May 21, 2025
REPORT: Israel Is Preparing To STRIKE Iran
New intelligence suggests Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in peace with Iran and is planning to strike its nuclear facilities.
- 18 minutes
The question is, is Trump going to keep
allowing Netanyahu to dog walk him,
or is he going to be a strong leader
that avoids wasting American lives
and American resources
on a war that we shouldn't be fighting?
That's the real question here.
[00:00:15]
Do you want to see Israel
take action against Iran?
Even if we are not taking,
we don't have a role.
What I want to see is Trump give an
absolute warning, say within 30 days,
if Iran doesn't dismantle
all of its nuclear programs, enrichment
[00:00:32]
of centrifuges, there will be an attack.
I would hope Iran would back away
and they wouldn't have to be an attack.
But if there has to be an attack,
let Israel do it.
Let the United States provide them
bunker busting bombs and B-52s.
[00:00:47]
Well, looks like Warhawk,
like Alan Dershowitz is in luck, because
new intelligence shows that Israel is,
in fact, preparing for a possible strike
on Iran's nuclear facilities,
even as the Trump administration
pursues diplomatic means
[00:01:04]
to get a new nuclear deal to prevent
Iran from building nuclear weapons.
But as was the case with the nuclear deal
that President Barack Obama secured back
in 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is not interested in peace here.
[00:01:20]
He wanted to torpedo
the original nuclear deal.
Unfortunately, he succeeded
in doing that in Trump's first term.
And now, as Trump tries to secure
a second nuclear deal, you have Israel
thinking, maybe we do a strike anyway.
[00:01:35]
And then after we do a strike,
what choice does the United States have?
Of course they're going to help us.
So let's get into
the granular details here.
The Intel comes from multiple U.S.
Officials who are familiar
with the latest intelligence, who caution.
[00:01:50]
It's not clear that Israeli leaders have
made a final decision and that, in fact,
there is deep disagreement within the U.S.
Government about the likelihood
that Israel will ultimately act.
Whether and how Israel strikes will likely
depend on what it thinks of the U.S.
[00:02:08]
Negotiations
with Tehran over its nuclear program.
So there are multiple people
who spoke to CNN for this story.
And another person that's
familiar with this intelligence
that's been gathered by U.S.
Officials on this issue,
says that the chance of an Israeli strike
[00:02:25]
on an Iranian nuclear facility has gone
up significantly in recent months,
and the prospect of a Trump negotiated
us-iran deal that doesn't remove
all of Iran's uranium
makes the chance of a strike more likely.
[00:02:42]
So let's just talk about that briefly,
because it's important to understand
how these negotiations are going.
Now, the United States and Iran
concluded their fourth round
of negotiations over the weekend.
They're going to continue talking.
So this pursuit of diplomacy,
which we should give Trump
[00:03:01]
some positive reinforcement for continues.
And that's a good thing.
But right now, the real sticking point
is the fact that the United States doesn't
want Iran to enrich any uranium at all,
which is a problem because Iran,
especially under the original nuclear
[00:03:19]
deal, was able to enrich some uranium
for their energy needs.
Now think about
how things operate in Iran.
Yes, it is an oil producing country, but
oil is really the heart of their economy.
They export their oil
in order to keep their economy going.
[00:03:37]
And they want to enrich uranium, have
like the the minimal amount necessary to
generate enough energy for their country.
So it's not enough enriched uranium
to build a nuclear weapon,
but it is enough for them to, you know,
provide energy to the people of Iran.
[00:03:56]
And so that's the sticking point.
The Trump administration is like,
no, no, no uranium at all,
no enriched uranium at all.
And Iran's like, bro, we need energy.
So that's that's
what they're negotiating right now.
Now, according to CNN,
the heightened concerns about a strike
[00:04:12]
come not only from the public and private
messaging from senior Israeli officials,
but also from intercepted Israeli
communications and observations of Israeli
military movements that could suggest
that there will be an imminent strike.
[00:04:28]
For example, Israel has reportedly
moved some of their air munitions
and has completed some military exercises
and air exercises, to be specific.
Thus far, Trump has stuck
to the policy of diplomacy.
And guys, regardless of what you think
about Trump, he should be given kudos for
[00:04:47]
that because the positive reinforcement
might work, right?
If he if he does something that we want
that we think is a good thing.
Cheering him on might encourage him
to keep going in that direction.
But we'll see.
We'll see because Trump is easily swayed.
[00:05:04]
He's very impressionable.
He can turn on anyone at any given moment.
So far, he has resisted a war with Iran.
But let's not forget he is the one
who ripped up the Iran
nuclear deal in his first term.
Trump is also the guy who decided
to assassinate Qasem Soleimani, who was
[00:05:19]
the top general in Iran's military.
And that could have led
to a full fledged war, a hot war between
the United States and Iran at the time.
Luckily it didn't.
But Trump was definitely playing
with fire in his first term.
Going to war with Iran
would be disastrous, and thousands
[00:05:38]
of American soldiers would die.
If it gets to a point where we have boots
on the ground,
we must avoid war with Iran.
Especially considering the fact
that we'd be getting dragged into a war
with Iran by a foreign government.
That would be insane.
[00:05:53]
But let me give you
some more details here.
Now, Trump has also has also publicly
threatened military action against Iran
if his administration's efforts
to broker a new nuclear deal fail.
So I'm really concerned about that.
Now negotiations are ongoing.
[00:06:10]
They have stalled recently because of that
conflict in regard to enriched uranium.
Iran's leader has called
for the United States demand
for Iran to not enrich uranium.
You know, a big mistake.
Now, Trump's reluctance thus far to
greenlight an attack against Iran may be
[00:06:30]
the only thing causing Israel to hesitate.
Netanyahu wants to shut down
any possible nuclear deal
between the United States and Iran.
But we shouldn't be surprised by that.
I mean, he was railing against
the original deal from the very beginning,
[00:06:46]
but he also doesn't want
to alienate Donald Trump.
You know, he sees the American government
as his puppet.
He sees Trump as his dog
that he takes for a walk now and then.
The question is, is Trump going to keep
allowing Netanyahu to dog walk him,
or is he going to be a strong leader
that avoids wasting American lives
[00:07:06]
and American resources
on a war that we shouldn't be fighting.
That's the real question here.
Jonathan Pernikoff, who's a former
senior intelligence official specializing
in the region, says the following.
At the end of the day,
the Israeli decision making
is going to be predicated on U.S.
[00:07:23]
Policy determinations and actions
and what agreements President Trump
does or does not come to with Iran.
And according to CNN,
Pernikoff added that he did not believe
that Netanyahu would be willing to risk
entirely fracturing the U.S.
[00:07:40]
Relationship he has by launching a strike
without at least tacit approval.
I don't.
I think he's giving Netanyahu
way too much credit.
I, I don't think that's the case.
I think Netanyahu is willing to do
whatever it takes to get what he wants.
[00:07:55]
I don't think he cares
about any relationships.
I, you know,
so I would not rely on Netanyahu wanting
to remain buddies with Trump as the only
way to prevent this war from happening.
I think Trump needs to show
that he is a strong leader
who is not going to back Israel up if they
try to drag us into a hot war with Iran.
[00:08:17]
Now, one anonymous source argued
that I think it's more likely they strike
to try to get the deal to fall apart
if they think Trump is going
to settle for a bad deal.
By the way, Netanyahu thinks
any diplomatic deal is a bad deal.
But this anonymous source,
who I wish would come out publicly
[00:08:35]
with his name or her name, is right.
I mean, I am more inclined to believe
this prediction or this analysis
as it pertains to Benjamin Netanyahu
and what is likely to happen.
The Israelis have not been shy
about signaling that to us,
[00:08:51]
both publicly and privately.
Totally correct about that.
It has consistently been the
Israeli position that the military option
is the only option to stopping Iran's
military nuclear program, one U.S.
Official noted.
[00:09:07]
And look, if Netanyahu does move ahead
with a strike, it looks like the U.S.
May fall in line anyway.
And that's what I'm worried about.
And you think Netanyahu doesn't know that?
You think
you think Bibi doesn't know that?
You think the Israeli government doesn't
know that the US government will
[00:09:23]
effectively be pressured into following
along into providing the resources,
the bombs, essentially whatever Israel
needs to continue fighting Iran.
It's just and look, according
to one official, the US has stepped up
[00:09:40]
intelligence gathering to be ready
to be ready to aid Israel
if its leaders decide to strike.
So, in other words,
Israel might force Trump's hand.
[00:09:56]
I mean, I don't necessarily think
it needs to play out that way
if they decide to launch strikes in Iran.
I think it's totally fine.
And in fact, the sign of a good leader
to say, oh, you're trying to drag us
[00:10:12]
into a war with Iran.
When I said
I wanted to pursue diplomatic means.
All right. Go fend for yourselves.
That's what a strong leader would do.
Now, would Trump actually do that?
It depends who signed his last check.
But let me continue.
Another source close to the Trump
administration says the U.S.
[00:10:29]
Is unlikely to help.
So you get you have sources
saying two different things.
Okay, so another source says, no, no, no.
The U.S.
Is unlikely to help Israel carry
out strikes
on Iranian nuclear sites at this moment,
short of some major provocation by Tehran.
[00:10:44]
So there are some Democrats, by the way.
I want to focus on them just for a second,
because they're more concerned
about the fact
that this information leaked to the press.
They're less concerned
about the United States
getting dragged into a war with Iran.
And that individual is
Democratic lawmaker Jared Moskowitz.
[00:11:02]
- Let's take a look.
- There was just a leak.
That is now national news
that Israel is poised to strike Iran.
Where did that leak come from
in the administration?
Do we know what department leaked that?
Is that being looked into?
Well, I'm not aware of the leak
that you're discussing.
[00:11:19]
I'm obviously I wouldn't discuss
intelligence matters
and even verify whether it's even true.
I also don't think it's a mystery, though.
Irrespective,
I'm not talking about the leak.
I'm not talking about the news story
that Israel has made clear that they
retain the option of action to limit Iran
from ever gaining a nuclear capability.
[00:11:39]
Listen. That's fair.
Israel is free to do what it pleases.
Israel is a foreign government.
I'm not interested in influencing Israel.
I'm not interested in our government
dictating what the Israeli people do.
I see Israel in the United States
as two separate countries.
So if Israel wants to go to war,
go right ahead, go to war.
[00:11:57]
The real question here, Rubio,
is whether or not the American people are
going to fight and fund that war on behalf
of Israel, as they did with Iraq in 2003.
And some people get real touchy
when that's mentioned, right?
Because we're all supposed to believe that
we did a preemptive war in Iraq in 2003,
[00:12:19]
in response to nine over 11. No,
no, Saddam Hussein and Iraq had nothing
to do with nine over 11. Was it for oil?
No, actually, maybe
that was a little bit of a factor.
But no, that wasn't the main reason.
It really wasn't.
Why did we go to war with Iraq?
[00:12:35]
Let me take you back 22 years ago when all
these pieces were being published,
right before we went to war with Iraq.
Now, if you were paying close attention,
you know,
these stories weren't widespread.
But if you were paying close attention,
if you were addicted to politics,
[00:12:52]
you saw the pressure
coming from Israel to invade Iraq.
And it's just incredible to go back
and read these pieces.
Now, I'm going to go to this piece
that was written in February 27th, 2003.
[00:13:07]
So, weeks before we invaded Iraq
with a preemptive strike.
It's titled Threats and Responses
The Middle East.
Israel says war on Iraq
would benefit the region.
[00:13:22]
They really wanted
that regime change in Iraq.
That's interesting.
With the Oslo agreement in tatters,
the Israelis are now putting hopes
in an American war on Iraq.
Fascinating.
Israel signaled its decision to put public
pressure on President George Bush to go
[00:13:40]
ahead with a military attack on Iraq,
even though it believes Saddam Hussein
may well retaliate by striking Israel.
What's funny about that is that was what
Israel was saying to the United States.
Like, you know, it really puts us at risk.
[00:13:57]
They might strike us,
you know, considering the proximity,
it could be dangerous.
But there was other reporting showing that
the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad
did not feel that Iraq
was actually going to strike them,
[00:14:13]
that they didn't even have the capability
to strike them if the United
States decided to go to war with Iraq.
And as we all know, our soldiers did have
their boots on the ground in that country.
More than 4000 of them died
fighting that useless war.
[00:14:33]
In August of 2002,
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's aide,
Raanan Gissin, argued that U.S.
Officials not delay a military strike
in Iraq, arguing that any postponement
of an attack on Iraq at this stage
will serve no purpose.
[00:14:49]
It will only give him Saddam Hussein,
more of an opportunity to accelerate his
program of weapons of mass destruction.
Yeah, Iraq didn't have weapons of mass
destruction, by the way, at the time,
Israeli intelligence shared
with the United States that they believe
[00:15:06]
that Iraq had chemical weapons,
that they had bioweapons,
and that wasn't the case either.
Interesting. Okay.
And how can we forget?
Benjamin Netanyahu himself
even came to the United States in 2002
[00:15:23]
to pressure the United States
to invade Iraq in a preemptive war?
If you take out Saddam, Saddam's regime,
I guarantee you that it will have enormous
positive reverberations on the region.
[00:15:38]
And I think that people sitting right next
door in Iran, young people and many others
will say the time of such regimes
of such despots is gone.
There is a new age.
Something new is happening.
The way to deal with terrorist
regimes well, with terror was
[00:15:56]
to deal with the terrorist regimes.
And the way to deal with the terrorist
regimes, among other things,
was to apply military force against them.
The application of power
is the most important thing
in winning the war on terrorism.
If I had to say, what are the three
principles of winning the war on terror?
[00:16:11]
It's like, what are the three principles
of real estate?
The three L's location, location,
location, the three principles
of winning the war on Terror are the three
W's winning, winning and winning.
The more victories you amass,
the easier the next victory becomes.
The first victory in Afghanistan makes
a second victory in Iraq that much easier.
[00:16:31]
Was there a victory in Iraq?
By the way, what's hilarious about this?
And it's not hilarious at all.
It's actually devastating,
is the fact that while Israel was
pressuring the United States at the time
to invade Iraq, once the U.S.
Made that decision, you think Israel was
allied with us and joined in on that war?
[00:16:50]
No, no, no they didn't. They're like, go.
Yes, risk the lives of the men
and women in your military to fight
our war for regime change in Iraq.
Have fun. It's just so utterly disgusting.
[00:17:06]
So, look, I give you that history because
the United States cannot be tricked
into fighting another Middle Eastern war
on behalf of a foreign country.
I'm done with it.
Everyone in this country
should be done with it.
[00:17:22]
The anti-war rhetoric
that was uttered by Donald Trump during
the election cycle was appealing to people
because of the fact that they
do not want to continue
in these interventionist nonsense wars
[00:17:39]
that just use up our resources
and do nothing for the American people.
So Trump loves to talk about
what a disaster Iraq was.
He should keep that in mind
as he's being goaded into war with Iran.
What does he want his legacy to be?
Does he want it to be more bloodshed?
Does he want it to be more war?
[00:17:59]
And does he want to get dog walked
by a foreign country?
Every time you ring the bell below,
an angel gets its wings.
Totally not true.
But it does keep you updated
on our live shows.
Now Playing (Clips)
Episode
Podcast
The Young Turks: May 21, 2025
- 10 minutes
- 18 minutes
- 10 minutes
- 16 minutes
- 19 minutes
- 5 minutes
- 9 minutes