The Chris Cuomo Project - This Is Why Israel Won’t Back Down

Episode Date: March 31, 2026

Naftali Bennett (Former Prime Minister of Israel) joins Chris Cuomo to explain how Israel sees its war with Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas — and why he believes stopping now would be more dangerous than continuing. Bennett argues that Iran’s nuclear ambitions and regional proxy network left Israel with no real alternative but to act early, before the threat becomes unavoidable. He explains the difference between how Israel and the United States view Iran, why deterrence may not be enough, and what a realistic outcome of this conflict could look like. Cuomo presses Bennett on whether the strategy can actually succeed, what happens if the Iranian regime survives, and why Americans are increasingly skeptical of another prolonged conflict. Bennett also addresses criticism of Israel in the U.S., the role of American support, and his vision for Israel’s political future as a possible successor to Benjamin Netanyahu. Join The Chris Cuomo Project on YouTube for ad-free episodes, early releases, exclusive access to Chris, and more: https://www.youtube.com/@chriscuomo/join Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Save over 50% on term life insurance at https://selectquote.com/chrisc. Get 30% off Soul Mood Gummies at https://GetSoul.com with code CUOMO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This time of year, the school calendar really starts to fill up, spring activities, testing season, and that final push toward the end of the year. It's a great moment for kids to stay focused and build confidence in what they're learning. That's where Iexel comes in. Iexel is an award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand their schoolwork, from math and reading to writing and science. It's designed for pre-K through 12th grade, with personalized interactive content that adapts to each child's level and pace. I Excel makes it easy to stay on track with instant feedback and clear explanations, skills organized by grade level, and simple progress tracking. It fits into even the busiest spring schedules. It's also trusted nationwide. In fact, Iexel is

used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get Iexel now. Listeners can get an exclusive 20% off Iexel membership when they sign up today at Iexel.com forward slash today. Visit Ixl.com forward slash today to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. Israel has become a very controversial subject in the United States of America. Not whether or not their friend or foe, but who's in control? Who is the hand? Who is the mind?

And a lot of it goes through the prism of BB Netanyahu. But what if he weren't in power? You know, they're going to have elections coming up this fall. And he could forestall them, but maybe not. And there is one man who is at the front of the pack of those who would create a coalition government to exclude Bibi Netanyahu. And his name is Naftali Bennett. Now, what's interesting about Bennett is he actually started his chief of staff for Bibi Netanyahu. Then they had a break politically.

And he was the one person to serve as prime minister to interrupt the tenure of Bibi Netanyahu. which is now almost like 30 years. So that's the only space they've had in recent history was Nufthali Bennett. Now, I wanted to get the opportunity for you to hear where his head and heart are on what do we share? What divides us in terms of allies, Israel and America? Where are our interests different? How do we see Iran differently? The domestic situation?

Why is Israel perceived the way they are in America right now? by so many is it a confrontational interview no he's not even in power yet but he may be and if this is the man who's going to take over israel do you want to understand his philosophy do you want to understand what he wants you to understand i hope the question is yes i'm chris quomo thank you for subscribing and following here at the chris quomo project naftali bennett is the odds-on favorite to replace bb naten yahoo they're not great odds right now because you could look at up on polymarket or calcium or something. But he is the one name that everybody in Israel uses

in terms of who the most likely replacement could be because of the coalition government that they're putting together. What does he want to do with Hamas, with Hezbollah, with Iran, with the regime, with us? What does he see as the role between us and them? How important is this? How long is it going to be? What does he believe the end looks like? Why?

What are his goals and ambitions? I had a very thorough conversation to kind of to try to evince where his motivations are, what his mentality is. That's more important to me than, oh yeah, well, what about this? This was bad. You shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have done this. He's not even in power right now.

That's an accountability interview for BB Netanyahu. Not for Naftali Bennett, at least not yet. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much. I was reading recently where you were commenting on how Israel is perceived in the West versus the East, and it's very different in both places. But in the West, you accuse current Prime Minister Netanyahu of making Israel a leper state. What do you mean and why is he to blame? Well, that's domestic politics, and I don't like criticizing Prime Minister,

Netanyahu abroad because we do have big differences. I think I would go about things in a whole different way, tell a different story and display a different type of country. But I do have to tell you, Chris, that in terms of the current war with Iran, Chisbalah, there's no daylight between us. We had no choice. This is a war of defense from our perspective. It is a, it is a war. It, it, It didn't start now or two weeks ago and not even on October 7th. It started about 25 years ago when Iran built this octopus of terror that enveloped us. And now we're taking it down. What do you make of the suggestion that the American president got talked into the war in Iran by Prime Minister Netanyahu?

No, I don't think that's right. I think President Trump is a leader. I think he's a very confident one. He has his point of view. We're allies. And I do agree that we don't necessarily have the exact same set of interests. For example, from Israel's perspective, a nuclear Iran is an existential threat. From America's perspective, it's a strategic threat. But, not existential necessarily. So we don't always see everything exactly the same. And no two allies ever see everything in the same way. But the big picture is that there is an Iran here, which is the most lethal and dangerous regime on Earth. It was in a path towards acquiring nuclear weapons. It was in a path of acquiring such a big amount.

of ballistic missiles that it would deem it immune fairly soon. It would be too strong to mess around with. So I think there was no choice but to take this preemptive action to prevent them from becoming too big a threat to deal with. Well, the American president doesn't call it preemptive. He calls it imminent and necessary. What I don't understand is how could it have been, I like your word, I like preemptive,

because I don't get how it's immanentive. when six months ago we were told that their capacity had been obliterated. Were we wrong then or are we wrong now or both? Look, I just look at the facts themselves and I totally understand the concern that you're voicing. But here's the catch. Here's the paradox. In many cases in history, if you wait for the threat to be imminent, it becomes inevitable and too big to handle.

All right. Obviously, the biggest and greatest example is Nazi Germany. So was Nazi Germany an imminent threat in 1933, in 35, in 36? No, it wasn't. It wasn't imminent. It wasn't about to attack Britain and conquer all of Europe. But because they didn't act early, it became too big to contain later on. And then they had to give up.

North Korea. Was it an imminent threat? It wasn't imminent, so no one took care of it. And now it's too strong to deal with. But here, it's worse than North Korea because Iran is a genocidal, an explicitly genocidal regime. They say very clearly,

they want to wipe out a country. I think it's the only example today of one country saying out loud, we want to destroy another country. You don't have Belgium and France doing it. You don't have anyone saying that. So we had to act. And if we waited for the missile to be in the nuclear bomb to be on its way to us, it's way too late.

The president in America seems excited about two things that just happened. One, Iran has promised they'll never have a nuclear bomb. And two, that they are selectively letting people through the Strait of Hormuz. One of those I see as preposterous. Like, why would you ever believe the regime saying that it's not going to have nukes? And how dangerous is it to have Iran deciding who goes through the Strait of Hormuz? What do you think of those two propositions? Well, I think President Trump, who's been a remarkable ally in the Shun leadership, he's not naive.

He's a dealmaker. He was in business for many years. Clearly, what he's indicating, and hopefully that's what he's indicating, is that they said that they won't pursue nuclear weapons. And since they're not going to pursue nuclear weapons, they'll be willing to enter a mechanism that can validate that. Do you believe, for one second, that the Iranian regime would commit to not trying to weaponize uranium? Well, the proof will be in the pudding.

If they enter an agreement that's verifiable, if we take out the 460 kilograms of uranium, dismantle all of the enrichment sites, take apart the equipment and get it out of there, and then have IAEA have verifiable inspections. So that is a mechanism that I would certainly be happy about. That would be great. But didn't we try that with Obama and 10 other countries?

And they wound up trying to find a way around it almost immediately? No, the problem back with the JCPOA was that this was a time-limited agreement. So they essentially, it's called sunset where some of the elements of the deal evaporate midway, including they're being forbidden to enrich uranium. but if there was no sunset in that deal back then, if it was forever with verifiable and mechanisms, that would be great. Do you accept Iran making choices

about who gets to pass through the Strait of Hormuz? No, I mean, Iran is a horrible regime. It's corrupt, evil, radical, incompetent, by the way. They can't get water into faucets and all across Iran, regardless of the war. And I think that all of the waterways of the world should be open freely for everyone. Do you believe that the Iranian regime has been decimated and that they really aren't even a thing anymore? Do you think that the regime is very much intact? I think the regime has been severely hit. But, you know, it's very difficult to anticipate when a regime such as this would collapse.

You know, if we spoke in 1988, I wouldn't be able to tell you that a year later the Soviet Union would collapse. Because it has to do with public dynamics, which is very chaotic, hard to estimate in advance. It doesn't make sense that you go into a problem. place like this. Israel says we've got to take out the regime. America says we're not in the regime change business. But then when do you learn the lesson? Hamas is still in power in Gaza. Hezbollah is in Lebanon. The Taliban is back in Afghanistan and around the region. And the regime in Iran, it looks like they're going to survive. How does anything get better for a long term if the bad guys stay in power? Well, Chris, the regime change was not one of the three objectives, creating

for the Iranian people to be able to change the regime was, we cannot make the decision on behalf of the Iranian people. Our objectives were to dismantle, permanently dismantle the nuclear program, the ballistic program, and the regional terror proxy. I'd love this regime to collapse. It will collapse, by the way, sooner or later. It'll implode just like the Soviet Union implore

because it's just rotten from within. The whole system is rotten, but I can't pinpoint when that's gonna happen. I don't know if the year, so to speak, is in 1986 right now or 1956. What I do know is that we can try and help accelerate that. Well, look, you have a very rich history as a warrior, as a commando, as an intelligence person.

Do you hear anything that gives you confidence confidence that the Iranian people and this consortium of the Kurds and the Balox and a lot of the other tribal constituencies are anywhere near what they would need to take out the regime? I don't know. I honestly don't know. I'm very interested in that and I try and learn but behind the firewalls of Iran it's hard for me to get a fair picture of what the chances are. I simply don't know. Kurds as warriors and those other tribes, do you think that they can be amassed into a formidable force? I think so, but it has to be very, very well organized.

They have to feel confidence that we have their back and will be there for them because it's a very high-risk enterprise. So these things are very complex, and since I'm not running in, Israel today, I don't have the answers. I can tell you I very much respect the Kurds of the Kurdish nation. It's a very brave nation, a good nation, which I wish them the best. But I can't say right now exactly what the chances are and what's going on over there. Support comes from a select quote. Life insurance can be a scam, can be expensive, can be unsatisfying, can be unsatisfying,

be confusing. Yes, yes, yes. That's why you have to go to someone who knows what they're doing. Select quote does. How do I know? Go do the research like I did. Look how they have not been cited for doing things the wrong way. Look at all the favorable reviews in the thousands. Look at the billions that they've placed for the thousands and thousands of people across this country. And you realize that if you have responsibility for others, you have to take that responsibility, Seriously. And you've got to look into life insurance. I wish, I wish I had done it sooner. Why? Because it's never going to be cheaper for you than it'll be today. Unless you're fat and you lose weight, then you may get a better rate. But if you're young and healthy, you go to select quote, you may be able to get insurance without any medical exam. You may be able to do it all online. Okay? And if you're older, if you have complications, they've got partners for what works for your situation and your budget. Select. quote, knows what they're doing. They've been doing it a long time.

Their people get paid for the job, not for the sell. They get paid for the job of being the broker, not per sale. Okay? That's a big difference. Life insurance is never going to be cheaper than it is today. Get the right life insurance for you, for less, and save more than 50% with selectquote.com slash Chris C. You can save more than 50% on term life insurance at selectcote.com slash Chris C to get started.

Okay, remember, use my name, Chris C. Tell them I sent you. This time of year, the school calendar really starts to fill up, spring activities, testing season, and that final push toward the end of the year. It's a great moment for kids to stay focused and build confidence in what they're learning. That's where Iexel comes in. I Excel is an award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand. understand their schoolwork, from math and reading to writing and science. It's designed for pre-K through 12th grade, with personalized interactive content that adapts to each child's level and pace. I-Excel makes it easy to stay on track with instant feedback and clear explanations, skills

organized by grade level, and simple progress tracking. It fits into even the busiest spring schedules. It's also trusted nationwide. In fact, IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get I-Exel now. Listeners can get an exclusive 20% off I-XL membership when they sign up today at IXL.com forward slash today. Visit IxL.com forward slash today to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

How surprised are you that Israel is taking the beating that it's taking in the American media and that President Trump is constantly criticized for doing Israel. Israel's bidding. Look, I'm very worried about it. Because, you know, Israel has one meaningful ally friend that's always been, or almost always been together with us, and that's the United States of America. And not to say that we have identical interests, but the baseline was that we did have shared values, which is sort of a cliche, but it's not. You know, a, I, a, I, America's Constitution and the founding fathers based a lot on the Old Testament, on the Bible. And we do share the fundamental values of freedom, of pursuit of happiness, of innovation, of drive.

There's so many similarities. Israel has been taking a huge, huge hit on our image. We are perceived horribly across the world. and pictured as something that we're not. The people of Israel are 10 million people here, decent people who just want to lead good lives or always, you know, if you come to Tel Aviv, you'll always see a bunch of high-tech companies

in my previous life. I started a company and ran another company. It's a beautiful country, beautiful people, in very difficult circumstances, and I could not be more proud of being Israeli. But, man, we've got a lot of work to fix this up. It's not going to be easy.

Is it unfair? Yes, it is. But, you know, I'm not going to whine over here because at the end of the, yes, it definitely is unfair. I mean, if you take a look from 20,000 feet, here's the bottom line. You have a country in a very small piece of land, the size of New Jersey. People don't, you know, sometimes people think that there's like a billion Jews or Israelis in the world. People, like Joe Rogan. Like Joe Rogan, our biggest podcasters suggested the other day.

I hope he was joking that he said if there's seven billion, I think a billion are Jews. I don't blame him because the amount of noise that's being talked about Israel and about the Jews is so disproportionate to the number of Jews and the number of Israelis. We're tiny. We're 10 million people here in the size of New Jersey surrounded by some of the craziest radical Islamic countries in the world and organizations. Chisbalah, Hamas. These are guys I fought physically with my rifle as a commando. And I think what we do is admirable.

I'm talking about ourselves, but I am proud because here's what we're doing. I have a family. I've got four kids. giving them good education to build them a future. I know my son right now is out fighting and I'm really worried about it, but that's something he has to do. And I'm a patriot, proud of him. And hopefully he'll come back safe and then build his life.

We try and do good. And it's very difficult circumstances. And I want to tell you something else, Chris. You know, some Americans think that this ain't your problem. fine it's not your problem you know we like Israel I'm talking about decent people not not schmucks a decent people and they say but this isn't our problem but here's a thing the Middle East and not Israel the Middle East has a tendency because they were talking about radical Islam with this vision of of taking over the world

with Sharia law and all that if you just throw the keys and don't care about what goes on over here They're going to come to New York. I was in Manhattan on September 11th, 2001. I remember that day, I saw the buildings on fire. I was running my high-tech company. That's what happens if you just say it ain't our problem. America as the leader of the world

has a responsibility for its own security, for America's security, because everyone's going to come after America. It's Iran calling America the big Satan. It's not us. We're the small Satan. So if you just forget about this, it'll come and haunt you. But here's what's beautiful. Not beautiful. That's not the right word. But here's what's good for America.

You have an aircraft carrier with 10 million boots on the ground, not your own soldiers. And it's always here fighting for the free world. It's called Israel. We don't ask you to fight our wars. We don't ask you to send soldiers to fight these wars. Quite the contrary, we're fighting the wars. I right now am physically in a shelter. This is a nice shelter, but a shelter.

We're the ones paying the price. We're not telling others go fight our wars. And it's very worthwhile for America, this alliance, because you don't have a million soldiers here fighting. You have a few airplanes, granted that that's reasonable. That's a good deal for America. Because if we weren't here, you'd have to be here. someone would have to be here to put these crazy people at bay

and make sure they don't come to America and blow up Manhattan and San Francisco and I don't know wherever. You know, everyone I speak to from Israel, when it comes to Iran, they're like, look, whatever it takes, it takes, however long it is it is. It's not easy for us to get on the ground there, but they'll figure it out, they'll do operations,

they'll soften it up and then they'll get in. And whatever it takes, it takes. Everybody's lockstep. You guys have your own place. political division. But as you said, even you and Bibi on when it comes to Iran, when it comes to Hamas or Hezbollah, there's no daylight between you. You people have that going for you as a joint existential recognized threat. We don't. And what we see is, I don't think this is working. I don't think this is working. The regime is still in place. They locked down the straight of Hormuz.

Now he's saying he has to send more people there. It's not ending. It's not ending. we're going to have to go on the ground. What do you believe are reasonable expectations here in terms of what it will take for the job to be done? Let's put that in quotes. Chris, it's three and a half weeks. It's not three years. It's not 30 years.

It's only three and a half weeks of Israeli fighting American airplanes. It's not that bad. There's worse things. in the world, like nuclear Iran with missiles that can reach California in New York. They don't have that yet, but they're developing it. And everyone was surprised by the 4,000 kilometer missiles that no one knew because they were lying. Just a few upgrades and it reaches America. So this, and I'm not attacking you, Chris, but I understand the people are tired.

I get it, but we're real, we're adults, we're in a world of alternatives. This isn't World War II that took six years, and you know what, America saw it through. America saw it through. You know, thousands and thousands of times harder than what we're enduring, even in Israel. All right, so we're in shelters,

so we're taking some hits, but we're paying a short-term price, a bit price, in order to perform, prevent a much, much bigger threat that would crush the world. Because if you have a nuclear Iran with missiles that already reach Paris and soon would reach New York, then you're paralyzed. You can't do anything anymore. And then when they tell you this is what's going through hormones or not, and this is what's going through the Suez Canal or not, they control us.

So if we didn't act, that would be irresponsible. And I understand the fatigue, but we have to see it through. It's painful, especially for us. But the alternative is a thousand times worse. Especially for you because you don't have the capacities, but you do have the will. And Mr. Prime Minister, I wonder, I mean, look, you're a very savvy guy. You understand American politics very well, of course. I don't even mean to condescend by even saying that, but just for the audience to understand.

you know we don't have the will. You know that President Trump campaigned feverishly about how the war on terror had been a mistake, and he would never repeat that mistake. And this does feel to American people, here we go again. We're in, we're not really in, we're going to take them out, we're not taking them out.

You know, it's confused, it's unknown, and it seems like the regime is kind of surviving. Look, you know, President Roosevelt also campaigned, I believe it was in 1940 against the intervention. That was big on the campaign. There were isolationists back there. And a year later, he declared war on Japan and Germany, obviously, after being attacked. So reality changes. And, you know, I don't want leaders that are so stuck in what they said and don't look at the real.

problems as they are. I think it's important to stand behind things you say, but it's more important to put one thing at the head of your mind. It's what's right for America. In your case, in our case, what's right for Israel? And I think one of the great traits of a leader, a good leader, is to push through things, even if they're unpopular, if you believe they're right. So when I take everything that we've discussed here, where this is unpopular, certainly in many ways. But let's boil it down to simplicity. President Trump and all presidents, all previous seven or eight presidents said Iran would never go nuclear.

All right. Now, either you say it and don't mean it or you say it and mean it. If you don't mean it, then you don't do anything about it. If you mean it, you send negotiators to negotiate, in good faith, to dismantle the nuclear program. He sent the negotiators. In fact, not only did he send the negotiators, he created leverage by bringing forces, which is a really savvy move. Then Witkoff and Kushner called him up and said, look, it's an unstar.

These guys are not going to dismantle their nuclear program. They're showing off that they have already enough highly enriched uranium for, 11 bombs. There's no business to do. So then he had two options to continue forever negotiating while they go ahead and acquire nuclear weapons or to act. So he basically, he's a president who is implementing what he said. That's all. He said they won't have nuclear weapons and now he's affecting the actions that derive from that very statement. That's all. But I thought he did that back in June when you guys did a joint bombing and he said he obliterated their capacity. Look, I don't know exactly because I'm not privy, how much was ruined, how much was not ruined.

Clearly, not enough of the nuclear program was hit back then, and that's reality. And there was this mission to complete the job. I hope the job does get completed. We're going to have to see where it goes. Support comes from Seoul. I got to tell you, I think booze is bad for you. I'm trying to drink as little as I can. So what do you do to relax? What do you do when you're going to be with other adults? I'll tell you what I'm doing, okay?

I've gone the gummy hemp, THC, THC hemp beverage route, and Soul makes a quality product. I'll tell you why I like it. Yes, they check the boxes. It's organic. It's American grown. It's American company. That's all good. That's all good. But they have different levels of strength for different levels of experience.

Turns out, while I am not a small person, I am a lightweight when it comes to my tolerance. So I can use souls out-of-office gummy, the lightest strength, okay? The least intense, let's say, the least intense. And it is plenty for me. I feel like I've had a couple of drinks. In fact, when I'm going out with people who are having drinks, or I'm having them over, more importantly, I drink one of their sole beverages. Okay? It's like a seltzer kind of thing. It works. It gives me a buzz. I sip it like I would any other cocktail. And I get the setiva THC. I get the CBG. I get a different mood. I get a different vibe with none of the downsides of alcohol.

not the calories, not the confusion, not the mood instability, not the hangover. That's why I believe in Seoul and I am happy to partner with them. Make today a good day. Get yourself some soul gummies right now. Get yourself a soul beverage. And Soul is offering my audience 30% off their entire order. You just go to getsole.com. Use the code Cuomo.

GetSoul.com promo code Cuomo. 30% off. This time of year, the school calendar really starts to fill up, spring activities, testing season, and that final push toward the end of the year. It's a great moment for kids to stay focused and build confidence in what they're learning. That's where Iexel comes in. IXL is an award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand their schoolwork, from math and reading to writing and science.

It's designed for pre-K through 12th grade, with personalized interactive content that adapts to each child's level and pace. I-X-L makes it easy to stay on track with instant feedback and clear explanations, skills organized by grade level, and simple progress tracking. It fits into even the busiest spring schedules. It's also trusted nationwide. In fact, I-XL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get I-Exel now.

Listeners can get an exclusive 20% off I-XL membership when they sign up today at I-XL.com forward slash today. Visit IxL.com forward slash today to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. Mentioned earlier, Mr. Prime Minister, and just for people listening and watching, in the time of Bibi Netanyahu, actually, Naftali started his chief of staff to Bibi, but the only interruption in his rule has been when Naftali was in for a year with a coalition government. And now you want and hope to come in again. What makes you think, Bibi Netanyahu, on the issue that matters in Israel right now, which is the existential threat of Hamas, Hezbollah, and of course their boss, Iran,

that he can be changed, that they'll call for elections, and if so, he would lose? We're going to have elections in October. It's four years. And I believe that I have a very good chance to win. I'm not doing it for my ego or power or anything of that sort. I'm doing it for my country. Within Israel, we have to fix Israel and open a new page for Israel after these years of war, of division. The most important thing domestically is to unite Israel. Israel has been polarized.

And I know Americans are less focused on that, and that's fine. certainly is not your problem, but it is our problem. When you have, I think it was Lincoln who said a house divided. They cannot stand. And that's what we have now. And what I want to do is put together a broad government, left and right bipartisan. I'm a right-wing guy, but my previous government, I had left and right, religious and secular. It was beautiful.

Imagine in America, bipartisan cabinet or government. That wouldn't be a bad idea. So that's what I'm going to do here. The people are tired of, you know, 30 years of Netanyahu is enough. He did some good things. He did some less good things. But 30 years is enough. Man, 30 years.

30 years. But right now, you need a warrior. You say, and I'm just saying what I hear from, you know, Israeli news and Israeli politics. No, you need a builder, Chris. you need a bill. You think you need a builder now. Because you say that you guys on the issues of existential threat, you said you guys have no daylight.

Bennett, you know, Naftali Bennett is not known as being the kind or gentler, Bibi Netanyahu. You're very strong on there being no Palestinian state. You said you tried it. It doesn't work. On the regime, on Hezbollah, you wouldn't be doing anything different. You may be even doing it more in earnest. No, no.

I would be doing a great deal of things differently. I'm talking about the justification. of the war. But in terms of running all of this, there's a thousand things I would do differently. We're looking at a renaissance for Israel, a renaissance in the region, and hopefully a renaissance in the relationship between tiny Israel and great America, which, by the way, I love America. And I also want to tell your viewers, I cannot exaggerate how thankful we are to you. Yes, you have an interest in taking out Iran, but the America's friendship to Israel is not something I take for granted at all. And it's so important for us. I think it's also important for you. I talked about that aircraft carrier.

So we've got so much to fix the day after. And the day after is nearing. This war won't go on forever. And we're going to have to collect ourselves or debris, a nation that's, that's, you know, that's, you know, needs healing. And that's what I'm going to do. And certainly, Netanyahu cannot do that. Well, you have a three-front war, right? I mean, you have Iran abroad. You have Hamas on the southern border that's still in power,

and that's a very undecided situation. And the region has not really stepped up yet to do what they had suggested they would do. And you have Hezbollah that broke the deal as an active combatant now and is rushing south in a way they didn't. a year ago. They ran away. Now there seem to be looking for a fight. There's talk about whether or not Israel has to take land in Lebanon and keep it. Do you believe that? I think we do need to create a buffer zone to protect our pounds in communities that are near the border because moms and parents are terrified of an October 7th type attack from

Chisbalah from the north. And Chisbalah wants to annihilate Israel. And by the way, I'll digress a second for, you know, I lived in America. And our neighbors are Chisbalin Hamas, not Connecticut in New Jersey. And it's very hard for your typical American to understand what that means. And we didn't choose this. We don't want that. Like, from our perspective, we're happy with Israel as it is. We're not looking for to conquer Lebanon and Syria or anything.

We're happy. We just want to build our country. But you have these mortal enemies with crazy ideology that want to kill me. They want to kill my kids. And I wish that worked the case. But it is.

And as a responsible leader, we have to be able to fed them off. So yes, we do need to, in my opinion, we need to create a buffer zone. I would want to dismantle Chisbalah if we could do it in diplomatic, ways that would be obviously much better than war. I think the correct mix of tools, we can achieve that.

We can also dismantle Hamas. It might require kinetic action. It might require another mix of leverage, et cetera. And my job will be to restore security to Israel, but even more importantly, rebuild Israel. We need to rebuild Israel. We truly do. You know, there's two more points.

One is it's interesting to hear that you got to deal with problems at home because that is the conundrum in America. We thought this term was going to be a real war of ideas about who can fix our affordability problems and our health care problems and all these other entrenched systemic and now generational issues that we have with our debt, which could arguably be our biggest national security threat. And now it's all gone because of the war. and you say, oh, it's not going to last that long. We don't know that. You know, in the Trump age, you never know how long something's going to be. You don't know what to rely on. So it's interesting.

Israel needs what America says it needs. But neither of us are getting it. But for you, it makes more sense. You're right. You don't have Connecticut and New Jersey. Iran wants you first. So it's hard for Americans to connect to that when they have Connecticut and New Jersey. That's right.

But we do share much of the same problems. I mean, our boys who are fighting right now, they're going to come home. They're going to come home at the end of the war. And Israel has become incredibly expensive. To buy a house here is virtually impossible if you don't have wealthy parents. We need to fix the transportation. We need to fix unity. The discourse in Israel is not that very different from an America.

It's like two different planets left and right. And I don't buy that. I think that we definitely can work together. If we can fight together when we're in a tank and have someone left wing and right wing fight as brothers, we can certainly govern Israel, even if there's some difference in opinion. My main goal is to unite and heal Israel

and open this amazing new story, and it's going to be an amazing next 15th. years for Israel because the amount of energy of innovation of wonderful kids. I look at my own kids and how much they're volunteering and helping each other and helping others. My daughter, I just saw her yesterday by chance in a city called De Mona that was hit by a rocket. And I didn't know she's there. She was down in the south. I came down. Suddenly I see her fixing houses of people that got ruined. That's beautiful. I mean, I wish the houses weren't ruined, but we have a beautiful young generation.

We're having a lot of kids, which is very unusual in the West. We're the only Western country with positive demographic growth. So amid all this chaos and mess, you're going to see this beautiful renaissance of growth and optimism. This time of year, the school calendar really starts to fill up. Spring activities, testing season, and that final push, toward the end of the year. It's a great moment for kids to stay focused and build confidence in what they're learning. That's where Iexel comes in. I Excel is an award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand their schoolwork, from math and reading to writing and

science. It's designed for pre-K through 12th grade, with personalized interactive content that adapts to each child's level and pace. I-Excel makes it easy to stay on track with instant feedback and clear explanations, skills organized by grade level, and simple progress tracking. fits into even the busiest spring schedules. It's also trusted nationwide. In fact, Iexel is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get Iexel now. Listeners can get an exclusive 20% off Iexel membership when they sign up today at Iexel.com forward slash today. Visit Iexel.com forward slash today to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. I was talking to somebody today about why America needs Israel.

And, well, what if we get out of the Middle East? What if we just leave them to it? And we support them the way we do with the Iron Dome and the reciprocal agreement on the defense. But it's their fight. It's not ours. And the point was made is, oh, you think it's just about the Middle East. You know, all this anti-Semitism is only in the West.

In the East, Israel is killing it. India loves them. The Chinese love them. Russia loves them. Russia, Russian is the third most common, in Israel. How important do you believe Israel is to America in negotiating with those two superpowers? First of all, your observations are correct. There's always been very little anti-Semitism in the East. We've had anti-Semitism in, obviously in Europe and in the

West a certain degree. And in the East, not a None of it. In fact, there's some degree of admiration and mutual respect. Look, I don't want to overstate. At the end of the day, this is not an alliance of equals. America is the leader of the world, and we get that and we respect that. So America, even, you know, in terms of cutting deals with China and India, your interests are so huge and your leverage is so huge. wouldn't say that on that topic were a game changer. Where I do think that Israel has a lot of value for America is Israel, in a sense, is becoming a global, this will sound strange to you, but I think you'll understand a global problem solver, of big

problems in the real world. So give you a couple of examples. Obviously, dealing with asymmetric warfare. We're the ones who had to develop, how do you fight radical Islamic terrorists who are hiding within schools? And not with standing all the flack we're getting. We've cracked it. We're doing it the most accurate way possible with our text messages and with pamphlets. And we've developed this doctrine.

Give you another example. How do you deal with missiles and rockets? So we developed Iron Dome. But then everyone realized it's really expensive. So then we develop the laser beam and obviously we're going to share it with you. So we're always solving new problems of the world. Let me tell you another huge problem, not in defense related. It's a problem called social networks which are poisoning our brains.

It's a small problem, right? And so here in Israel, there's a Jewish startup that was invented about 3,300,000, 300,000. years ago called Shabbas, Shabbat, where once a week we take 25 hours, take this thing and put it aside, and do this novel idea of talking to your kids, of listening, of playing games together, things that you and I grew up with, but no longer apply. But tongue in cheek, but I actually mean that in this day and age, the world's facing huge, huge problems and challenges. of AI, assuming the best case scenario,

what Elon Musk is talking about, the age of plenty of abundance, what is the meaning of life? So if we have computers smarter than us, what are we for? And I think that sort of fusion between America and Israel, which has always been meaningful, will be even more meaningful. So I urge your viewers to look at us your small friend, very energetic, very innovative,

very decent, and trying to do our best in crazy circumstances, yeah, we appreciate your help. We're not asking it to fight our wars. We're not asking to send any boots on the ground for us. That's my son. He's serving in the same unit I served 35 years ago and I fought Hezbollah. I wish he didn't have to fight Hezbollah,

But we're here, we're tough, we're resolute about this. And again, we are so grateful to the wonderful people of the United States of America. We know that, I know that it seems that when you look at some, you know, the Tucker Carlson's of the world or the woke idiots, it sometimes seems that we're losing all support. But there's a lot of good people, decent people, who, who, who, who do value this friendship. And I just want to say to them, thank you. We appreciate that.

And, you know, we love you guys. So thank you for and for this wonderful discussion, Chris. Mr. Prime Minister, I look forward to speaking to you many more times. You know how to get me. I wish you well going forward. And I'll be watching very closely. You take care of my friends. Interesting guy, charismatic guy, very well-schooled in America and America.

Okay, warrior by training, a tech guy, very successful, very, very well connected inside Israel, and the odds-on favorite, if there are elections this fall to be the most formidable opponent to Bibi Netanyahu's continued tenure. Important for you to know, even if you disagree with everything that he says. Well, now you know, in his estimation why he believes it. And that is very important to know. Why? Because even if you don't agree, even if what you hear doesn't change what you disagree about, you now understand what you may see as your opponent or what you may see as an ideological opposite, better than you did before. And that's my goal. Thank you for subscribing and following. Thank you for checking out the different

subscription models on YouTube. That's why they're there so you can get more access to me in close settings, Q&A, consultations. It's all there within the options of the different subscriptions. So check them out and check out the gear, the merch and the store. Why? You got to brand and wear your independence. You got to show it off. You're a free agent.

You want to get after it. You want to get after it as a critical thinker as someone who's different. That's why I make the gear. We'll crowdsource the money that comes from it and give it away to people and causes we can all feel good about. I'll see you every morning, SXM, Sirius XM Radio 124, 7 to 9A, Potish Chow. And at night, News Nation, 8P, Eastern, and midnight, every weekday night. And of course, the Chris Cuomo Project is always here for you.

Let's get after it. This time of year, the school calendar really starts to fill up. Spring activities, testing season, and that final push toward the end of the year. It's a great moment for kids to stay focused and build confidence in what they're learning. That's where IXL comes in. I Excel is an award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand their schoolwork, from math and reading to writing and science. It's designed for pre-K through 12th grade, with personalized interactive content that adapts to each child's level and pace. I-XL makes it

easy to stay on track with instant feedback and clear explanations, skills organized by grade level, and simple progress tracking. It fits into even the busiest spring schedules. It's also trusted nationwide. In fact, I-XL is used in 96 of the the top 100 school districts in the U.S. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get I-Exel now. Listeners can get an exclusive 20% off I-XL membership when they sign up today at Iexel.com forward slash today.

Visit Ixl.com forward slash today to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.