Ben Rhodes

Some of them are being killed.

Like land is being taken.

They're bombing the shit out of Lebanon and Gaza in a ceasefire.

In a ceasefire, in a ceasefire.

I mean, Beirut is getting bombed in a ceasefire.

Right.

Haiti is not getting into Gaza.

And so I think Netanyahu is kind of fully shifted away from being, you know, kind of playing between different sides to saying, all right, all bets are off.

But it's what allows him to stay in power, you know, because a permanent war, constant fear-mongering about enemies, compromises with these extremists in his own government has allowed him to become Israel's longest-serving prime minister.

Yeah, because it's cost them.

And look, the Hamas piece of this, in the Obama years, what I could not help but notice is he would relentlessly undermine, humiliate the Palestinian Authority

Um, while, you know, he at times would empower Hamas.

I mean, he did one deal where he gave Hamas a thousand prisoners in exchange for one, right.

And it really elevated Hamas's stature.

Well, that's because if he can point to the Palestinians and say, uh, they're led by Hamas, um, he doesn't have to have any pressure internationally to do a peace deal.

Right.

If he wanted a peace deal, he'd be trying to empower the Palestinian authority, but he never did that.

Yes, exactly.

Because your life in the West Bank, where you've accepted Israel, recognized its right to exist, all those things.

Won't be any better anyway.