And that's wake off. It's Kushner. It's some of his other friends. It's Lindsey. It's Lindsey Graham. It's Marco Rubio. It's Pete Hage, Sebastian Gorka. That crowd with which he surrounds him. Huckabee. It's Huckabee. Yes, yes. All these guys. But Trump knows. Isn't Huckabee? Huckabee a Christian minister of some sort, and yes, he, and yet he favors genocide? Oh, he's a Christian Zionist who, like so many Israelis who live in Israel, they don't consider it a genocide. It's basically God's plan and people have to die. Well, again, as a Christian, these kinds of ideas are a little bit alien for most Christians, but not for Huckabee. but I'm telling you, Trump remembers these guys. Huckabee ran for president. Trump knows who he is. Rubio ran for president. Trump beat him, you know, bad humiliated. He didn't, did not really, he was a competitor. So Trump has the ability to tell these guys that he's surrounded himself with that I'm right, you're wrong, I'm going to do this and I don't care if you like it or not. He has the ability to do that. I don't think he's compromised in such a terrible way that he couldn't spin it and, and, and, and,

get through it. I mean, look at all the times he's been sued for various things. Look at all the terrible things that he's been accused of. He has made that work for him. So he certainly could. The question is, will he? And it seems like he doesn't want to. I think he has adopted the idea that some people are worth less than other people. And some people matter, and some people don't. And of course, we know the people in Gaza don't matter to Trump. that's a horrendous accusation considering how he is a populist president he he walked he wrote his bus flew his airplane around the country during the campaign celebrating working people celebrating people that lived in a state that limited their choices he he knows he knows

he knows about downtrodden people he knows about people that can't get a break he this is these are the people that elected him so he knows this and he doesn't apply it to Gazans. I don't So he's he's murdering people on speedboats in the Caribbean and in the Pacific

now even off the coast of Mexico a friendly country to the United States. I guess he's really in no position to tell BB you've got to stop murdering Gosen babies and

pregnant women. I mean this This moral relativism is destructive to the core. It gives Trump, and I guess by extension, Netanyahu, a belief that they can do whatever they want without constraint by any law or set of values. That's right. And Trump illustrates that it doesn't matter who you elect. It doesn't matter what their background is. We had Barack Obama raised as a part of his life. life, early life was raised as a Muslim. I don't consider Barack Obama a Muslim or any other type of

religion. But we have people, and you've got Hillary Clinton, a Protestant, you've got Trump. You've got all these people that have come into the presidency or attempted to. And Hillary Clinton only is highest secretary of state. But what did she do? Just like Albright, right? They celebrate death. Our elites in this country are death cults. They aspire to be members. And the cult that they want to be members of, the group that they want acceptance into. The club that will accept them is a club that kills people because it can, because it has the power to do so. It assumes that power. Now, we have a constitution. You know all about that. It doesn't, it does not grant immoral powers to a president. It puts constraints on the actions that the president can take. It has checks and

balance is certainly the Congress is supposed to be a big purpose here to discuss and debate to declare war when and only when it's actually necessary for the defense of the United States. And yet, apparently, you know, the waters off of Venezuela. We can kill people there. I mean, we killed people in 2019 under Trump by accident, Koreans. You know, I think it was the North Koreans or South Koreans. I don't know, but they dumped their bodies so they wouldn't get caught. You heard that story, right, about the special forces or seal team or whatever, made a mistake, killed a bunch of asking people, not a bunch, two or three, right? Not a bunch. Not a lot, right? So I guess it's how Trump justifies it. But yeah, there's an acceptance of death that is not, it's not warranted, it's not legal. Certainly it's immoral. And it doesn't matter where these presidents come from. They all act and behave the same way when they get into power.

Is the devil up there on their shoulder whispering, hey, you can kill people, it's great. You know, you're the strongest, most powerful person in the world. You know, let's do this. I don't know if it's that simple, you know, the temptation to exercise this terrible power of the state. And they don't seem to feel bad about it. That's what bothers me. I mean, I could see if... You know, I think it's even worse than you and I are explaining it now,

because what Trump does today and gets away with will form a precedent for a future president to do and get away with. You know, you have a supine Congress, you have Republicans who have no value judgment whatsoever. You have Democrats who are motivated just by a blind distaste for and even on the part of some of them, hatred of the president. You have the government at a San Stansell, I haven't think it's a good thing when the government shuts down because 95% of what it does is not authorized by the Constitution, but that's a philosophical argument. The practical effect of all this is that Trump can kill whoever the hell he wants. That's right. And nobody, Rand Paul, Thomas Massey, Tim Kane, a few of them will complain, but there doesn't seem to be any force.

strong enough to stop it. What will happen if he starts killing people in Chicago? Right. Well, I mean, I think it's very possible, right? I mean, and American citizens, if they're in the wrong place at the wrong time, are equally targets. And we've seen this, I mean, Obama killed him. I'm not sure if Bush did it before, but certainly Trump has done that, whether on purpose or by accident, or, you know, the way Israel are best and most important allies.

I guess, kills Americans. And we've had a number of problems there, and they're not even dealt with. And again, if you put the right person in the Department of Justice, if you have the right attorney general, you know, who's going to bring the charges? I don't see Bondi doing anything except kissing up to Trump. I mean, the last person that I know of who was the head of state who dispatched troops to slaughter drug dealers was the Filipino president to Terté. Now, He's in prison in the ICC and in the Hague. I don't know that that's going to happen to Trump, but the Supreme Court's opinion on immunity does not have an effect outside the United States.

Yeah, well, you know, there is sometimes justice, they say, it's slow. It doesn't happen right away. But I think justice will be coming for the people who do not stand. up for what is right and wrong. If you're an American and you accept that your country is governed by law and that law is ensconced in the Constitution, it's pretty clear the executive does not have the power that our current and past executives, our current and past presidents have executed. They don't really have that power. So they're operating outside of the norms of that are outside of legal norms. Of course they're operating outside of moral norms, but they also are

legally in violation. So there is a chance, I don't know, I mean, there's a chance that they'll have to deal with it. They'll have to be held accountable. But that's a joke really right now, right? I mean, people around the world. Right now it's a joke because it's the Republican Party, which once stood for balanced budgets and basic moral values in Congress. They stand for nothing. They're terrified of the president. Like I said, the only two that stand up to him publicly are Senator Paul and Congressman Massey and Trump berates them that says horrible things about them. The two of them laugh. They come from the same state and they are well liked and highly regarded there. They are also men of principle. Their colleagues in the Congress

are not. That's right. The interesting thing there is they have definitely, they're definitely over the target because they are attracting fire like no one has ever seen before to use Trump's words because, you know, MAGA knows the MAGA movement, what the core of the MAGA movement that really liked what Trump had to say understands very well that there are two people that cannot be named as rhinos in the Senate and the House are Massey and Rand Paul. So Trump is, you know, by really going after these guys, which he is doing, and I think that maybe they're over, maybe they're on to something. Maybe we need to do more of what Rand Paul and Thomas Massey are doing. Are we a democracy? Are we a republic when one person

commands such fear from another branch of the government that it supinely looks the other way when he kills people. I know. I know. We are, that's not a republic. You could look at any republic historically, any model of a republic, whether real or in a book somewhere. No, no. We have a tyranny. And I'm not, you know, I'm not saying Trump's a tyrant per se, but our system produces, it has a tyrannical executive branch. I think there's no doubt about that. And we've accepted it as part of a balanced system? Well, it's part of the republic. Well, that's not right. It's out of whack. It needs to be corrected. And I do. I agree with you. You know, the shutdown. It's so sad that we're so dependent on government that some people do suffer from an extended shutdown. But in fact,

you know, what use do we have for this executive branch? And it doesn't even, this is what kills me. It does not even listen to the people. So whether it's a democracy or not, okay, fine. But even the kings of past years, past centuries, they listened to the mood of the people. They listened to the voices. You know, if they angered, whether it was property owners or the peasants, if they angered them too much, they were at risk and they understood that and they behaved accordingly. And Trump is like, yeah, I know you guys all support me, so I'm going to do whatever I want. And that is, that's tyranny.

That's a tirade. Right. Right. Well, before he invades Venezuela, we are going to talk on Thursday at 9 o'clock in the morning with the former head of the CIA in Venezuela, formerly a regular on this show, was asked to come back. That, of course, is Jack Devine. I know it's causing a lot of the chatters to say, oh, no, not Jack. Oh, yes, Jack. I want to interrogate him and I want to hear what conceivable defense he has for Trump killing people in boats and preparing to invade Venezuela.

What will Jack Devine and Donald Trump say to the mothers of Marines who come home in body bags in an undeclared war? Oh, yeah. No, it's horrendous. It's horrendous. If we had a vote right now,

the people of the country, would say war against Venezuela, no. The vote would be overwhelmingly no. It wouldn't matter what party we're in. There's no justification for it. It makes no sense. So this is the executive branch supported by a supine legislative branch, just running wild with power, which is, you know, it's not a republic. They are behaving tyrannically. And you know, here in Virginia, we have on our flag, thus so to tyrants. Right. It's a picture of something a little bit bloody.

So, you know, this is, we know what to do. It's a picture of a tyrant's head cut off, isn't it? I think so. It's either cut off or there's a piercing of a sword in the heart. Right. So that phrase is what John Wilkes Booth purportedly shouted after he killed Abraham Lincoln, but let's not go there. Yeah.

Karen, it's a delight chatting with you. You're one of the few people to whom I can speak about moral relativism on the same plane. No matter what we're talking about, it's always a pleasure to be with you. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, Judge. Sure. We'll see you next week. Tomorrow, a busy day.

We're starting a little bit earlier for those of you in the U.S. At 7.45 in the morning, Dr. Gilbert Doctoro, at 11 o'clock in the morning, Aaron Mote, at 2 in the afternoon, our expert on Venezuela, Angela, Anya Parenthill, at three in the afternoon. Phil Giraldi, cleanup hitter at four in the afternoon, even though he's batting 50s, the cleanup. Scott Ritter, Judge Napolitano for Judge. And there's Jack on Thursday. Judge the Palatano for judging freedom.

Thank you.