The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | June 28th, 2024: US Mulls Sending Israeli Air Defenses To Ukraine & Iran's Escalating Nuclear Belligerence

Episode Date: June 28, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    The U.S. and Israeli governments have been quietly holding discussions about sending up to eight Patriot air defense systems currently on loan to Israel to Ukraine, a move that would essentially triple Kyiv’s air defense arsenal. In response to the recent flurry of developments regarding Iran’s nuclear program, the U.S. has issued a fresh round of sanctions targeting the regime’s oil trade. We’ll discuss their impact, and why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning that Iran’s aggression won’t stop with Israel. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB for 20% off your first time purchase. It's Friday, 28 June. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears. on the world stage. Let's get briefed. Now, before we get started, actually, with today's stories, you'll probably notice that we aren't dwelling on the debate last evening between Biden and Trump. And it's not because we're not fascinated and interested and concerned in equal parts, but it's because 99 out of 100 podcasts and pundits are currently banging on about the debate. So at the PDB, we'll stick to what we do best. International and domestic crises, concerns, and stories, that impact global and U.S. security and stability. We'll leave the political bloviating to others.

All right, first, in what would be a major shift of Israeli policy and a boon for leaders in Kyiv, the U.S. is in talks to send Patriot Air Defense Systems currently on loan to Israel to the front lines of Ukraine. We'll dive into the implications for both Israel and Ukraine, and why the deal may ultimately fall through. Also, in response to the recent flurry of developments regarding Iran's nuclear program, the U.S. has issued a fresh round of sanctions targeting the regime's oil trade. We'll discuss their impact and why Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is warning that Iran's aggression won't stop with Israel. But first, our afternoon spotlight. The U.S. is getting increasingly creative in their efforts to get more air defenses to Ukraine's front lines in the face

of Russia's ongoing aggression. And now, it looks like the Pentagon might get an assist from Israel that could have wide-reaching implications for Jerusalem's delicate relationship with Moscow. The U.S. and Israeli governments have been quietly holding discussions about sending up to eight Patriot Air Defense systems currently on loan to Israel to Ukraine, a move that would essentially triple Kyiv's air defense arsenal, that's according to an exclusive report from the Financial Times. Israel, which has had the Patriot batteries for more than 30 years, announced in April that they would be retiring the equipment in favor of more advanced technology. U.S. officials immediately seized on the opportunity and began talks about transferring the batteries to the battlefields of

Ukraine. As we've regularly discussed on the BDB, leaders in Kiev have been pleading for months for more air defense systems as they struggle to defend their skies from Russia's aerial bombardments. But Patriot systems are scarce in the U.S. arsenal, with only 14 deployed worldwide. They're also an expensive piece of hardware. Each Patriot battery costs roughly $1 billion. That's billion with a B, and missiles go for about $4 million a pop. Ukraine is currently believed to have only four Patriot batteries, two of which are on loaned from European allies.

If they can get their hands on the eight retired Patriot batteries from Israel, Keefe would dramatically increase their air defense capabilities and deal a major blow to the Russian military, which has so far leveraged Keeves' lack of air defenses to target their cities and energy infrastructure. Now, there are some major hurdles to clear before such a deal goes through, and the first is Israel's very delicate relationship with Russia. While Israel has condemned Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Jerusalem has so far declined to send weapons or aid to Ukraine out of concern

that it would disrupt their current understanding with leaders in Moscow. That understanding revolves around Syria, where Russia, which is allied with the Assad regime, currently allows the Israeli Air Force to conduct operations against Iranian-backed adversaries in the region. The war in Ukraine, however, reportedly changed the Israeli calculus as Russia began cozying up to Israel's top adversary, Iran. I mean, basically, Iran and, of course, North Korea, started looking much more attractive, alluring even. to Putin once he started to need to replenish his military warehouses with munitions, drones, missiles, and other resources. Still, Israel wants to be careful. If the discussions where the systems prove fruitful, Israel will first send the Patriot batteries back to the U.S.,

where they would then be transferred to Ukraine in an attempt to preserve their understanding with Moscow, sort of plausible deniability. Even with Israel, less concerned about blowback from Moscow, another hurdle has cropped up. Though the Patriot batteries were recently retired, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has heated up, and many see a war between the two as inevitable. Israeli officials have recently expressed concerns to their U.S. counterparts that if war breaks out in the north, they might need to redeploy the missile systems to defend against Hezbollah, given the sheer number of rockets currently in the Hezbollah arsenal, and with Iran currently sending and stockpiling more munitions in Lebanon,

Israel may not have the luxury of giving up additional air defense capabilities. Coming up after the break, the U.S. is finally responding to Iran's recent nuclear escalations, as Israeli leaders warn that the Islamic regime is intent on conquering the Middle East. I'll be right back. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong. Bro, Skycoin, way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon.

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and have one of your assistance assistants assistants switch you to MintMobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. Seeful terms at mintmobile.com. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Returning to our coverage of Iran, international concerns are once again

mounting over the Islamic regime's nuclear ambitions, sparking a fresh round of sanctions from the U.S. As we've been discussing on the BDB, Iran recently announced that they were expanding their uranium enrichment capacity at two underground sites, and U.S. and Israeli intelligence has suggested that they may be actively engaged in weaponization efforts to build an atomic weapon.

With that in mind, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced on Thursday, fresh economic sanctions against Iran, targeting the transport of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products. Blinken said the action was a response to the Islamic regime's, quote, continued nuclear escalations. In a statement, Blinken said, quote, over the past month, Iran has announced steps to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible, peaceful purpose. We remain committed to never letting Iran obtain a nuclear weapon, and we are prepared to use all elements of national power to ensure that outcome, end quote.

The sanctions were leveled against three companies based in the United Arab Emirates, the UAE, and the U.S., along with 11 vessels linked to their operations. Officials say the companies have been aiding in Iran's trade of oil, bypassing existing sanctions meant to squeeze the regime's petroleum profits. The sanctions came as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a fresh warning to the international community regarding the serious threat that Iran poses to the current international order. Speaking with a delegation of generals and admirals from the Jewish Institute for National Security of America on Thursday, Netanyahu framed Israel's current fight against Iran and their proxies as a war being fought on behalf of the entire free world.

That's according to a report from all Israel news. Netanyahu said, quote, Iran is fighting us on a seven-front war, obviously Hamas, Hezbollah, Houtis, the militias in Iraq and Syria, Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, and Iran itself. They'd like to topple Jordan. Their goal is to have a combined ground offensive from various fronts coupled with a combined missile bombardment, end quote. He went on to warn that, much like their friends in Russia, Iran's territorial ambitions extend far beyond the current conflict zones.

While he emphasized the need to deal with Hamas first, Netanyahu warned that Iran One's broader goal is to use their network or axis of proxies to establish total regional dominance in the Middle East. The Prime Minister explained, quote, we have to deal with the axis. The axis doesn't threaten only us, it threatens you. It's on the march to conquer the Middle East. That means actually conquer. Cocker Saudi Arabia, conquer the Arabian Peninsula.

It's just a question of time." His remarks come just a day after reports emerged that Nanyan who had revived a series of working groups on Iran's nuclear program amid the increasingly alarming intelligence assessments. As we discussed earlier on the PDB, anonymous Israeli officials told Axios this week that there are significant concerns within the intelligence community that Iran could seek to build an atomic bomb sometime before the next U.S. president takes office. And look at that. We're back where we started with today's afternoon bulletin, mentioning the U.S. presidents and who might sit in the Oval Office for the next four years. It's like the

circle of life. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday 28 June. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to be at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And if you're jonesen for an ad-free experience, be sure to check out our premium membership at PDB premium.com. It's that simple. Not to mention, which means I'm about to mention, every Friday evening at 10 p.m. You'll find a new episode of our PDB situation report on the first TV. It's also available over the weekend on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief and, of course, wherever you get your podcast stuff.

This week, we're talking Hezbollah, Iran, and Israel's escalating conflict with both, as well as ISIS smuggling networks, and the less than secure U.S. southern border, and what that could mean for U.S. national and public security. We've got great guests, news, and insight. All we're lacking, really, is a house band, and we're currently auditioning for that gig. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report.

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