Judging Freedom - Scott Ritter : Netanyahu Flailing and Failing.

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

Scott Ritter : Netanyahu Flailing and Failing.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, November 4, 2025. Scott Ritter will be with us in just a moment. Events in Israel going from bad to worse, Netanyahu failing and flailing. But first this. History tells us every market eventually falls. Currencies collapse. And look at where we are now. 37 trillion in national debt. Stocks at record highs defying gravity.

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$20,000 in bonus medals with a qualified purchase. Call 800, 511, 4620, or go to Learjudgeonnapp.com today. Scott Ritter, welcome here, my friend. Before we get into the latest tragic events in Israel and even around the world to the news of the morning. Was Dick Cheney a war criminal? Judge, you know that every man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. And every person who has been accused has a right of due process and to confront his accusers. I would not be uncomfortable with a prosecution going forward inditing Dick C. Janney on a number of war crimes. That's just my personal opinion. I believe that, you know, the records clearly show that he not only acted in contravention of the

Constitution, but he violated the civil rights and civil liberties of people who otherwise are afforded those legally. And this makes him a war criminal. He led us, led the president by his nose, led the country into wars under false, knowingly false pretenses. He orchestrated this so-called enhanced interrogation, which is torture, a war crime under international law and under federal law. Yes, the blood of the blood of tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of now dead, innocent human beings on his hands. Yes. I mean, sadly, this Supreme Court has seemed to indicate that a president can do just about anything and not be held legally liable for it. And I think if the vice president was acting under executive authority and not, you know, off on a rogue mission, that he would probably be, you know, shrouded with this cloak of immunity as well. But it doesn't, you know, change the reality that any strict legal examination of his actions will find that he violated international law.

He violated U.S. law. And he violated the Constitution. This is not a good man. And, you know, I think it's late in the game to talk about justice for him. But, you know, his legacy is forever tarnished. and I believe that once he has passed, people who know things will be more liberated to say things, and I think the truth will come out, and he'll go down in history as a condemned man. Right.

Did you ever think you'd see somebody like Al Jolani being welcomed by the president of the United States in the Oval Office, which is apparently going to happen before this week is out? no i um look i understand geopolitics and geopolitical you know the need for geopolitical reality but some lines can't be crossed um if we don't stand for anything we stand for nothing and you can't have had thousands of americans sacrifice their lives and tens of thousands of americans sacrifice their bodies and their minds in pursuit of a terroristic ideology that attacked us on 9-11 and killed thousands of our fellow citizens. And then we sacrifice even more thousands only to say, well, he's a tough guy. It's a tough neighborhood. Let bygones be guide. Bygones, we're going to

shake his hand now. No, Jolani deserves the death penalty. He should be killed. He is a war criminal unparalleled and instead we're you know whitewashing him and in raising him up for what he's not a viable leader um this isn't solving any of the middle eastern problems syria continues to be ravaged by you know the deprivations of these terrorists these are terrorists they're not anything other than that i know there's the saying one man's freedom fighters and other man's terrorists. These aren't freedom fighters. If they were freedom fighters, they wouldn't be slaughtering the people they ostensibly freed. So for the president to shake his hand. And in the same breath, say that he wants to send Americans to fight and

possibly die in Nigeria to save the lives of Christians who are being killed by Boko Haram. The hypocrisy and the inconsistency is unbelievable. Who shows Al Jalani? Was it CIA, MI6, and Mossad? How did this creep rise? above the others to now be recognized internationally as the leader of a country, a country effectively destroyed by the Israelis. Well, let's remember that he was imprisoned by American military authorities in Iraq as a terrorist and then subsequently released. And upon his release, he was dispatched to Syria, to

begin ISIS in that transitioned into, you know, other affiliated organizations until he, you know, reached where he was. And given that, you know, these, this family lineage, there's much speculation that he was recruited by the CIA while he was a prisoner and was a controlled asset. There are too many examples of ISIS convoys, Al-Qaeda convoys, transitioning from Western Iraq into Syria. Under the observation, direct observation of American military assets and no intervention taking place, we have DIA Defense Intelligence Agency memorandum that basically say that we need to allow these people to operate the way they want to operate because they are undermining the rule of Bashar al-Assad, that's in our strategic interest. We provided, you know, billions of

dollars of aid and training that we knew was benefiting Jolani's crew. So there's no doubt in my mind that Jolani was a controlled resource of the Central Intelligence Agency. And in partnership with others, you know, we may have shared him with the British way we may have shared him with the Turks. And this explains his rapid rehabilitation. It doesn't forgive his crimes and it doesn't forgive the criminality of the organization that he led, however. And as an American who I didn't support the war in Iraq at all, but I will never turn my back on fallen Americans and those who gave their lives, even in a cause such as this, we shamed them, we shamed their families, and we shamed the entire nation by shaking this man's hand. Switching gears, from your observations, is Trump preparing to attack or invade Venezuela? I believe options are there.

The military is professional organization and they have been given instructions to be prepared to execute a range of missions in Venezuela. And the president will have these options before him. But remember, Venezuela is not a war of necessity. They didn't attack us. There's not a Venezuelan army ready to invade anything. This is a war of choice. It's a war of aggression if it takes place. And as such, it's a political war.

I mean, this whole thing is being done for politics. There is no threat emanating from Venezuela that puts any Americans at risk, none whatsoever. In fact, had we take a different act with them, the Venezuelan government, Maduro, has already said, we're willing to sell oil, cooperate with you, make this economically beneficial. You know, we've propped up bad dictators in the past for worse deals than the one that Maduro offered. So this is political. This is about Marco Rubio positioning itself for a presidential run in 2008. Marco Rubio has been advocating for U.S. military action against Venezuela since 2016. And today, Duel had it as he is, as Secretary of State and National

Security Advisor. He has more... power under one, one hat when it comes to Venezuela and the potential of war than anybody should have. And I think that he is pressuring the president. The president has something else he has to consider, though, midterm elections. And I think the one thing that's holding him back right now is probably the briefings he getting from the U.S. military that says, hey, we can destroy XYZ, ABC. We can do all that. We can even go in and snatch Maduro. We could do that tonight. Then what?

And the then what means quagmire, American bodies coming home in body bags during the silly season of highly politicized midterm elections, that would be an act of suicide on the part of the president. So I think that he's weighing his, is that the political consequences of action. And maybe for the time being, we'll just keep murdering whoever occupies those boats off the coast of Venezuela, and the CIA will continue making preparations for potential covert actions, remove Maduro. I would be very surprised if we initiated large-scale military action anytime soon. Even the bombing of Venezuela could trigger results that suck us in, you know,

when no plan survives initial contact with the enemy, and the enemy always has a vote. And so Trump may think that he's doing something to achieve outcome. A, and next thing you know, we're at outcome F and nobody planned for it. And his political advisors, I would hope, are telling him, Mr. President, you need to get through the midterms before you undertake any adventures such as this. Take us into the military mind. How do military men and women feel when they're told to dispatch missiles or drop bombs on helpless civilians in the high seas?

or commence a war of choice and of aggression in Venezuela. I'm aware of the oath that they take to obey lawful orders, but they're human beings who have souls and have a sense of morality. I remember before the first Gulf War, I was called into the office of Major General Caulfield, who was the head of the Warfighting Center in Quantico, Virginia, to help prepare amphibious warfare options against Iraq. And we got into a discussion.

And ultimately, I said, hey, we're getting ready to fight the wrong Arabs, you know, that the Iraqis actually are the hardest working people there. We could get along with them. We could do well with them. You know, the Saudis are backstabbing this and that and this, you know. And he looked at me really hard and he said, did I pick the wrong guy for this job? I mean, it sounds to me like you don't want to go to war. And I said, sir, I'm a professional.

I'm an intelligence officer. You asked me a question. I gave you the question. Don't give me an order. And if it's lawful, I will execute that order to the fullest abilities, regardless of what I think. And that's how military people think. They will execute the lawful orders that are given to them.

And in the military, you know, it's not the pilot that's supposed to be the judge advocate. The pilot or the pilot's commanders have every right to raise questions about the target. But if adequate legal minds make a judgment that says, no, this is lawful, that this order is lawful, then they have a constitutional duty to execute. Now, some orders will never be lawful, the murder of civilians, you know, Miley massacres. But if, and I would imagine that this has been done somewhere that the White House and Central Command have come together and articulated a case that boats carrying fentanyl or carrying drugs that are believed to be coming to the shores of the United States constitute a direct threat. Now, you and I can disagree with that outcome. I'm just believing that there are legal minds that have constructed something like this.

So, therefore, if you go through a checklist and the military is very good on checklists, and the targeteers can sit there and say, we saw this, we saw this, we saw this, and they could provide photographs and evidence so that everything was checked off. And the judge advocate goes, yep, boom, signs off, hands it to the operators, and the operator's order it's that, then that is a lawful order. and the war is a tough business and you train people to execute difficult orders at difficult times and I think that these pilots they may be asking questions as they go back but as long as they're getting an answer from legitimate legal authority that says no you're clear this is a good target they will continue to destroy those targets because that's their job I'm going to transition to Israel in a minute, but when Congress in a secret meeting with the General Counsel to the Department of Defense asked for the checklist and asked for the legal authority, which

he said he had right there in his hands, he refused to give it, saying it was secret. Yeah, this is... How can a legal argument be secret? The laws aren't secret. The laws are public. Congress has people with the security clearance is able to see this. Correct. This conversation, which you refused to give to them, was in a skiff with people with security

clearances. They can't run out and give it to the New York Times. He refused to hand it over. But unless Congress is willing to take action on that to subpoena and, you know, withhold money shut down, because the power of the purse is the biggest weapon Congress has that end, you know,

legal action to remove people we're in a sad state affairs where you know we're supposed to have three separate but equal branches of government and what we have is an executive branch out of control a judiciary which seems hell bent on rubber stamping legal authority for this out of control executive and a legislative branch that's unwilling to step in and do its job right what is the latest scandal in the Netanyahu regime involving the release of a video of IDF officers beating, brutalizing, and raping a male Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail. The scandal isn't that over the rape.

The scandal is the release of material to the public so that, you know, the public. you know, could be mobilized to condemn what should be condemned. But the military officers that are being held to account here aren't being held to account, you know, because they oppose. Actually, the general who is, you know, at the center of this controversy supports the rape. It doesn't think there's any wrong. She just, you know, she feels a mistake was made in releasing this and she was holding herself responsible for this.

And Netanyahu is making things worse by defending the rapists, as if rape is a legitimate weapon of oppression. You know, and it is a weapon of oppression. The Israelis need to be, they should be concerned by the fact that they institutionalize rape as part of their system of justice. They brutalize men. You know, and in the Arab society, you know, honor is everything, and for a woman to be raped is dishonorable, and it dishonorable, and it dishonors the family.

And for a male to be raped, you know, it's the ultimate, you know, removal of masculinity. And again, I say, so what the Israelis do on a regular basis is rape these people and film it. And then they hold it as blackmail and shin bit, uses it to control them as controlled assets, et cetera, et cetera. But here, because of Gaza, the Israeli governments allowed, you know, right-wing rabbis to go in and quote the, not the Torah, but the Talmud, you know, and basically where it says, you can rape these people if they've done. And we had, you know, there were instances during the war, during the Gaza conflict, where Israelis, you know, stormed prisons and demanded access to the Palestinian men being in prison so they could rape them because a rabbi said this was what needed to be done. And there is no condemning. The actual people who raped these people, the men who were responsible for raping this individual, are treated as heroes in the Israeli media. They're paraded on TV and told what fine.

people they are. This just shows the ultimate depravity of an inherently depraved state, and that state is the state of Israel. Here's an interesting but troubling clip that Chris put together involving all of this. Number 15, Chris. The IDF's international legitimacy efforts are greatly benefited by the aura, the protection with which the justice system provides it. Yesterday, the reserve is charged with abuse appeared in public and accused Tomar Yeru Shalmi of spoiling their case. You've done a field trial on us in front of the cameras, as if you've already decided who's guilty. We will continue to fight for justice for ourselves, for everyone who came out in uniform and

defended our home. This weekend, Tomar Yer O'Shalmi briefly went missing, and police found her abandoned car with a note. Police later found her on a beach, safe but in distress. The incident in Stetsamon caused dementia damage. to the image of the state of Israel and the IDF to our soldiers. This is perhaps the most severe public relations attack that the state of Israel has experienced since its establishment.

Public relations attack of which he speaks, that was, of course, a translator for Prime Minister Netanyahu is not the fact of the rape. It's the revelation of the tape of the rape. And those guys just saw what the masks on are the rapists. and the woman you saw in the beginning is the former general counsel to the IDF, herself a major general, who revealed the tape and now not only has resigned, but has been arrested and is incarcerated.

What a mess. What an absence of any moral standards that this administration of Netanyahu has, that the crime is the revelation of one of the worst crimes. imaginable, which is the forcible rape of a prisoner. But this is what they do, Judge. The Israelis, you know, whitewash all of their crimes. This isn't the first rape. A rape has been ongoing, as I said. But these are people who murder children, literally. Snipers shoot children in the head. They bomb women trying to get water. They lie on a regular basis. They lie about everything. They lied about Hindri Jab,

claiming there were no tanks near. We now know a tank was right next to her pumped in hundreds of rounds into her body and the bodies of the people next to them. The Israelis are incapable of telling the truth because they live in a perverted society. And I don't mean that from a sexual standpoint. I mean that from a moral standpoint. When they, you know, people used to say, you know, the chosen people and not think anything. When an Israeli says they're chosen, it means that they are human and you are not. Literally, this is the talmud, that you are a dog, you are cattle, you are worse, you deserve to be killed, you will be killed. There will be no punishment for killing you. There will be rewards for killing you. And as Israel has

devolved in the aftermath of the assassination of Yitzhakarabin, primarily under the guidance of Benjamin Netanyahu, it's devolved from a state where the rule of law mattered today to where the rule of law doesn't exist. The only thing that exists is the rule of might as defined by Talmudic extremist scholars. Amalek. I keep using that term. Amalek, Amalek, Amalek. You know, it is the systemic genocide of a people that the Israelis, in this case the ancient Israelis had differences with and they said they must all be killed and they celebrated every year in Purim. I mean, the Israeli, the Jewish faith celebrates genocide every year in a holiday. Now, most people don't dig too deep into it. They view it as a more quaint family or

associate. No, it's the celebration of genocide. And now what's happened with the Gaza conflict is this new Israel, this Israel that has been populated by people who openly embraced Talmudic scholarship and the concept of a greater Israel, they are labeling anything they disagree with with Amalek. And that means you can do anything, judge anything. Murder them, rob them, rape them. And there will be no accounting because this is the fundamental moral touchstone of modern Israel. And this is why Benjamin Netanyahu is so outraged because the thing that is the touchstone

of modern Israel, it's ethical. foundation is being exposed to the world. There's nothing more than rape. You are intellectually honest and personally courageous. Well, we all know that. We've known that for years. And I thank you for that articulate explanation. But here's what will happen in the United States when you criticize the Netanyahu regime as you and I and talk Carlson and others have done. Hang on to your seat, Scott. Chris, cut number 16. We cancel stuff all the damn time. Hitler admires, Stalin admires, Jew haters, American haters, Churchill haters. You're damn right. We're going to cancel them and deep platform them. They don't have a lifetime

job like a bureaucrat who we're going to protect. And if they're your friend, there's something wrong with you. You don't get to wrap your psychotic, mental, unhinged, Nazi, Klan, jihadist, bull-shund around American patriotism. We're surrounded by cowards who have microphones, of TV cameras, who have websites, who have columns, cowards. It's spelled C-A-R-L-S-O-N. It's spelled F-U-E-N-T-E-S. It's spelled O-W-E-N-S. It's spelled B-A-N-N-O-N-N. It's spelled Marjorie T-Rater Green.

You can figure that out yourself. To Tucker Carlson, I say, did you have a head injury? What happened to you? You platform these people. You deceive your audience. You lie to your audience. you've become a full-blown, out-of-the-closet, Jew-hater. Sounded like he was describing the Netanyahu regime,

but of course he's calling for silencing people like you and I and the millions who watch us because of our recognition of the evils of Zionism, not Judaism, Zionism. Yeah, I mean, Mark Levine's just a piece of work. He's 68 years old, so I can't challenge him to to a lesson in what cowardism is because I could definitely teach him the true meaning of that word. He's disgusting, but so is APEC.

I mean, what Mark Levine is doing is actually he's doing us a favor because he's exposing the fact that he defends rapists and murderers and psychotics and, you know, the worst people in the world. And he is not an American. He doesn't love America. He loves Israel. I mean, this is the fact of the matter. He dares challenge the patriotism Americans who exercise their free speech rights to speak out against things they disagree with. So Mark Levine has proven that he is not an American. He doesn't understand what it means to be an American.

Look, Judge, you and I both know there are people we disagree with vehemently, but we respect the right to speak. and we defend their right to speak, just as we would hope that if they disagree with us, they respect and defend our right to speak. Because this is what makes America great. The reason why we don't have, you know, partisan gangs running around blowing each other up and killing each other is because we have this safety outlet

called freedom of the press and freedom of speech where people, if they have grievances, get to say them, speak them openly. And yet Mark Levine is saying, no, he doesn't want to do this. And sadly, his words resonate. in the White House, this administration that's supposed to be the strongest defender of free speech, they don't because if you speak out on topics that they don't like, they will come down on you. And Mark Levine is one of the tools that he uses to de-platform. He just said he brags

about de-platforming people. That's the most un-American thing you can do. If you don't agree with the ideas of somebody else, then it's your duty to come up with better ideas and articulate them better so that more people support you than the other side. When you start de-platforming people, it's the biggest proof possible that your ideas stink, that you don't have ideas, and all you can do is tear down others because your ideas are indefensible.

Scotty, thank you very much. Thanks for your fearless and courageous articulation of all these views. I know you're going to be traveling and safe travels, and we hope to reach you where you're, once you've landed and continue our happy weekly and sometimes twice weekly relationship. All the best, my dear friend. Thank you, Judge.

Thank you. Coming up later today at 1 o'clock this afternoon, Colonel Karen Koukowski at 2 o'clock this afternoon, Matthew Ho, at 3 o'clock this afternoon, Professor Jeffrey Sachs. Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thank you.