WEBVTT
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Hey, welcome back to the program.
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It's a pleasure to be with you, and we're glad that Leland Viddard paid his phone bill.
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We were having a tough time getting a hold of him, but we finally got through voicemail, and he now joins us, the host of On Balance with Leland Viddard and Chief Washington Anchor at News Nation.
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Leland, good to have you back.
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Always nice to be here with you.
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Hey, I want to start with something that's a little strange, and that is you've got members of a U.S.
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congressional delegation that have gone to the Middle East apparently to cause trouble, about 80 of them involving both American and Israeli others detained by Israeli security forces because they were helping Palestinians harvest their olives from their grove near a settlement on the west bank of the Jordan River.
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One of these guys, one of these jokers, is the former New York City comp troller who's apparently in politics and he decided he could make some political hay on the West Bank of the Jordan River.
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What should we make of all this?
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And should members who are running for the United States Congress be doing activism on the West Bank of the River?
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Well, members who are running for Congress and virtually every other politician do activism of all sorts of different types.
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If what you're bringing up is that the Democratic Party and particularly the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, has decided that the Palestinian cause is their cause, then that is a political decision they've made.
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I can tell you that even the most fervent supporters of Israel are extraordinarily concerned that the settlers in the West Bank have started causing more problems than would they do, and started causing real problems for Israel itself in the world, and that's not just with the progressive types.
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But I think what this shows is Brad Lander, uh, two weeks before the election thinks that there is more political hay to be made in Israel, uh fighting the Israelis essentially and taking up the Palestinian cause than there is actually running for office.
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See, and that's the thing.
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When you say all you know everybody in politics goes out and does political activism, they do, but they generally do it in our country.
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And when they do it in a foreign country and an ally of a foreign country, and they do so in a way that runs counter to what American foreign policy is right now, which is to view Israel as our ally and uh the Palestinians as people who I claim a non existent state.
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You know, I thought I thought there was a very clear prohibition against anybody but the President of the United States and his representatives engaging in foreign policy, and yet that seems to be exactly what Brad Lambert wants to do.
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Yeah, it's old and boring, and everybody from both parties goes abroad, they do whatever, it's never it never is charged, it's silly.
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Um I and by the way, I think you can also say that American policy, if we want to go there, uh talks about having a a way to deal with the Palestinians and to create two states and that the settlers unilaterally taking over the West Bank is not helpful.
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There's a lot, there's a lot to unpack that you glossed over there.
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Um I lived there for four years.
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It's it there's a lot more to unpack.
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I think the the larger point rather than to get into debating the Israeli-Palestinian debate is the fact that the Democratic Party has now decided clearly that congressional candidates two weeks before the election have more political hay to be made in the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria, as the Israelis would like to call it, than they do in their own congressional districts.
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That says a lot about American politics.
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It also suggests that maybe they're not planning, even if they take the majority in two weeks, God forbid, then the Democrats end up in charge of the House of Representatives.
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Are they planning to actually get anything done on behalf of Americans?
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Or are they gonna keep keep playing games like this?
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Well, first of all, I think you say, God forbid, but it seems more likely than not, substantially more likely than not, that Democrats are gonna take the House.
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I think we are under underappreciating by how the the margin Democrats will take the House, and we are overestimating the likelihood of them taking the Senate.
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So you too, you know, you can be wrong both ways.
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But we've we have often seen, and this is this was true of Republicans in 2022, uh, and it's gonna be true of Democrats if they take over the House in 2027, that the party in opposition to the president uh always spends a lot of time doing absolutely nothing but making mischief uh and holding hearings where everybody pounds the table and yells and doesn't accomplish much.
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Yeah, and when you talk about uh you know the eventually there is a plan to allow the Palestinians to have something, and everybody, including Bill Clinton, has said we've offered them a state any number of times.
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They don't want a state.
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They they want the state of Israel extinguished.
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Uh that's what they want.
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They don't want their own state.
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And I think you having lived there four years probably know that better than I do, don't you?
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I would I would be more careful in my statement when you refer to they.
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Is they the Palestinians.
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Well, I but I don't think all Palestinians are created equal.
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I don't think all Americans are created equal.
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I think there is an enormous force uh and there's an enormous amount of money behind having Palestinians feel that way.
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I don't think the average Palestinian really wants anything more than what you and I want, which is a better life for our kids and to live in peace.
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Now, is there an enormous amount of money put into having them hate Israel and want to destroy Israel?
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Yes.
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But if you change those incentives, I'm gonna be able to change the outcome.
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Couldn't you imagine that that if the Palestinians ever ended up with their own state, one part of which might sit right there on one of the most beautiful parts of the Mediterranean in the world, that they'd have peace and prosperity and all kinds of good things, and they seem to never uh miss an opportunity to get in their own way uh toward getting to that goal.
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Well, you're you're quoting the the great Israeli foreign minister, the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
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Okay.
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Right.
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So I again the amount of money spent on the Palestinians, there has been, in the words of R.
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F.
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K.
00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.160
Jr., no more coddled group of people in the world.
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That said, there has been no group of people for whom the outside money has been spent to ensure that there will never be peace.
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You want to you want to deal with the Palestinian issue, deal with Iran, deal with Qatar, deal with Turkey.
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Okay?
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And you could very easily do with the Palest, you know, with Gaza in the West Bank what you did with Egypt and what has been done with Jordan and most of the rest of the Middle East and the Abraham Accords.
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Well, as far as I'm concerned, we we are nearly through dealing with Iran right now, and I hope that uh President Trump gets an opportunity to deal with the other countries as well.
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That's Leland Veteran.
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Leland is host of On Balance and Chief Washington anchor in News Nation.
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Leland, it's a pleasure.
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Back in a moment.
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You got the Lars Larson show and the Radio Northwest Network.
00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:09.439
Hey, welcome back to the program.
00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:13.119
It's a pleasure to be with you, and we're glad that Leland Viddard paid his phone bill.
00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:22.239
We were having a tough time getting a hold of him, but we finally got through voicemail, and he now joins us, the host of On Balance with Leland Viddard and Chief Washington Anchor at News Nation.
00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:23.920
Leland, good to have you back.
00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:26.640
Always nice to be here with you.
00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:32.399
Hey, I want to start with something that's a little strange, and that is you've got members of a U.S.
00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:51.039
congressional delegation that have gone to the Middle East apparently to cause trouble, about 80 of them involving both American and Israeli others detained by Israeli security forces because they were helping Palestinians harvest their olives from their grove near a settlement on the west bank of the Jordan River.
00:00:51.280 --> 00:01:00.640
One of these guys, one of these jokers, is the former New York City comp troller who's apparently in politics and he decided he could make some political hay on the West Bank of the Jordan River.
00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:01.920
What should we make of all this?
00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:09.040
And should members who are running for the United States Congress be doing activism on the West Bank of the River?
00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:17.120
Well, members who are running for Congress and virtually every other politician do activism of all sorts of different types.
00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:33.920
If what you're bringing up is that the Democratic Party and particularly the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, has decided that the Palestinian cause is their cause, then that is a political decision they've made.
00:01:34.239 --> 00:02:00.560
I can tell you that even the most fervent supporters of Israel are extraordinarily concerned that the settlers in the West Bank have started causing more problems than would they do, and started causing real problems for Israel itself in the world, and that's not just with the progressive types.
00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:18.479
But I think what this shows is Brad Lander, uh, two weeks before the election thinks that there is more political hay to be made in Israel, uh fighting the Israelis essentially and taking up the Palestinian cause than there is actually running for office.
00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:20.080
See, and that's the thing.
00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:26.319
When you say all you know everybody in politics goes out and does political activism, they do, but they generally do it in our country.
00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:44.560
And when they do it in a foreign country and an ally of a foreign country, and they do so in a way that runs counter to what American foreign policy is right now, which is to view Israel as our ally and uh the Palestinians as people who I claim a non existent state.
00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:56.800
You know, I thought I thought there was a very clear prohibition against anybody but the President of the United States and his representatives engaging in foreign policy, and yet that seems to be exactly what Brad Lambert wants to do.
00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:16.960
Yeah, it's old and boring, and everybody from both parties goes abroad, they do whatever, it's never it never is charged, it's silly.
00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:40.560
Um I and by the way, I think you can also say that American policy, if we want to go there, uh talks about having a a way to deal with the Palestinians and to create two states and that the settlers unilaterally taking over the West Bank is not helpful.
00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.840
There's a lot, there's a lot to unpack that you glossed over there.
00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:45.919
Um I lived there for four years.
00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:48.560
It's it there's a lot more to unpack.
00:03:48.719 --> 00:04:13.120
I think the the larger point rather than to get into debating the Israeli-Palestinian debate is the fact that the Democratic Party has now decided clearly that congressional candidates two weeks before the election have more political hay to be made in the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria, as the Israelis would like to call it, than they do in their own congressional districts.
00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:15.759
That says a lot about American politics.
00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:24.560
It also suggests that maybe they're not planning, even if they take the majority in two weeks, God forbid, then the Democrats end up in charge of the House of Representatives.
00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:28.079
Are they planning to actually get anything done on behalf of Americans?
00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:31.040
Or are they gonna keep keep playing games like this?
00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:41.920
Well, first of all, I think you say, God forbid, but it seems more likely than not, substantially more likely than not, that Democrats are gonna take the House.
00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:51.839
I think we are under underappreciating by how the the margin Democrats will take the House, and we are overestimating the likelihood of them taking the Senate.
00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:54.720
So you too, you know, you can be wrong both ways.
00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:23.759
But we've we have often seen, and this is this was true of Republicans in 2022, uh, and it's gonna be true of Democrats if they take over the House in 2027, that the party in opposition to the president uh always spends a lot of time doing absolutely nothing but making mischief uh and holding hearings where everybody pounds the table and yells and doesn't accomplish much.
00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:34.879
Yeah, and when you talk about uh you know the eventually there is a plan to allow the Palestinians to have something, and everybody, including Bill Clinton, has said we've offered them a state any number of times.
00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:36.160
They don't want a state.
00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:38.720
They they want the state of Israel extinguished.
00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:40.000
Uh that's what they want.
00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:41.519
They don't want their own state.
00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:45.839
And I think you having lived there four years probably know that better than I do, don't you?
00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:54.240
I would I would be more careful in my statement when you refer to they.
00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:56.800
Is they the Palestinians.
00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:00.079
Well, I but I don't think all Palestinians are created equal.
00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:01.839
I don't think all Americans are created equal.
00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:09.920
I think there is an enormous force uh and there's an enormous amount of money behind having Palestinians feel that way.
00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:21.040
I don't think the average Palestinian really wants anything more than what you and I want, which is a better life for our kids and to live in peace.
00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:27.519
Now, is there an enormous amount of money put into having them hate Israel and want to destroy Israel?
00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:28.000
Yes.
00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:33.040
But if you change those incentives, I'm gonna be able to change the outcome.
00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:52.879
Couldn't you imagine that that if the Palestinians ever ended up with their own state, one part of which might sit right there on one of the most beautiful parts of the Mediterranean in the world, that they'd have peace and prosperity and all kinds of good things, and they seem to never uh miss an opportunity to get in their own way uh toward getting to that goal.
00:06:53.439 --> 00:07:00.639
Well, you're you're quoting the the great Israeli foreign minister, the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:01.279
Okay.
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Right.
00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:12.959
So I again the amount of money spent on the Palestinians, there has been, in the words of R.
00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:13.199
F.
00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:13.360
K.
00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.160
Jr., no more coddled group of people in the world.
00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:26.000
That said, there has been no group of people for whom the outside money has been spent to ensure that there will never be peace.
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:32.000
You want to you want to deal with the Palestinian issue, deal with Iran, deal with Qatar, deal with Turkey.
00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:32.240
Okay?
00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:44.000
And you could very easily do with the Palest, you know, with Gaza in the West Bank what you did with Egypt and what has been done with Jordan and most of the rest of the Middle East and the Abraham Accords.
00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:53.199
Well, as far as I'm concerned, we we are nearly through dealing with Iran right now, and I hope that uh President Trump gets an opportunity to deal with the other countries as well.
00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:54.639
That's Leland Veteran.
00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:58.879
Leland is host of On Balance and Chief Washington anchor in News Nation.
00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:00.160
Leland, it's a pleasure.
00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:00.879
Back in a moment.
00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:05.279
You got the Lars Larson show and the Radio Northwest Network.
