Josh Hammer

You saw Donald Trump just this weekend, actually, in his lengthy post on Truth Social, talk about, for instance, the importance of the Red Sea, which is a core international waterway here. And he says that America should start bombing the crap basically out of the Houthis there. I'm happy he's doing that.

But the point is that America is always going to have various interests in this particular part of the world when it comes to oil and natural gas, when it comes to radical Islamic jihad. We just saw the Bourbon Street massacre, tragically, on New Year's Day just two and a half months ago.

But the point is that America is always going to have various interests in this particular part of the world when it comes to oil and natural gas, when it comes to radical Islamic jihad. We just saw the Bourbon Street massacre, tragically, on New Year's Day just two and a half months ago.

So the question then, the question, Andrew, is how can we make sure that America's interests are secured in the Middle East while simultaneously allowing us to – ourselves prioritize on the Indo-Pacific. And the solution is to embolden our like-minded allies in the region to patrol this region essentially on our behalf. That was the whole purpose of the Abraham Accords.

So the question then, the question, Andrew, is how can we make sure that America's interests are secured in the Middle East while simultaneously allowing us to – ourselves prioritize on the Indo-Pacific. And the solution is to embolden our like-minded allies in the region to patrol this region essentially on our behalf. That was the whole purpose of the Abraham Accords.

That's why I mentioned the Trump foreign policy from the first term, this idea. that you will embolden Israel, that you will strengthen U.S.-Israel ties, bring Israel into these peace accords with, in that case, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, and then essentially pass them the baton and say, okay, you know, you guys do your thing because your enemies are our enemies there.

That's why I mentioned the Trump foreign policy from the first term, this idea. that you will embolden Israel, that you will strengthen U.S.-Israel ties, bring Israel into these peace accords with, in that case, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, and then essentially pass them the baton and say, okay, you know, you guys do your thing because your enemies are our enemies there.

When you're knocking off this jihadist or that jihadist, you're basically doing both of us a favor there. And last year, there were actually some very important concrete examples of this. This is actually in chapter six of my book there. So for instance,

When you're knocking off this jihadist or that jihadist, you're basically doing both of us a favor there. And last year, there were actually some very important concrete examples of this. This is actually in chapter six of my book there. So for instance,

There were a few months, Andrew, last year where Israel kind of went on this Michael Corleone kind of godfather-esque, you know, revenge killing spree. And among the leading jihadists that they killed there, they basically took off the entirety of the Hezbollah leadership up to and including Hassan Nasrallah, the longstanding leader itself.

There were a few months, Andrew, last year where Israel kind of went on this Michael Corleone kind of godfather-esque, you know, revenge killing spree. And among the leading jihadists that they killed there, they basically took off the entirety of the Hezbollah leadership up to and including Hassan Nasrallah, the longstanding leader itself.

But before they got Nasrallah, they knocked off two individuals who I like to mention. One guy named Fuad Shakur, the other named Ibrahim Akil. Why do I mention these two guys by name? They were the ones who were responsible for the 1983 Beirut-Lebanon bombings of the U.S. Marine barracks and the U.S. embassy. In fact, the U.S.

But before they got Nasrallah, they knocked off two individuals who I like to mention. One guy named Fuad Shakur, the other named Ibrahim Akil. Why do I mention these two guys by name? They were the ones who were responsible for the 1983 Beirut-Lebanon bombings of the U.S. Marine barracks and the U.S. embassy. In fact, the U.S.

State Department had a $5 and $7 million bounty on those two jihadis' head for over four decades until Israel literally did the job for us there. So this notion that America does not in any way benefit here, this notion that we don't have the same enemies, it's ludicrous. We have exactly the same enemies there. And this is frankly a realist way

State Department had a $5 and $7 million bounty on those two jihadis' head for over four decades until Israel literally did the job for us there. So this notion that America does not in any way benefit here, this notion that we don't have the same enemies, it's ludicrous. We have exactly the same enemies there. And this is frankly a realist way

to focus our resources on the Far East while essentially securing our interests in the region. So it's a perfect fit for a foreign policy realism. This notion that Israel is kind of this antiquated Bush administration neoconservative issue, it's total nonsense. Frankly, actually, a lot of the neocons aren't actually even particularly stalwart supporters.

to focus our resources on the Far East while essentially securing our interests in the region. So it's a perfect fit for a foreign policy realism. This notion that Israel is kind of this antiquated Bush administration neoconservative issue, it's total nonsense. Frankly, actually, a lot of the neocons aren't actually even particularly stalwart supporters.

of the state of Israel there because they're obsessed with the idea of nation building. They're obsessed with the idea of trying to democratize, and they oftentimes get too involved in trying to carve out a brand-new Palestinian Arab state and all the same failed experiments that ultimately met their ruination in Baghdad, Iraq, and so forth there.

of the state of Israel there because they're obsessed with the idea of nation building. They're obsessed with the idea of trying to democratize, and they oftentimes get too involved in trying to carve out a brand-new Palestinian Arab state and all the same failed experiments that ultimately met their ruination in Baghdad, Iraq, and so forth there.

So it's actually the neoconservatives, frankly, who are oftentimes not great supporters there. I happen to think that U.S.-Israel relations are – a perfect fit for a foreign policy realist, MAGA, America first paradigm approach there.