Transcript [00:00] Who's going to rescue Riad? The worst [00:02] one-day ballistic terror attack by the [00:05] Iranian regime Houthis on Saudi's main [00:08] airport. Wow, that is the worst one-day [00:12] attack since the beginning of the [00:16] Iranian regime Israel US war. [00:21] Khaled Abu Dam and my longtime friend [00:23] and colleague. This is a very dramatic [00:25] development for a number of reasons. [00:27] Saudi Arabia uh that has [00:31] shunned normalization with Israel that [00:34] has engaged a type of uh defense pact [00:38] with Pakistan and with Turkey raises a [00:43] lot of questions and as you said before [00:45] the show Riad is has cornered itself. [00:48] It's alone and wondering whether the [00:51] United States is going to step in and [00:53] take action just uh a month before the [00:57] most fateful midterm elections in recent [00:59] memory for the United States. [01:01] >> Well, Dan, this attack on the airport [01:04] shows that the Muhammad bin Salman, MBS, [01:08] we call him, the crown prince or the de [01:11] facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, chose the [01:14] wrong partners. I mean he chose to align [01:16] himself with Pakistan and Turkey in that [01:19] defense pact instead of aligning himself [01:22] with Israel for example. I mean the [01:24] chances of Israel helping uh Riyad the [01:28] Saudis against the Houthis are much [01:30] higher than the Turks and Pakistan. I [01:34] want to see the Pakistani army come in [01:36] help. I want to see Erdogan send troops [01:39] now to Yemen. So this is what happens [01:42] when you make uh the wrong decisions. [01:45] It's a miscalculation I would call it. [01:48] Normalization would have benefited Saudi [01:50] Arabia as it has benefited other Gulf [01:53] countries such as Bahin and the United [01:55] Arab Emirates which have very close [01:57] security ties with Israel. And I think [02:00] the Iranians think twice before they [02:03] attack countries that have a very close [02:06] security relations with and military [02:08] relations with Israel. Now Saudi Arabia [02:12] because of its refusal to join the uh [02:15] Abraham Accords has been left alone and [02:18] that invites you know your enemies to [02:21] attack you. The you are vulnerable. Uh [02:24] if NBS thinks that the America is going [02:27] to come to the rescue I I doubt that [02:29] especially not before the midterm [02:32] elections. The question now is Dan, will [02:36] this will the Iranians expand their [02:38] aggression? The Iranians and their [02:40] proxies, will they expand their [02:41] aggression beyond Saudi Arabia's [02:44] borders? Will is this are we going are [02:46] we headed towards an allout war between [02:50] Iran and the Gulf States or is this [02:53] limited to Saudi Arabia? I think the [02:55] Iranian regime is testing waters. [02:58] >> Absolutely. They're testing waters and [03:00] they're they're testing Saudi and uh you [03:04] know the ongoing uh the ongoing [03:07] competition between what is known as [03:09] either the Persian Gulf or the Arabian [03:10] Gulf. This is the moment of truth for [03:13] the Saudis. The entire Muslim world [03:15] particularly the Arab world is now [03:17] looking at Saudi. Are they going to take [03:19] an Israel type harsh military action? [03:23] And they have all the US technology all [03:26] and and they probably have some Israeli [03:28] technology as well under the table and [03:31] they have all the capabilities of taking [03:32] a very strong uh tough countermeasure [03:36] against the Islamic Republic. But let's [03:38] remember they've been playing both sides [03:40] against the middle Khaled. Remember in [03:42] 2024 they brought the Chinese in uh to [03:46] mediate with the Iranian regime. So this [03:49] is a classic Arab Muslim cultural [03:53] imbraglio. It's a it it is something the [03:56] west I hope everybody in the west [03:58] watches this podcast because this is a [04:00] test case about uh about military [04:03] strategic culture in the Arab world. Are [04:06] they going to break out of the [04:07] humiliation of either of publicly [04:11] allying with Israel or and and uh uh at [04:15] the same time asking Trump please come [04:17] in and save us. They've said that [04:18] numerous times. [04:19] >> I have no doubt then that this attack [04:22] would not have occurred without a green [04:24] light from the Iranian regime. The [04:27] Houthis are Iran's proxies. So all again [04:32] we keep repeating it. We keep saying the [04:34] same thing in our show. All roads lead [04:38] to Tahran. And what we are witnessing [04:41] right now is the Iranian regime testing [04:45] waters. The Iranian regime wants to see [04:48] the reaction of the international [04:49] community. If this attack passes without [04:53] a very strong response from the [04:55] international community, not necessarily [04:57] from the Saudis and from the Arab world, [05:00] then we will see the Iranian regime [05:02] emboldened to expand its aggression [05:05] through its proxies against other [05:08] countries. This is a very interesting [05:11] time. I think the next few hours or days [05:14] will tell where we are headed. [05:17] >> You know, Khaled, just before we went on [05:18] air, you brought up a fascinating point [05:21] about the um board of peace. Uh and [05:24] there is a direct connection, I would [05:26] suggest, between what we're talking [05:28] about now in terms of the uh very very [05:33] important moment of truth for the Saudis [05:36] and what's happening in the border of [05:37] peace or what's not happening with the [05:40] border of peace and the Iranian regime. [05:41] How does it work? The Iranian regime has [05:44] been watching very carefully what its [05:46] Hamas Sunni Hamas proxy has been able to [05:49] do and what the international uh [05:52] response has been. Now, you've just [05:54] written a piece and and um uh that's [05:57] going to be published on jcfa.org which [06:00] is going to argue that the the border of [06:03] peace is still trying to piece itself [06:05] together. The Iranian regime is watching [06:08] the international uh border of peace [06:10] that doing rather little in order to [06:14] disarm and dradicalize [06:17] the Hamas and the Gaza Strip [06:19] respectively. Now, this has not worked [06:21] that way. It has not worked well. [06:23] Nothing has happened except for the fact [06:25] that Hamas is much stronger than it was [06:28] 6 months ago, a year ago, at any time [06:30] since October 7th. And this is the, you [06:33] know, this is the elephant in the room [06:34] is that Hamas is much stronger in full [06:36] control of its part of Gaza and and and [06:40] the Iranians are watching and testing [06:42] and that gives them in in in part great [06:45] confidence to go after the Saudis [06:47] because they see that this international [06:49] border peace in southern Israel try [06:51] supporting to govern Gaza stabilization [06:54] force the the Trump plan the 20point [06:56] plan which promises as points one and [06:58] two dradicalization [07:01] and demilitarization of the strip hasn't [07:04] happened. [07:05] First of all, Dan, I mean, let's we need [07:08] to acknowledge that the plan or Trump's [07:12] 20point plan for peace in Gaza is a [07:14] great plan by the way and the board of [07:18] peace that came out of this plan that [07:21] was produced by this plan is also a [07:23] wonderful idea by the way and the road [07:25] map that the board of peace recently [07:27] announced for the demilitarization of [07:30] Gaza and the disarmament of the [07:32] terrorist groups is also wonderful. [07:35] No one is doubting the good intentions [07:37] of the Trump administration and other [07:40] actors. [07:41] No one is doubting the great ideas and [07:45] the great proposals they have come [07:48] forward with. What we are saying is okay [07:51] that's nice but this is uh uh you know [07:54] these are plans on paper. It's one thing [07:57] to come out with very nice ideas and [07:59] talk about them but it's another thing [08:01] to implement them on the ground. on the [08:03] ground. We still don't see real change. [08:05] We see a lot of statements. We see a lot [08:07] of initiatives. We see a lot of [08:08] announcements. We see a lot of talk [08:11] about demilitarization, decommissioning [08:13] of weapons, storage of weapons, uh [08:16] transition of power in Gaza, but [08:18] nothing's happening. As you said, Hamas [08:20] is still in power and uh although they [08:24] have been militarily weakened and [08:26] they've lost much of their military [08:27] capabilities, but they are still there [08:29] and as long as Hamas is standing and as [08:32] long as Hamas is seen by locals and by [08:36] the international community as the only [08:38] party in control of Gaza. Uh then you [08:42] know what's the point? Uh what what we [08:44] are saying is that you need to follow [08:46] up. It's not enough to publish plans and [08:48] come up with ideas and uh if they're not [08:51] implemented, it's not worth anything. [08:53] And the Iranian regime and its network [08:55] of terror proxies, they're they're [08:57] watching this and they they're saying, [08:59] "Okay, you know, these westerners can [09:01] come up with all these plans on the [09:03] ground. We control everything and we are [09:06] even trying to foil their plans." What [09:08] worries me then more more than and I've [09:11] written about this at Gatesstone and [09:13] other places and I've been speaking [09:15] about this is [09:17] the attempt to persuade Hamas to disarm [09:21] to lay down its weapons and the direct [09:23] negotiations between the US and Hamas. [09:27] This is very dangerous. You don't [09:29] negotiate with with terror organizations [09:32] about laying down their weapons. They're [09:34] not going to lay down their weapons. And [09:36] even if they do lay hand over some of [09:38] their weapons, it's not the end of the [09:40] game. Storage of weapons is a crazy idea [09:43] because Hamas will always have access to [09:45] these weapons. Bringing in a new [09:48] Palestinian administration to Gaza while [09:50] Hamas is still there is pointless, [09:53] ineffective because Hamas will run the [09:56] show behind the uh curtain. So what we [09:59] need here is a very clear position from [10:01] the board of peace from the Trump [10:04] administration [10:06] defining a pathway. Tell us where we are [10:09] headed. Stop coming out you know stop [10:11] publishing all these nice initiatives. [10:13] Stop tell us give us a deadline. Say you [10:16] know in two months if Hamas does not [10:19] relinquish control of Gaza and does not [10:21] hand over its weapons hell will break [10:24] loose. I mean, we we stopped hearing [10:26] Trump talk about, you know, hell [10:28] breaking news. He's he's not talking [10:29] about that anymore. He's he stopped [10:31] issuing ultimatums to Hamas, and that [10:34] worries me also because it it sends him [10:37] the wrong message to the Iranian regime [10:39] and its proxies, and now we see that the [10:42] Houthis are so emboldened that, you [10:45] know, they feel safe and secure to [10:47] attack Saudi Arabia. And Saudi Arabia in [10:50] the eyes of the Arabs and the Muslims is [10:52] like the number one Arab Muslim country [10:54] that is aligned with the United States [10:57] of America and the West. And if the you [11:01] know a key ally of the US is attacked [11:04] and it's international airport is [11:07] attacked and there's no strong response [11:11] then we'll see more attacks like that [11:13] not only against Saudi Arabia but [11:15] against other Arab countries and then it [11:18] will move to Western parties and [11:21] probably to the US itself. People must [11:24] never underestimate the cunning uh and [11:27] the sophistication of the Iranian regime [11:31] because from their point of view they [11:32] see well the Americans are going into [11:34] the midterms. They know that the [11:36] president wants to try to keep things [11:37] quiet, try to bring down gas prices [11:40] which are 40% higher today than they [11:42] were a year ago. Uh the oil prices are [11:45] uh the Brent crude is over $100 a [11:48] barrel. Um and the American people still [11:52] um have not given the president a high [11:55] approval rating. Having said that, there [11:57] is somewhere between a seven to 9 point [12:00] difference between the Democrats in [12:02] favor of the Democrats over the [12:03] Republicans. So they know, the Iranians [12:05] know, the Iranian regime knows that [12:07] Trump is in a bit of a squeeze. So what [12:09] do they do? The Iranians then hit the [12:12] Saudis big time, knowing that Trump is [12:15] is very um skittish about getting [12:18] involved again. Forces the humiliation [12:21] of the Saudis because if they don't [12:23] respond, they look terribly weak in the [12:25] eyes of the entire uh Arab and Muslim [12:29] world. They put this the Iranian regime [12:32] now puts Turkey and Pakistan uh you know [12:35] on the spot as to what they're going to [12:38] do and they're they're basically [12:40] creating this type of chaos in the [12:42] Middle East that they're so good at [12:43] creating. I think that many people don't [12:45] see that bigger picture and that the the [12:48] last thing they've done as part of this [12:50] uh picture um Khaled is to actually get [12:54] Israel to crouch and perhaps go for the [12:57] attack that that people are talking [12:59] about going for. There was actually [13:01] reports today, news reports that the [13:04] Trump administration had urged Israel to [13:06] take a a uh a solo uh role in attacking [13:11] a unilateral attack on the uh Iranian [13:14] regime so that Israel would bear the [13:16] political consequences. The United [13:17] States would avoid the political con [13:20] consequences. Well, in the strategy room [13:22] in Thran, you know, many feet underneath [13:25] the ground, this is how the Iranian [13:27] regime is thinking. It's very [13:29] sophisticated thinking. [13:30] >> You keep talking, Dan, about the octopus [13:32] and that the Iranian regime has all [13:35] these [13:35] >> Yeah, the octopus. [13:36] >> Yeah. And uh you're right. I mean, Iran [13:39] has long been meddling in the internal [13:41] affairs of Arab countries, Muslim [13:43] countries. [13:45] At one point, they were occupying four [13:47] Arab countries. [13:49] Uh but their efforts to undermine, you [13:54] know, moderate Arabs and Muslims are [13:56] ongoing. They've never abandoned these [13:58] efforts. Their effort to export the [14:01] Islamic revolution has not stopped. [14:04] Their effort to sit and establish bases [14:07] of power in different places in the [14:10] Middle East are ongoing as we are [14:12] sitting over here. And they are very [14:15] cunning, very sly in their thinking. Erh [14:19] I think they are very clever because [14:22] they think ahead al always they know [14:25] that as you mentioned that we are headed [14:28] towards elections midterm elections in [14:30] the US so Trump's hands are a bit tied [14:34] and that's why we had this attack on [14:37] Saudi Arabia. I agree with your [14:39] assessment. It's 100%. The question now [14:42] is how far will the Iranians take it? [14:45] The Iranians and their network. I mean, [14:47] are they going to escalate, you know, [14:50] uh, more? Are we going to see a further [14:52] escalation as we approach the date of [14:55] the elections in the US and even in [14:57] Israel? By the way, I don't rule out the [14:59] possibility that the Iranians are also [15:01] looking at Israel and saying, "Oh, these [15:03] Israelis are now busy with the elections [15:05] and [15:07] they're they will probably not attack. [15:09] So, let's also provoke the Israelis. [15:12] Let's do something also against Israel." [15:14] We need to keep our eyes very open. the [15:16] Iranian regime is still there. Those who [15:18] say that the Iranian regime is weakened [15:20] and they've lost money and they don't [15:21] have resources and their military [15:23] capabilities have been severely [15:25] undermined. I think they need to be very [15:27] careful about what they say. I mean you [15:29] don't need planning and uh conspiring [15:33] does not need that much. You know these [15:35] people think ahead. It's for them it's [15:37] strategic thinking. It's long-term [15:40] thinking. And I think this is something [15:41] that the West is not taking into [15:44] consideration because the West, as we [15:46] always keep saying on this show, has [15:49] less patience than [15:52] the Iranian regime, than Islamists [15:54] around the Arab in the Arab and Muslim [15:56] world. [15:58] Yeah, very much so. And this is the [16:01] cultural disconnect that we keep talking [16:04] about. As a matter of fact, our our dear [16:06] friend Harold RHED um has just written u [16:10] for the JCFA a policy booklet uh which [16:13] you and I have gone through called [16:16] Islamic Warfare and the October 7th [16:18] Massacre, Ancient Doctrine Marches On. [16:20] And I think that um you know our [16:22] discussions in Harold's latest book [16:24] which is really about the ideological [16:26] and religious underpinnings of the [16:29] Islamic way of war that is going forward [16:32] what we all have to uh embrace and [16:35] understand in order to know how to fight [16:37] our adversaries. Otherwise, you know, [16:40] the West is going to keep fighting like [16:41] the West and the Arab East is going to [16:43] keep fighting on a completely different [16:46] uh psychological, political um influence [16:49] battlefield. [16:51] >> I again I agree with you, Dan. Uh but [16:54] I'd like to shift the conversation to [16:57] something also important that our [16:59] viewers probably don't know about which [17:02] is uh the postponement of the elections [17:06] authority. I don't [17:08] >> another year [17:09] >> another year and I mean interesting [17:13] what's interesting is that the the new [17:15] date has been set for September 11 to [17:18] 2027 911 [17:21] I don't know if President Abbas did that [17:23] deliberately but what is important here [17:25] is that no one was surprised by this [17:26] move of course it's not really connected [17:28] directly to the Iran and the Saudi [17:30] Arabia and the Houthies but it's very [17:32] important that you know we talk about it [17:34] because uh only yesterday during on [17:37] Shabbat. Did President Mahmud Abbas [17:39] issue another presidential decree? Uh I [17:42] would like to make a few points. First [17:44] of all, it's not the first time that the [17:46] elections have been postponed. Uh I [17:48] think it's a third or fourth time in the [17:50] past 20 years that he postpones the [17:53] elections. [17:54] >> Uh number two, President Abbas is now in [17:57] about to enter the 22nd year of his [17:59] 4-year term in office, [18:01] >> which was what 2005. [18:04] Um he was elected in January 2005 for a [18:08] 4 year. Yeah. Uh I mean fortunately for [18:11] him then Hamas you know staged a coupe [18:14] against the Palestinian Authority and [18:16] you had the division among the [18:18] Palestinians. So he used that first as [18:20] an excuse not to hold elections. He said [18:22] oh I can't hold elections because Hamas [18:24] kicked me out of Gaza. Hamas took over [18:26] Gaza. [18:27] And later he came up with all kinds of [18:29] excuses. once you know it's oh we have [18:32] to do it through national consensus then [18:34] he said oh Israel is not allowing us to [18:36] hold the elections in in Jerusalem then [18:40] you know now he's repeating the same [18:42] thing saying you know uh we need [18:44] national consensus I'd like to reach [18:46] agreement with Hamas I mean what do you [18:48] mean you you'd like to reach agreement [18:49] with Hamas about the elections why do [18:51] you continue to look at Hamas as a [18:53] legitim legitimate player on the [18:54] Palestinian [18:56] side but again what is interesting here [19:00] is that you know no one was really [19:01] surprised by this move. The question now [19:04] is how will the Palestinian street [19:06] react? Will the Palestinian public say [19:08] enough is enough? We want new leaders or [19:10] will they just, you know, let it pass [19:12] and uh uh you know tolerate another year [19:17] of Mahmud Abbas's Palestinian Authority [19:20] and with him in power. We need to keep [19:24] our eyes open on what's happening over [19:25] there with the Palestinian Authority. [19:28] Let's not forget that President Abbas is [19:30] 91 years old almost and uh all this talk [19:34] about his son being groomed to succeed [19:37] him is also creating a lot of tensions [19:41] among many Palestinians especially among [19:43] the Fatah leadership. Fatah is the uh [19:46] the dominant party of the Palestinian [19:48] Authority. [19:50] So I think you know we need to keep our [19:51] eyes open. We're going to see [19:53] interesting developments. Another point [19:55] we need to stress [19:58] when several countries recognized [20:01] the state of Palestine over the last [20:03] year or two uh they did that on the [20:06] basis of promises from the Palestinian [20:09] Authority to implement major reforms [20:12] including holding elections. [20:15] Now the question is is France now going [20:17] to come to President Abbas and [20:18] >> or Britain [20:19] >> or Britain or Canada and say you fooled [20:22] us we were duped by you. uh we we are [20:25] going to backtrack or I I'd like to see [20:28] their response to the postponement of [20:30] the election and we all know Dan that [20:32] it's not going to take place also next [20:34] year it won't take place. Uh so the [20:37] these are some important points that we [20:39] need to point out. [20:40] >> Absolutely. That's absolutely the case. [20:43] In fact, just to remind our friends and [20:46] family who are viewing this podcast that [20:48] there have not been elections since [20:50] 2005. That was for four years. That was [20:53] the presidential election. [20:54] >> That was Yeah. Not the legislative [20:56] election. That was [20:57] >> a year later. Yeah. A year later in [21:00] January 2006, there was a parliamentary [21:02] election. Hamas won most of the seats. [21:06] And uh in 2018, President Mahmud Abbas [21:11] dissolved the P the Palestinian [21:13] legislative council. That's the name of [21:14] the parliament, by the way. So the [21:16] Palestinians don't have a functioning [21:18] parliament. There's no open debate. [21:20] There's no free media. there's no [21:22] freedom of speech. Uh they're divided. [21:24] Uh we don't see real reforms. I mean, we [21:28] we did see cosmetic changes here and [21:30] there, but uh the reforms that the [21:32] international community has been [21:34] demanding have not been uh uh [21:37] implemented and now the ball is in the [21:40] uh international community [21:42] court. Uh it's specifically the western [21:45] donors, those who provide financial aid. [21:48] I'd like to see their response to the [21:50] postponement of the election. [21:52] >> I'm not sure they care, Khaled, because [21:54] I think that uh in the same way as we we [21:56] see the Nazification of Israel after um [22:00] you know the worst mass murder since the [22:02] Nazi period against uh uh Jews and and [22:05] also Muslims and many others from [22:07] Israel. We see that there is really a [22:11] type of racism of low expectations [22:13] regarding the Palestinian Authority and [22:16] and [22:16] >> there's double standard. Yeah. in [22:18] dealing I mean you hold the Palestinians [22:20] to different standards than the Israelis [22:22] and the Palestinians are you know not [22:25] held responsible for many things while [22:28] Israel is held responsible this has [22:30] always been the international community [22:32] so I say if you don't care and you're [22:34] only obsessed with Israel and you're not [22:37] going to pressure the Palestinian [22:38] authorities so stay out of it stop [22:41] giving money and just stay out of it and [22:43] stop preaching to Israel and the [22:44] Palestinians what to do and what not to [22:47] But, you know, stop the double standard [22:49] in dealing with the uh conflict. That's [22:51] very important. [22:52] >> Yeah. And I that's very much where we [22:54] are as a double standard. And I think [22:56] that this is really what drives the uh [22:59] the European uh community is this [23:02] overarching sense that if you just [23:04] established another October 7th [23:06] Palestinian state in the hills of the [23:08] West Bank, Judea and Samaria, then all [23:10] this other uh Iranian octopus [23:13] strangulation strategy would all go [23:15] away. which shows you which is why this [23:18] podcast I think is consequential because [23:19] it it really breaks apart a lot of the [23:22] what we call uh Palestinian mythology or [23:25] the mythology of uh what they call uh [23:28] Palestine first and this is why they [23:31] don't really care about what Natan [23:33] Sharansky has always called the [23:34] democratization uh of the um Palestinian [23:38] society. So, so if somebody went to them [23:41] and say, "No, are you going to are you [23:42] going to stop your support for um, you [23:46] know, a Palestinian state when they [23:48] actually satisfy none of the [23:50] requirements uh for for statehood? um [23:53] that you know they don't control uh they [23:55] don't control a permanent population. [23:57] They don't control borders. They don't [24:00] they don't uh engage international [24:02] relations. They engage in international [24:04] political activism only only in a 100 [24:07] countries around the world uh to provide [24:10] salaries and also to defame dele [24:13] delegitimize and and demonize Israel. [24:15] That's all they do country by country. [24:17] >> October 7 drove the final nail in the [24:20] coffin of the two-state solution. Those [24:22] who continue to talk about the two-state [24:24] solution are living on a different [24:26] planet. They have no idea what they're [24:27] talking about. They are completely [24:29] clueless and they are actually proving [24:33] that uh you know they are trying to [24:37] promote the destruction of Israel [24:39] because as you said I mean today [24:42] a Palestinian state support under the [24:45] current circumstances would pose a an [24:47] existential threat to Israel. And what [24:50] guarantees do we have that this state is [24:52] not going to be run by Hamas and Islamic [24:54] Jihad and the Iranian regime? We've been [24:57] to this movie before. I mean, what [24:59] happened on October 7 was that the state [25:02] of Gaza, which was a semi-independent [25:04] and sovereign state [25:07] >> with an open border, by the way, where [25:08] Israel was not present with Egypt. This [25:13] state of Gaza [25:15] breached an internationally recognized [25:17] border and attacked Israel. [25:20] It attacked Israel proper. The Israeli [25:23] communities that were attacked are not [25:25] disputed territories. These are not [25:28] quote unquote illegal settlements. This [25:30] is Israel proper. The Jews who were [25:32] kidnapped and murdered and uh uh [25:36] tortured on the and mutilated on that [25:38] day were not quote unquote illegal [25:40] settlers. These are Israeli citizens and [25:43] some of them as we know tragically were [25:45] even peace activists pe people who are [25:48] advocating for the two-state solution. [25:50] So the international community needs to [25:52] take all these into consideration and [25:54] what guarantees do you have that if you [25:56] give the Palestinian authority any [25:58] territory today it's not going to end up [26:00] in the hands of Hamas. Uh, one of the [26:02] reasons why Abu Mazin called off the [26:04] election because he saw an alliance [26:07] between Muhammad Dlan, the former fat [26:10] strongman and Hamas and other groups and [26:13] this is very dangerous for him. So, you [26:16] know, you cancel the election and you [26:18] just continue. [26:19] >> How is that going to work? uh Muhammad [26:20] Alan as we know is a billionaire living [26:22] in the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi [26:26] and and the United States has been in [26:28] touch with him and other powers have [26:29] been in touch with him. And how does a [26:31] Hamas Dlan um any kind of alliance like [26:35] that work? because it was actually [26:37] Daklan who ran away from Gaza when Gaza [26:40] and the West Bank were connected as one [26:44] integrated Palestinian authority uh with [26:47] international backing and Daklan was [26:49] known to have profited in numerous ways [26:52] from being the head of the security uh [26:54] in in Gaza and now and now Mahm Abbas [26:57] head of the PA and head of the PL and [26:59] chairman of the PLO and the Fatak is [27:01] actually concerned that of a of a DAN [27:04] Hamas alliance. How does that work? What [27:07] happened then was that uh Muhammad Dlan [27:11] at one point was the number one enemy of [27:13] Hamas. He was the security chief in [27:15] Gaza. He was head of the uh preventive [27:18] security force and he was in charge of [27:20] cracking down on Hamas, arresting them, [27:22] torturing them and some people from [27:24] Hamas even died in detention centers run [27:28] by Muhammadan. [27:30] Muhammad Alan is one of the main reasons [27:32] why Hamas launched a coupe in Gaza. [27:35] uh in 2007 in 2007 and he fled Gaza to [27:39] the West Bank and became an ally of [27:42] President Mahmud Abbas only later to uh [27:46] fall out with President Abbas and his [27:49] son and then he he had to flee the West [27:53] Bank and went to uh to uh the United [27:56] Arab Emirates where he became as you [27:58] said a wealthy businessman, a prominent [28:00] uh [28:02] wheeler dealer I call him and He's [28:04] called an adviser to the ruler of Abu [28:07] Dhabi. I don't know what that means, by [28:08] the way. Anyway, [28:12] you asked a very good question. What [28:13] brings someone like Muhammad Dlan, a [28:15] secular Palestinian who was one of the [28:19] symbols of the Oslo Accords? Uh, what [28:22] brings him in, you know, in [28:27] this coalition or alliance with Hamas? [28:30] Well, I'll tell you. common interests. [28:32] You know, they both want to be in Gaza. [28:35] They both want to play a role in Gaza. [28:37] And number two, they have a common enemy [28:39] called Muhammad Abbas and the [28:40] Palestinian Authority. [28:42] So, it's an unholy alliance. If Muhammad [28:45] Alan does not love Hamas and Hamas does [28:47] not love Muhammad, but they both need [28:49] each other right now. They need each [28:51] other because as I said, you know, Hamas [28:54] wants to survive also. And for them, [28:56] Muhammadan can be, you know, a [29:01] salah. [29:01] >> Yeah. Hatsah we say in Hebrew [29:04] >> lifeline. [29:05] >> Yeah. A lifeline. And uh, you know, it's [29:08] common interest. But President Abbas is [29:11] not stupid. By the way, he saw the [29:13] emerging alliance. And that's one of the [29:15] main reasons why he decided, you know, [29:17] no, no, thank you. I'm not going to [29:20] to I cannot challenge such an alliance [29:23] like this. [29:24] And let let's see now what happens on [29:27] the Palestinian. I think we should watch [29:29] what's happen what's going to happen on [29:30] the Palestinian Arena right now. We're [29:32] going to see important developments [29:35] there. Whether it's in Gaza or in the [29:37] West Bank, by the way. [29:38] >> Well, you know, if we could sum it up in [29:40] in just a few words, it's how do you uh [29:43] how do you connect all of these unholy [29:45] alliances across the Middle East region? [29:48] And here we are in the holiest land, [29:51] arguably in in the middle of the Middle [29:53] East. [29:54] um the the uh the land of Israel, the [29:56] people of Israel, trying to survive all [29:59] of these unholy alliances while trying [30:01] to protect the Holy Land for um the uh [30:04] the great monotheistic religions. Here [30:06] we are. [30:06] >> It's never boring here then. [30:08] >> Never boring. Get get your popcorn out. [30:11] Fasten your seat belt. And what we do [30:13] here is we try to unpack what we say to [30:15] explain to our viewers in very simple [30:17] terms what these things mean and the [30:19] repercussions and what they should [30:21] expect. what they should expect and how [30:23] the west should respond and initiate [30:27] based on these cultural realities. [30:29] That's where that's where we are. So, [30:31] Abu Dh [30:33] analyst of the Middle East and the the [30:35] Near East and Islam and the Arab [30:38] peoples. Thank you and Israel and thank [30:40] you very much. This has been wonderful. [30:41] I'll thank you them.
