The President's Daily Brief - November 8th, 2023: Gaza Security Reversal, DPRK-Russian Axis, & Treaty Turmoil

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

In this episode of The President’s Daily Brief: We unpack Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent announcement that Israel may take a more assertive stance on Gaza’s security, signaling a potential shift away from long-standing policies. Dive into the dynamics between Russia and North Korea as South Korean intelligence sheds light on a lethal collaboration that could have global ramifications. Western powers and Russia step away from a key treaty meant to limit military deployments in Eastern Europe. And the growing schism in American opinions concerning the Israel-Hamas conflict has led to deadly consequences on U.S. soil. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President’s Daily Brief.   Email: [e-mail]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Wednesday, November 8th. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. In today's PDB, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares that Israel is preparing to take a more active role in Gaza's security when the conflict ends. It's a controversial decision that abandons decades of Israeli policy. Later in the program, South Korean-Iran-in-Sqaeda. intelligence agencies are giving new insight into the deadly blossoming alliance and mutual aid between Russia and North Korea, as Putin's relationship with the West continues to deteriorate. Finally, in today's back of the brief, the deepening divide between Americans over the Israel-Hamas conflict, it takes a tragic turn. But first up, the PDB spotlight.

I wanted to start off today's episode with more of our ongoing analysis of what Gaza might look like once the Israel-Hamas conflict is over, if it ever ends. In a striking statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel will play a continuing role in the security of Gaza when the war concludes. This revelation came during an ABC news interview, where Netanyahu emphasized the Nassafes, of Israeli security oversight to prevent the escalation of Hamas terror. The prime minister said, quote, I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility,

because we've seen what happens when we don't have it. When we don't have that security responsibility, he said, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn't imagine, end quote. This development marks a stark reversal of Israeli policy that has stood for nearly two decades. To understand why this is such a big deal, a brief history lesson is important. Now, back in 2005, Israel, under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, executed a policy of disengagement. Under this policy, all Israeli settlements were evacuated from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. although Israel retained authority over the airspace, borders, and coast, it ended its permanent

military and civilian presence in these enclaves. Now, if Israel takes control of Gaza's security, it signifies the end of the disengagement strategy and the reestablishment of Israeli security forces on the ground in Gaza and a return to the combustible situation that existed prior to 2005. So why would Israel willingly reenter such a volatile situation? The answer lies in the lack of reliable alternatives. The international community essentially can't be trusted to look after Israel's security. If you need evidence of that fact, you know, you need look no further than the United Nations.

Since October 7th, the international body has been, let's see, I'm looking for a work. useless, that's the word, I suppose that fits the bill, when it comes to this conflict. And in reality, a not insignificant number of UN members have actually been antagonistic toward Israel. Just this week, the United Nations Security Council once again failed to pass a resolution on the conflict, unable to agree on whether they should demand a, quote, humanitarian ceasefire or, quote, humanitarian pauses, neither of which takes into account Israel's best interests. To further cast doubt on the UN's impartiality, a report by a UK-based think tank has accused staff members at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees

of actually celebrating the Hamas-led massacre on October 7th. The think tank alleges that at least 14 employees publicly praised the attack and other acts of violence by Hamas on their social media. Well, and of course, we've discussed previously here on the PDB the surreal fact that Iran now chairs a United Nations Human Rights Forum. Just in case you missed that. Currently, Iran chairs a United Nations Human Rights Forum. This brings us to the question that is central to Israeli concerns.

Can an organization that has members applauding violence against Israelis be trusted with ensuring their security? Well, Israel seems to have made its answer clear. When it comes to their national security, they prefer to take matters into their own hands. Now, there's little doubt that Netanyahu's comments regarding the need for Israel to play an ongoing role in Gaza's security going forward will result in outrage from the free Palestine crowd, Hamas supporters, the Iranian regime, of course, and all the usual voices that line up against Israel on a fairly regular basis. While it's contentious to be sure, it is worth asking, what other options does Israel have? Hamas has proven over the past almost two decades that they mean what their charter says, the ultimate destruction of Israel. And Hamas has also demonstrated an inability.

really it's an unwillingness to improve the lives of the Ghazan residents that they have been supposedly governing. By the way, it's worth spending a bit of time, if you have the opportunity, to look at just how many Hamas leaders reside abroad, and how they benefit from the millions and millions of dollars that annually are supposedly earmarked for the benefit of the Palestinian people, not for the benefit of the Hamas leadership. From Israel's perspective, once they have accomplished their stated goals, ensuring that Hamas can no longer govern and control the Gaza Strip and use it as their base to attack Israel, there will be a need to ensure that whatever governing body replaces Hamas will be able to guarantee the security of Israel.

So for the time being, until a replacement government is up and running in Gaza, Israel sees no option but to play a role. Look, any other country in the same position would do the same thing. But that doesn't matter. Stand by for further cries of occupation or colonizer from the well-funded mobs on the streets. Okay, after the break, South Korean intelligence agencies are giving us deeper insight into what Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are each getting out of their blossoming romance and Russian relations with the West just went from bad to worse. I'll be right back. Welcome back. We're gaining more insight into the relationship between North Korea and Russia, and particularly what each side is gaining from their arrangement. Coming off the heels of a face-to-face

meeting at September between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, South Korean intelligence is reporting that Russia is assisting North Korea in the development and deployment of their latest spy satellite. Officials said Monday that this collaboration will likely result in another attempt by the North Korean government to launch a satellite within the coming months. As you may remember, the DPRK attempted to launch their latest spy satellite in May, and again in August, but both attempts failed due to technical issues. Now, as you might imagine, it's not as if Putin is providing critical technical support to the North Korean satellite industry out of the goodness of his heart. There's a tit for tat going on here. While the Russians help to bolster North Korea's intelligence capabilities,

it appears that North Korea is supplying Russia with various types of much-needed missiles and munitions to support their war efforts in Ukraine. This is in addition to previously reported shipments of ammunition and shells to supply the beleaguered Russian military. So, what do the strengthening ties between these two nations mean for the geopolitical order? Well, officials fear North Korea will be able to engage in greater military provocations with the West through their acquisition of Russian know-how. Their military ties with Russia. Russia, along with expanded trade between the two countries, will also serve to strengthen the eastern power block at a time when the Chinese regime is also flexing its muscle on the world's

stage, with the end goal, of course, of reordering the global power structure. Now, as Russia's relationship with North Korea is getting stronger, its relations with the West are going in the opposite direction, with both sides bailing on a landmark treaty, meant to keep the peace and maintain a balance of power. The U.S. and its NATO allies announced yesterday that they will formally suspend their participation in the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, or the CFE, on December 7th. If you're not familiar with the CFE, this treaty limited the number of troops, tanks, artillery, and aircraft that either side could deploy into the region. With these restrictions out of the way, the U.S. and its allies will be able to deploy a greater number of forces along

the borders of NATO member states, and this includes countries that share a border with Ukraine, like Romania and Bulgaria. The announcement of a formal suspension by the U.S. and NATO comes after Russia had already officially withdrawn from the agreement, a move that Putin gave notice of back in May. It should be noted that Russian leadership had made a habit out of ignoring aspects, of the agreement since the 1990s and officially suspended their own participation back in 2007 before their surprise invasion of Georgia in 2008. I know. You and I are shocked that the Putin regime wouldn't abide by the terms of an agreement that they had made.

This is just the latest landmark arms control agreement from the Cold War era to collapse since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Putin formally suspended the last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. U.S. in February of this year, and just last week withdrew their ratification of a new test-band treaty. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, as domestic tensions regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict continue to escalate, we'll discuss the tragic death of a 69-year-old Jewish man at the hands of a pro-Palestinian protester in California. I'll be right back. Welcome back. In today's back of the brief, we're going to end on.

a tragic and sad note. America's divide over the Israel-Hamas war continues to escalate, and now it appears to have turned fatal. This week, 69-year-old Paul Kessler lost his life following a dispute that turned violent during dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies. The Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office attributes his death to a blunt force head injury, classifying it as a homicide. Details surrounding the altercation remain scarce, though a social media image captured Kessler before the incident, proudly holding an Israeli flag at a local intersection. While it wasn't caught on camera, eyewitnesses claimed that Kessler fell backwards into the concrete during a physical altercation with a pro-Palestinian demonstrator. As the investigation unfolds,

the Ventura County Sheriff's Office has not dismissed. the potential of a hate crime. An officers briefly detained a suspect at his residence while executing a search warrant, though they later released him. Now, to be clear, law enforcement is doing the right thing by being measured and ensuring that they conduct a thorough investigation to make sure they have all the facts. But an interesting point here is that for the media,

in these types of situations, facts rarely matter, meaning that if we had the opposite situation, a pro-Palestinian protester dying from being assaulted by a pro-Israeli protester, there would be an incredible outcry from the media and social media. It would be all you'd hear about for days. There'd be angst-filled op-eds being crapped out daily decrying the rise of Islamophobia and the threat that it poses to democracy. But the reality is, we have a dead pro-Israel protester, apparently struck in the war, killed by a pro-Palestinian protester, then the media, well, they can't duck and cover quick

enough to avoid having to report on it. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Wednesday, 8 November. If you have any questions or comments, reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.