John J. Mearsheimer

You're watching the Germans get nuclear weapons.

How do you think about that?

And if you see the Poles getting nuclear weapons, how do you think about that?

Right.

So the potential for danger here is just not to be underestimated.

I mean, we were talking before about the Sergei Karaganov scenario where the Russians use nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe because the Ukrainians are attacking Mother Russia with drones and missiles.

Here we're talking about a situation where Poland and Germany might go down the nuclear road and asking ourselves the question, what would be the Russian reaction?

I think there are two reasons.

Number one is that the influence of Israel on the American foreign policy establishment cannot be underestimated, in large part because of the lobby.

And Israel and the lobby have a deep-seated interest in making sure that the United States is militarily involved all over the world.

Because they want an American military that's at the ready if Israel gets into trouble.

So whenever you talk about restraint, like the Quincy Institute in Washington talks about restraint, this raises the hackles of the lobby.

Yeah.

Yes, you want a big fire department that is fighting wars and is honed to win those wars.

And this is in Israel's interest.

I'll show you a good piece of evidence that supports this point.

There's a recent article in the New York Times about Israeli intelligence going into overdrive and tracking the activities of particular individuals.

And in the New York Times article... In the United States.

In the United States, yes.

And in the New York Times article, it was pointed out that the two people who apparently have attracted the most attention are Steve Witkoff, because they want to know what he's up to, and Elbridge Colby,