Israel

Discussed as a state with a powerful military currently engaged in conflict in Gaza.

“You're not seeing that with Gaza and Israel. With Israel, you're seeing United States-funded Israeli military, which is insanely capable, destroying an entire city.”

Discussed as a country with a Jewish majority that maintains equal rights for its Muslim citizens.

“You go to medical school, the valedictorian that's chosen is a woman in hijab. Does that seem like it's animus? In the Knesset, in the, in the parliament of Israel, there are tons of Muslims that serve, right?As I was walking around all over Jerusalem, everybo…”

Mentioned as a country whose interests influence American politicians and as the site of Netanyahu's corruption charges.

“Well, it's not just incredibly influential. It's the amount of financial support they gave his candidacy and, again, all the different politicians that are beholden to Israel. That's the concern that a, a, a lot of people on the right and on the left have here…”

Frequently mentioned as the focal point of lobbying efforts and political campaign promises in New York City.

“... on our political candidates, on w- like, like for instance, one of the reasons why Mamdani won in New York City is because when they had the mayoral debate, he was the only one that said he's not immediately gonna go to Israel.”

Discussed as a place with a unique national psyche and high happiness despite security threats.

“Paradoxically, though, forgive me for interrupting you, Israelis score as one of the hap- h- uh, one of the highest on the happiness scales. So in a sense, it goes against what you're saying.”

Discussed in the context of its military response, hostage rescue efforts, and medical treatment of enemies.

“Whatever it is, it could be 50, it could be 100, it could be 200. So I am representative of Israel. I need to get those people out. Let's suppose that Hamas had said, "Here are all the people that we have kidnapped, and we are returning them to you and putting…”

Discussed as a society that prioritizes personal liberties and freedoms in the Middle East.

“be the case that a bank robber or a pedophile goes back to Thailand if there are no extradition, uh, you know, mechanisms to bring them back to the, to the United States. So my position of defending the United States or Israel or whomever else really stems fro…”

Discussed as a nation with a lobby group that influences American education systems.

“If you do a, a histogram of all of the nations that contribute to try to alter the types of ideas that are promulgated on American campuses, which lobby or which country scores way higher than anything you could ever hope for from Israel?”

Discussed in the context of its influence on US foreign policy and its shared security interests with the US regarding Iran.

“... there's an inordinate amount of influence that Israel has over foreign policy, our, our decisions, and even our political structure in the country.”

Defended by Gad Saad for its civilizational values that align with those of the United States.

“It isn't. That's what makes the United States great. So for me, uh, by the way, that, that also explains why people think, for example, that I defend Israel because I'm Jewish. There is an element to that. I mean, most of my family's in Israel. But it's really…”

The nation whose response to October 7th has caused a surge in negative public opinion.

“... at all have had a very negative opinion about Israel because of the response to October 7th and because of what they've done to Gaza.”

Mentioned in the context of regional security concerns and the Iranian regime's hostility.

“nation on earth. Every, every entity fights for its own interests. But that doesn't mean that the Americans are so lacking in personal agency, are so gullible, are so easy to puppeteer that it, there must be this Zionist lobby that otherwise is pushing us into…”

Mentioned as a destination for Jewish refugees fleeing Lebanon and as a state involved in the conflict.

“So it's, it's a different situation because if, if the, if, like, there was no attacks on Gaza and Gaza was its own, you know, autonomous or completely separate state and it wasn't controlled by Israel and there was no conflict, I doubt they would have the sam…”

Gad Saad mentions his support for Israel's right to exist as a point of contention.

“And then, and then, by the way, he, I couldn't -- They didn't wanna show me a lineup of things, of possible things, because it would be racist to do so. So the process of a police lineup, which is the most fundamental mechanism of identifying a perpetrator, wa…”

Discussed as a state whose existence is challenged by groups seeking its eradication.

“... Israel exists, and you have two choices. You can keep creating generations of your people whose, whose entire daily animation of terms of their objectives is to eradicate that place, or you could recognize that every single millimeter on Earth has at some …”

The central issue driving foreign policy debate and campaign spending in the primary race.

“And for this, Israel has chosen to make him suffer, or its, like, supporters here in America, and I just find it such a turn-off the amount of money that Miriam Adelson has dumped into this race. And so I do think that there's a faction of Republican voters, a…”

Discussed as a central point of political alignment for Republicans and the subject of intense scrutiny regarding its military conduct.

“So Mark, to me, my takeaway in watching that is, you know, all the time I was at Fox, 14 years plus, absolutely zero downside in Republicans saying that they are walking in lockstep with Israel. It was like nothing but good things can come from saying that. Ba…”

Mentioned in the context of Marco Rubio's political commentary regarding U.S. foreign policy.

“... that we did it for Israel. So I mean, like, the, the-”

Mentioned as a potential target for military force by Iran.

“Right. So there's two, uh, areas that the hopeful people cite. One is the thing the president and Scott Bessent have been talking about for weeks, that Iran's gonna run out of storage capacity for its oil, and that that will cause them to cry uncle because at …”

Mentioned in the context of having different interests regarding Iran compared to the US.

“It's, it's an interesting question w- of what it means to actually, uh, take Cuba because very similarly to, to how the United States and Israel have different interests when it comes to Iran, kind of Miami Cuban expat community and the United States have some…”

The subject of intense debate regarding US foreign policy and Democratic primary politics.

“Let me a- let me ask you a question, uh, and based on, you know, your, you've got your finger on the pulse of, of, uh, of the left and the party. Um, you know, the question that comes up oftentimes from Jews, and I'm Jewish, is, well, can a, can a Jew get elec…”

The nation whose parliament passed the new death penalty legislation.

“New research suggests participating in artistic endeavors could slow the aging process. [short musical sting] On the seventh of October twenty twenty-three, Hamas-led fighters killed more than twelve hundred people in southern Israel. Another two hundred and f…”

Discussed as a primary actor in Middle Eastern strategic planning and regional conflicts.

“Um, there is something before The Clean Break called the Oded Yinon Plan, uh, from I believe 1981, which is a real riot to read. It's, uh, this Israeli strategist, and the premise of the thing is that the Soviet Union is certain to conquer the entire planet. T…”

Discussed as a nation that officially denies having nuclear weapons despite widespread knowledge of their arsenal.

“Officially they don't, but everybody knows that they have at least 200. And in fact, I have that personally from Mordechai Vanunu, who is the Israeli whistleblower who went to prison. They kidnapped him in a honey trap plot, I think in, in England or in Italy.”

Mentioned as the intended strategic partner in the failed 'Clean Break' policy for Iraq.

“And that even though it's a super majority Shiite Arab country, those Shiites, they just love being told what to do by either their original plan was the Hashemite king, the cousin of the king of Jordan. And then they threw that out. And it was the guy who sol…”

Mentioned as having a list of enemies that the neoconservative network sought to address.

“Well, this is a particular sect of Mujahideen kooks that, who were Iranian communist cultists who were, had left Iran and gone to work for Saddam Hussein, and then wereYou know, he supported them. They had nothing to do with anti-American terrorism at that tim…”

Discussed as a regional power concerned about Iran's nuclear program and missile capabilities.

“Although they don't have the capability to launch a three-stage intercontinental ballistic missile to the United States of America. They can hit Israel, but they can do that with an intermediate-range missile.”

Mentioned as a key interest group influencing neoconservative policy through the Israel lobby.

“... you know, subsequent. I mean, what happened was you have, you know, Andrew Cockburn, the great journalist, Andrew Cockburn, says that the neoconservatives are a cross between the Israel lobby and the military industrial complex. The fighter bomber salesman…”

Mentioned as a state concerned about Iranian nuclear capabilities and as the occupying power in Gaza.

“for Iran, for Iran to have a civilian nuclear program, come on, that's just cover for really a weapons program. That's just a stage in a weapons program. We know eventually they're gonna make nukes, and then they're gonna attack Israel with them." And we also …”

Mentioned as part of the GCC and US-aligned nations in the Middle East.

“Absolutely. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it's just as simple as this, right? On February the 27th, the Gulf was open for business. And the illusion of American conventional air and naval power kept it that way, and nobody questioned it. It's America's dominat…”

Mentioned as the focus of U.S. intervention and the source of regional conflict.

“the phrase in my book that... And if blowback means long-term consequences from secret foreign policies that the American people then don't understand and are left up to false explanations or left susceptible to false ex- explanations, well, then backdraft ter…”

Discussed as a high-fertility, technophilic nation that faces internal challenges regarding the integration and conscription of specific religious groups.

“You have to look at what technophilic populations have high fertility. So Israel, very interesting. I'm interested in going to space with them because they're going to be high fertility, and they're maintaining a technophilic culture.”

The host discusses Israel's influence on U.S. foreign policy and their commitment to the ongoing conflict.

“But we'll do something and then... And will Israel let us get out of the war? Probably not. Let's just be honest. They're not gonna let us get out of the war. They have no plans. Israel right now is like, "No, no, no, no, no, we're not... No one's, uh, no one'…”

Mentioned in a joking context regarding heating costs.

“... they're charging us more for heat. I think Israel's doing it.”

Mentioned as a region where sesame is a common allergen due to the prevalence of hummus in the local diet.

“... in the very diverse populations that we see in a, in a central London teaching hospital, so where, where I work, and you will notice slightly different patterns of disease amongst different communities. So for example, in India, chickpeas, lentils are much…”

Bert Kreischer jokes about his ignorance regarding Israel's history before World War II.

“... Israel wasn't a thing before World War II.”

Mentioned as an example of a topic where people crave certainty and absolute answers.

“... Israel is doing. We know how much protein you should have per day. We know what the best sleep formula is." You go, "Well, fucking hell, like I don't need to worry anymore."”

Referenced in a joke about naming countries.

“Still sucked. But a lot of people like to remind me, "Hey, that's not a country." Like, thanks for reminding me I don't have a home, right? Yeah. We should've been clever and named it something that would stick, like Israel, then it would still be around and r…”