In short
Debate over the Gaza ceasefire’s fragility days after it began, Israel’s claims that Hamas violated it, and whether aid denial and continued Hamas control undermine the stated goal of ending the war. Also covers Trump’s role in hostage release and potential U.S./allied escalation.
Guests and backgrounds
- Dave Smith, host of Part of the Problem; critic of U.S./Israeli policy toward Gaza.
- Major Daron Spielman, IDF spokesman; author of When the Stones Speak.
- Professor Norman Finkelstein, political scientist, author, activist; previously argues Israel’s strategy is disproportionate and ineffective.
Key claims
- Smith: Israel punishes civilians by suspending aid/distribution; response is disproportionate; Hamas remains in power, so “defeating Hamas” hasn’t happened.
- Spielman: Trump/ceasefire improved conditions; Israel targets Hamas terrorists; civilians are endangered because Hamas operates among them; Hamas must demilitarize/leave.
- Finkelstein: Gaza is effectively destroyed (“no Gaza”); blockade and obliteration achieved objectives; Trump’s statements are unreliable; any end depends on U.S. leverage, not Netanyahu goodwill.
Notable examples
- IDF airstrikes in southern Gaza days into the truce after two soldiers were killed.
- Israel suspending aid after accusations of Hamas “slow-rolling.”
- Trump’s True Social post threatening “fast, furious and brutal” action and allies entering Gaza.
- Debate over Qatar/negotiators and whether Israel’s strike on Doha shifted U.S. pressure.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOExamining the Ceasefire and Its Violations
0:45 to 3:16
The hosts discuss the recent ceasefire violations and the complexities of the Israel-Palestine situation.
“Does anyone on the internet not know the answer to this question, Pierce?”
Debating Trump's Role and the Future of Gaza
3:16 to 6:10
The guests debate Trump's involvement in the hostage release and the implications for Gaza's leadership.
“have been returned is also a good thing.”
Consequences of Military Actions and Humanitarian Impact
6:10 to 11:29
Discussion on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel's military actions as a form of collective punishment.
“But the reality here is you're dealing with an unpredictable terror organization called Hamas that has a goal to still destroy Israel.”
Understanding the Long-term Consequences of Conflict
12:06 to 14:00
The conversation shifts back to the long-term consequences of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“Use the code peers and get 70 % off your first order.”
The Persistence of Hamas
14:00 to 15:01
Learn about the ongoing power of Hamas despite military efforts against them.
“I've been sitting here for two years telling people you're not going to destroy Hamas this way.”
The Moral Crusade Against Hamas
15:33 to 21:54
Discussion on the justifications for Israel's military actions and the moral implications.
“First of all, Pierce, I want to speak to some of the things that Dave just said.”
The Moral Crusade Against Hamas
22:32 to 22:42
Discussion on the justifications for Israel's military actions and the moral implications.
“And remember to tell them that I sent you.”
America's Role in the Middle East
22:42 to 28:00
Analysis of Trump's influence and America's complicated relationship with Israel and Hamas.
“I think that it happens quite often in American history where their presidents kind of go all in on some type of a peace deal, not a peace deal in this case, but a ceasefire.”
The Escalation of Israeli Actions
28:00 to 32:02
Discussion on Israeli military actions and their implications for Hamas and Palestinians.
“I thought was an absolutely crazy thing for Israel to do.”
The Escalation of Israeli Actions
32:06 to 32:59
Discussion on Israeli military actions and their implications for Hamas and Palestinians.
“One Skin is redefining skincare with cult favourites like OS1 Body, Face and Eye, built around their patented OS1 peptide, which is clinically proven to target senescent cells, a key driver of skin ageing.”
Show all 18 chapters
The Aftermath of Gaza
33:00 to 37:36
Discussion about the destruction in Gaza and perspectives on rebuilding and future relations.
“by Hamas or question why that might be, and had no apparent knowledge of any attack of the scale that happened on October the 7th.”
Prospects for Peace and Recovery
37:44 to 42:00
Exploration of potential resolutions and the role of international players in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Look, do you believe we're in a place now where this war is actually going to end?”
Analyzing Trump's Potential Influence on Israel-Gaza Relations
42:00 to 48:30
Discussion on President Trump's approach to Israel and Gaza amidst ongoing conflict.
“I am not here to attack President Trump.”
Impacts of U.S. Policy on Middle East Stability
48:49 to 56:00
Exploration of U.S. statements on Hamas and security considerations for Israel.
“As we've already said, and I don't think there's any dispute between us, Mr.”
US Position on Hamas Disarmament
56:18 to 58:54
Fleur Hassan discusses the US stance on Hamas disarmament and the implications of recent developments.
“Vance has been talking in Israel, saying the US will not set a deadline for Hamas disarmament and saying that there will be no commitment of US forces in Gaza.”
Regional Dynamics in the Middle East
58:54 to 1:01:09
A discussion on the broader implications of Middle Eastern politics beyond Israel and Gaza.
“And of course, you've had Norman Finkelstein with his revisionism and doom and gloom.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv and British Policing
1:01:09 to 1:04:48
The conversation shifts to Maccabi Tel Aviv's situation regarding their game in the UK and police decisions.
“Everybody wants to zoom in and make this about Israel and Gaza.”
Concerns Over Policing and Precedents
1:04:48 to 1:05:25
An examination of the implications of policing decisions and their effects on Jewish communities.
“with extremely volatile sets of fans who hate and detest each other and would, you know, kill each other if they were given half a chance and they've managed to police those.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00The grill is shot. The chairs are held together by optimism. And what happened to the rug? Sounds like your outdoor setup is not ready for patio season. Fix it all with Wayfair. Shop Wayfair for grills, rugs, furniture, and more. With 20 million five-star reviews, room of choice delivery, and experts set up on qualifying orders, it's never been easier to do more for less. Get 10 % off your first eligible purchase. Hurry to Wayfair.com or download the app now.
0:31Israel claimed that Hamas violated the ceasefire when there's reporting that contradicts that, but who knows? It's in the cloud of war right now. It's not the fog of war, Dave. It is your fog. You're unwilling to understand the most basic principle here that there's probably never been a more moral war. I was in Gaza. Have you been to Gaza? Does anyone on the internet not know the answer to this question, Pierce? I've been sitting here for two years telling people you're not going to destroy Hamas this way, and every one of them said, what do you know, comedian? You're not an expert and yet here we are.
1:00Are we expected to believe Mr. Netanyahu is going to chant, give peace a chance and rebuild Gaza? I think not. You've had Norman Finkelstein with his revisionism and doom and gloom. This is way bigger than Israel and Hamas. There's a bigger picture.
1:18Piers Morgan:The Israeli hostages are finally home. The Palestinian prisoners have been released. The war in Gaza officially is over. But sadly with Israel and Palestine it's never simply the end. As a great British leader once said, it may simply be the end of the beginning. The IDF launched airstrikes on southern Gaza just days into the truce after two of its soldiers were killed by Hamas. President Trump blamed the flare-up on Hamas rebels, acting without authority from the leadership which is committed to peace. But that fact alone gets directly to the point at hand. Who is running Gaza? Who can run Gaza if rebel fighters continue to roam?
1:52Piers Morgan:How can a ceasefire possibly hold when far-right ministers from Israel prop up Netanyahu's government and are already demanding the IDF returns to finish the job. And what exactly does President Trump mean when he says that we will violently eradicate Hamas if it doesn't behave, especially as J.D. Vance has completely ruled out any U.S. troops going to the region? Well, Trump applauded rightly for brokering a ceasefire that many deemed impossible and for getting the hostages released. The big question is whether his brute force alone is enough to prevent what many see as inevitable, a return to all-out war.
2:27Piers Morgan:Professor Norman Finkelstein and Israeli envoy Fleur Hassan will join me later, but with me now to debate these issues are Dave Smith, host of Part of the Problem, and Major Daron Spielman, the IDF spokesman and author of When the Stones Speak. Well, welcome to both of you. Dave Smith, straight off the top, how much credit do you give Donald Trump for actually getting the hostages released? Yeah, he certainly deserves a lot of credit for that, And I think that, you know, obviously, from my perspective, from the perspective of people, I've been a critic of this. We've been a critic of him supporting Israel's destruction of Gaza since he's been in the White House again.
3:06But certainly this was a much better direction to go. And I think everybody involved deserves credit whenever something good happens. And the fact that the hostages are back home, I would also say I think the fact that 1 ,700 Palestinians who are being held without charges have been returned is also a good thing. And even though Israel really has not stopped the killing in Gaza, the numbers have been substantially less than they have been for most of the last two years. Like this has been one of the least amount of, you know, every day I read the news on this stuff, and instead of it being 70 people killed every day, it was like 12 people killed every day for a little bit there, and then it got back up to a few dozen in the last 48 hours or so.
3:49But so that, look, there is an improvement here. We should all root for less people to die and less innocent people to be held in captivity. However, I think you kind of already addressed this with your question. We're in a very precarious position here. It seems very unclear what's going to happen next. And I'm not optimistic.
4:12Piers Morgan:Doron Spielman, J.D. Vance is in Israel right now. The vice president said, I feel very optimistic. Can I say with 100 % certainty it's going to work? No, but you don't do difficult things by only doing what's 100 % certain. You do difficult things by trying. When asked what is the ultimate leadership in Gaza, he said, I don't know. And he said the US will not set a deadline for Hamas disarmament. And he also ruled out the use of any US troops in Gaza. So some clarity there, I think, over what Donald Trump had said when he used the word we, which clearly didn't actually mean American troops on the ground.
4:50Piers Morgan:The big concern that people have is that you've got a bunch of rebels now swarming around Gaza, Hamas trying to control them, succeeding and failing in equal measure, and there's a bit of chaos there, and in the crossfire are IDF, and you're seeing some IDF soldiers being killed, and then Israel is reacting with force and killing a lot of Palestinians. So this ceasefire has not actually been a complete ceasefire already. And the fear is that it won't take a lot to send the Israeli forces back into full action, not least because you have people like Ben Gavir and Smodrich in the government who are urging them to do exactly that right now.
5:34Piers Morgan:So how confident are you that this, as J.D. Vance says, it's not 100%, obviously, but are you as optimistic as he is that this ceasefire will lead to a lasting peace? Good to see you, Pierce. I actually think here I would more side on the side of Donald Trump. Again, we're hearing two voices. I don't know if they're coordinated or not coming out of the White House. They both to some degree reflect reality. There is promise that this is moving forward. There has been less fighting. We've seen that Hamas has been slowly handing over the bodies of dead Israelis. It's a miracle that they brought home the 20 hostages.
6:12But the reality here is you're dealing with an unpredictable terror organization called Hamas that has a goal to still destroy Israel. And that is why, again, if you look at the first point at this plan, and especially the point we're looking at now, Hamas, as a condition of this deal, has to demilitarize and be eradicated from the Gaza Strip by either requesting amnesty, turning in their weapons, or leaving the Gaza Strip. And what gives some real bite to this deal is the fact that President Trump, the head of the strongest country in the entire world, is making guarantees. Now, how exactly he's going to go about doing this, we don't know in Israel.
6:50What I can tell you is that 53 percent of Gaza is controlled by Israel. We know the enemy. We understand the enemy's tactics. The enemy just killed, as you mentioned, two of our soldiers in violation of this treaty. What Dave said, that the killing is going on, of course, the killing. We're not randomly killing anybody. We're killing, trying to kill Hamas terrorists. And when there's an action that Hamas is approaching Israelis, as we know, unfortunately, sometimes civilians are in that area because that's how Hamas works. But you're looking at a deal with Hamas. There's two sides to the deal.
7:23When Hamas is one of the sides of the deal, there's no guarantee until they're gone, Pierce. Right now, there is no guarantee.
7:28Piers Morgan:The problem, I mean, I would say the problem, coming back to you, Dave, I mean, I don't quibble, actually, with what Doran said there, particularly, but I would say the exact same thing applies the other way, right? Is that there are people in that Israeli cabinet, like Ben Gavir, absolutely itching to restart the fighting. In fact, they don't think it should have stopped. You know, he actually said at the weekend, I called on the prime minister to order the IDF to renew full-scale fighting the strip at full strength. The false belief that Hamas will change its ways and will even abide by the agreement it's signed are proving unsurprisingly to be dangerous to our security.
8:05Piers Morgan:this Nazi terrorist organisation must be destroyed completely and the sooner the better. And the problem with that is, you know, Donald Trump has put a lot of political capital and been successful getting hostages out, but he's putting capital on a level of trust with Hamas leadership that they do actually want to bring this to an end. But at the same time, he's got senior Israelis in the government there who want the complete opposite. So, you know, there is a lot of distrust on both sides here. yeah that's that's for sure and i i don't know i guess at this point in time years later i i just can't even believe that that uh you can say things like well look this is a terrorist group that wants to destroy israel i mean look the reality we're looking at is that gaza has been destroyed and you know pierce you're absolutely right to call out people like smotrich and ben gavir and other far-right members of the government but look just the israeli government in general but i thought this was like a perfect example that kind of sums up the whole conflict and what people like me and you have been talking about for quite a while, Pierce.
9:07So last week, when Israel, after the ceasefire first goes into effect, when Israel accuses Hamas of slow rolling, getting back the remains of dead hostages, all the living hostages have been gotten at this point, but the remains of dead hostages, they say they're slow rolling at. So they immediately say we're going to have the aid that's coming into Gaza. Just after this latest blow up 24 hours ago, Israel announced they're going to suspend aid and distribution. That is the way in which Israel conducts this war. Don't give me any of this BS about there just happen to be some innocent people there.
9:42You literally punish the civilian population by denying them aid for the crimes of what Hamas has done, which, by the way, have not even been demonstrated. It's just Israel says Hamas was slow rolling this, or they claim that Hamas violated the ceasefire, when there's reporting that contradicts that, but who knows? It's in the cloud of war right now. It's hard to know for sure. But either way, the fact that you just punished the civilian population, Israel has destroyed all of Gaza. Jared Kushner, the Jewish family friend of Benjamin Netanyahu, pro-Israel, representing the most pro-Israel administration in the history of the United States of America, Even he said it looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off.
10:24People are sleeping in tents. So, Pierce, you know, me and you, we've been hearing now for two years that, you know, essentially Hamas uses these people as human shields. You know, they're essentially fair game, and it's on Hamas if they get killed. Israel really doesn't want to, but they're human shields. Nothing else we could do. But then you look up and the entire thing is destroyed and they're denying aid as a weapon of war, a clear example of collective punishment. Now, I'm sure my opponent here would disagree with it being characterized as a genocide. But like, what do you call that, Pierce?
11:00You've decided an entire people are just fair game because they're human shields with no onus on you to demonstrate that there were Hamas weapons in every single one of these buildings that we destroyed or anything like that. And you can also just deny aid to a people who have just been decimated for two years as a punishment for what their government's done. And then you still have the nerve to call them terrorists and say they want the destruction of Israel. It's just too much for any reasonable person.
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12:06Piers Morgan:And here's the best part. Use the code peers and get 70 % off your first order. Get 70 % off with the code peers. Well, I mean, yeah, I would say that in relation to Hamas, if you're an Israeli and you remember what happened on October 7th because you lost people who died that day or kidnapped or whatever it may be. The scale of what happened that day was on a different level to anything we've seen in a single day in the entire 75-year conflict between Israel and Palestine. And it displayed to me not just a terrorist view of indiscriminately killing anyone they could get their hands on, but a kind of nihilistic view, right?
12:52Piers Morgan:So I can understand, actually, why Israelis have a deep distrust of anyone related to running Hamas. I get that. But I also think it's intellectually honest to say the scale of Israel's response has been massively disproportionate. The two things can be equally true. I think that's right. And, of course, who would think any Israeli would trust Hamas? But the other thing here, you know, I was just reading earlier today, Haaretz had a piece about how essentially the Israeli government is very frustrated because there is no counter to Hamas that's rising and there aren't as many protests as they think.
13:27There aren't as many rival gangs. And Hamas still has control of all this area. But Pierce, I mean, just think about what the implication of that is. How many times have me and you been told over the last two years, by your guest right here in particular, that it is intolerable for Hamas to still be in power. And therefore, we have to do whatever we can. And yet they've done all of this, killed tens of thousands of innocent people, destroyed the entire Gaza Strip, and Hamas is still in power. So even by their own logic, you failed on what the goal of this war was. And by the way, Pierce, as you know, I've been sitting here, I'm sorry, it's a little frustrating.
14:00I've been sitting here for two years telling people you're not going to destroy Hamas this way. And every one of them said, what do you know, comedian? You're not an expert. And yet here we are at the end of the two years, then all the people, I'm not the only one, we're all totally vindicated. Hamas is still there.
14:14Piers Morgan:You didn't even achieve the goal. Yeah, I mean, Doran Spielman, we were told, once the hostages are all released, this is over. That clearly, at the moment, is hanging in the balance. I mean, I think it's obvious it wouldn't take a lot for this to flare up again. But what is indisputable, as Dave says, there's no sign that Hamas has lost all its power. I mean, they're operating with power in Gaza right now. They're still heavily armed. They have said publicly, we are not going to disarm. So, you know, it seems to me that the original aim of releasing the hostages is one thing, but this idea that Israel has defeated Hamas is clearly not true.
14:52Piers Morgan:So where does that leave this ceasefire other than in a very precarious place? If Hamas just say, we are not disarming, what does Israel do? Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for$15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made$15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent.
15:27Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. First of all, Pierce, I want to speak to some of the things that Dave just said. When it comes to the fog of war, Dave, I hear that you're saying any time it's Hamas directly targeting Israeli soldiers, directly targeting civilians, it's the fog of war. You're saying that's the fog of war. But when it comes to Israel targeting Hamas, you still refuse to accept the basic principle. There was no Wanzi conference here. Israel's not committing genocide. There's no ethnic cleansing because they're Gazans.
16:02We have one goal, Dave, one simple goal to destroy Hamas and bring home our hostages. And all of a sudden, it's not the fog of war, Dave. It is your fog. You're unwilling to understand the most basic principle here that there's probably never been a more moral war fought by an army that does not want to go to war. And what's the proof? It's exactly what you're saying. As soon as we got the hostages home, as soon as President Trump put a deal on the table, it's not a perfect deal. What was the very first thing we did? we withdrew exactly to the yellow border. We exactly gave time for Hamas to return.
16:37The 20 living hostages and the 29 - You're denying food, living people over dead remains. Most moral army - Okay, sorry, go ahead. One second, if you don't mind. We waited. They just killed two of our soldiers. There was no fog of war. These two boys were sitting outside a tank, walking around. They were shot by an RPG and killed in cold blood. When I listen to you, it doesn't sound like we're dealing with Hamas. It sounds like we're dealing with a bunch of kindergarten children that are out to play in the playground. This is an organization who crossed the border, and you say that you condemn October 7th, but both you and Pierce, if I may say so, you constantly say you condemn October 7th, but you also condemn every moment from then that we've tried to defend ourselves to go after Hamas.
17:23No, that's not true. Hang on, hang on. Hang on, hang on. When did you not?
17:27Piers Morgan:No, Doran, you can't say that about me. I'm sorry, for many, many, many months after this started, I repeatedly was attacked actually by pro-Palestinians because they felt that I was giving too much licence for Israel to exercise its right to defend itself, which I felt was a duty, a moral duty to its people because Hamas had said we're going to keep trying to do this. And they had an absolute right to defend themselves. Do we not have a moral duty now, Kirst? My criticism of the Israeli government and its strategy really became a lot more critical this year, at the start of this year, when I began to see that it was not achieving its goals.
18:07Piers Morgan:It wasn't getting Hamas destroyed. It wasn't actually getting the hostages released. It was leading to what I think are going to end up being categorised as war crimes, like the three-month blockade. It was levelling Gaza to complete obliteration. And I felt this was, A, completely disproportionate, but, B, and probably even more significantly, It wasn't achieving the initial war goals. And coupled with that, we have people like Smodrich and Ben-Gavir openly talking about their desire for ethnic cleansing. Smodrich and Ben-Gavir... I'm sorry, that's a red... That's a red... Hang on, hang on. All the Israeli guests...
18:43Piers Morgan:Prime Minister Netanyahu runs the government. All the Israeli guests I have on always say you should ignore two senior members of the Israeli government. It's a democracy. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's a bit like people saying... They're in the government. It's a bit like people saying in Britain with the British government, just ignore what the Chancellor says. Ignore what the foreign secretary says. No, they're not the chancellor. They have no power. These people are senior members of the government. They have an influence over Netanyahu. No question. It's a democracy. But if they have an influence, Pierce, then how is it?
19:10You're saying both things and they're opposites. If they have influence, we just said that Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to an imperfect deal presented by President Trump, even though Benkvir and Smotrich and many people in Israel, including myself, including you, as we opened up, I think even including Dave, saying, what does it mean we're not winning? It means that this is not a great deal. We don't see Hamas completely obliterated. I agree with you. I agree with Dave. Hamas is still in Gaza. How did that happen? Because Prime Minister Netanyahu is betting on President Trump. So am I. President Trump just announced that he sees Arab allies that also say they're going to go into Gaza and teach Hamas a lesson if they don't straighten out.
19:47What are we to do but rely on the word of the most powerful man in the entire world? And I'm hoping that that man is going to find a way to dismantle and destroy Hamas. It is point number one and point number nine in the deal that we signed. And if he goes and does that, we'll have achieved two goals. We got our hostages home. Many of them are dead because Hamas are cruel bastards. Most of them are alive. And if we can continue the goal of wiping Hamas out of Gaza, we can rebuild Gaza. But it's these conversations. When, oh, you're killing. You can't kill. You can't fight back. If we listened to these peers, I would have raised the white flag.
20:24We would have raised the white flag. Two years ago, Hamas would be fully in charge of Gaza, and all of our hostages would still be there. This has been incredibly successful, but no, it's not perfect. The fact that it's not perfect does not mean that we have not achieved an enormous amount and that we cannot win. Victory, it sounds like an ancient word, is in our grasp. It depends on President Trump if he's willing to go the extra mile.
20:46Piers Morgan:All right, Dave Smith, I want to read what Trump posted on True Social. Numerous of our now great allies in the Middle East and areas surrounding the Middle East have explicitly and strongly with great enthusiasm informed me that they would welcome the opportunity at my request to go into Gaza with a heavy force and straighten out Hamas if Hamas continues to act badly in violation of their agreement with us. The love and spirit of the Middle East has not been seen like this in 1 ,000 years. It's a beautiful thing to behold. I told these countries and Israel, not yet. There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right.
21:17Piers Morgan:If they do not, an end to Hamas will be fast, furious and brutal. I would like to thank all of those countries that are called to help. Also, I'd like to thank the great and powerful country of Indonesia and its wonderful leader for all the help they have shown and given to the Middle East and to USA. To everyone, thank you for your attention. You missed matter, President Trump. So he's coming under a lot of pressure, clearly, to potentially commit American forces to engage, it seems, from this post with Israel to finish the job with Hamas. I mean, that would be, to me, a massive and potentially extremely problematic escalation if that was to happen.
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22:35Piers Morgan:And remember to tell them that I sent you. Cozy Earth, built for real life. Yeah, well, you certainly hope that it doesn't happen. I think that it happens quite often in American history where their presidents kind of go all in on some type of a peace deal, not a peace deal in this case, but a ceasefire. Obviously, this is it's very important to Donald Trump's political legacy and political capital that this works. And what ends up happening is once there's signs that it's not working, it's much easier to publicly blame the Palestinians than it is to publicly blame the Israelis. There's just much less of a political price tag.
23:15Gaza does not have a lobby and a bunch of billionaires and a bunch of influence in our country, and Israel does. And I'm sorry, but anyone can go listen for themselves to the 60 Minutes interview with Jared Kushner and with Whitcoff. Again, these are two representatives of the most pro-Israel government in the history of the United States of America. And they are both saying Israel was out of control. Israel had to be brought to the table. Israel was doing things that weren't in their long-term interest, says Jared Kushner. And they both also said a very interesting detail, that all of the intelligence that they were getting was saying that Hamas didn't want to do a deal.
23:53But as soon as they approached them with this deal, Hamas was very enthusiastic about getting it done. And by the way, that is very consistent with reporting that's been done by Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grimm, you know, like some of these journalists who actually do talk with the leadership of Hamas. Now, Pierce, to the point that was made before, I'm sorry. You've been interviewing me on this show for two years now or something like that. You've had me on a bunch of times. I mean, just tell me to any normal person, have I ever seemed like I'm sympathetic to Hamas or that I'm saying that they don't have the responsibility they have?
24:23I've come on, I've chastised other critics of Israel on this show before, because I think it's goofy when people do that.
24:29Piers Morgan:And by the way, Dave, I would say it's perfectly reasonable and intellectually honest to say Hamas are despicable, and what they did on October 7th was a horrendous terror attack, which obviously demanded a response, but that also Israel's response became increasingly disproportional. I don't think these two things are incompatible. Of course, of course they're not, And of course, also, it's worth looking at the fact, was Hamas ready to do this deal earlier and Israel was actually the impediment to it? Look, I'm not making excuses for Hamas. I'm not pretending they're children. I'm not denying them agency.
25:03In fact, as I've been saying for years, one of the things that I'm most furious at Netanyahu for was his strategy of propping up Hamas for years, specifically with the goal of thwarting a Palestinian state. And so, you know, to sit here and then turn around and talk about how evil Hamas is and use them as the justification for why you are somehow allowed to just destroy a captive people that don't have a military of their own to defend themselves. It's just look, look, I'll just say this. There was one poll recently that had they said right before October 7th in America, do you sympathize with Israel or Palestine was plus 48 for Israel.
25:43And then the latest poll, it was plus one for the Palestinians. You would be hard pressed to find a 50 point collapse in any issue. Like, just imagine, Pierce, if we woke up tomorrow and 90 percent of America was pro-life. We'd be like, what happened here? I mean, this is and the reason why this shift is happening is very simply because what Israel's doing to the Palestinians is so indefensible. The relationship between Israel and the United States of America is too bizarre, and it does not make sense in America's interest. And number three, this type of propaganda just doesn't work on people.
26:20You can't sit here and say you're the most moral army in the world as a response to my point that you just denied food to an entire civilian population because you claim Hamas is slow-rolling dead remains. I'm not saying dead remains don't matter, but we're talking about real, alive babies. children, women who just went through this nightmare for two years and you are denying the collectively punishing, denying the civilian population aid over a Hamas, something that maybe Hamas did, and you think you're the most moral army in the world? Well, I mean, I think, look, on this, give me a question.
26:55Doran, Doran, let me ask you a question first. Doran, you can respond. Doran, you can respond. Doran, Doran, you can respond, but let me just, let me just say something.
27:05Piers Morgan:Let me just say something. Yes. Doran, I would say this. What was noticeable in the Jared Kushner interview you were talking about with Witkow as well, that they made it clear the tipping point for American intervention to reign in Israel was the completely senseless attack on Doha, on the Hamas negotiators who were considering the latest plan to bring this to an end, which ended up killing no Hamas negotiators, which in itself, I think, would have been an appalling thing to do at that time when people were trying to bring peace. but actually killing a bunch of people unconnected, including one of the Qatari security service people.
27:42Piers Morgan:And that was a tipping point because Donald Trump... I mean, I was there in Qatar earlier this year, the state dinner by the Emir for Trump. They're very close. They go back a long way. You know, America has its biggest military base in the Middle East, Izak, Qatar. And to just go and brazenly attack Doha in the way that it did, I thought was an absolutely crazy thing for Israel to do. It showed that they were acting with complete impunity, didn't care about their number one ally, America, and the damage this might cause to the relationship with one of its biggest allies in the Middle East. And at that point, Trump went, enough, we're not doing it.
28:21Piers Morgan:I mean, do you accept that that was a catastrophically stupid thing to do by Israel? First of all, I want to address what Dave said about the poor Palestinians, and they'll be the scapegoat because they don't have a lobby. And Jews have a lobby in the United States. Yes, Jews have a lobby in the United States. I have news for you. The Hamas regime and the Palestinians have a lobby. Do you know what it's called, Dave? It's called Qatar. Qatar, which has infected every single university in the United States, just signed a$1.2 trillion deal, which is a country that is funding more terror on behalf of Iran than any other thing.
28:55Who is their other patron? Iran. Why do you think Hamas came to the table? Well, let's think about what happened over the past year. Iran, their major patron, was brought to its knees by who? By Israel. The U.S. flew in and put the cherry on the very top of the Sunday. We fought Iran for 11 and a half days and completely, completely eliminated the mask of Iran. Hezbollah, their other northern enemy, completely annihilated. I think they probably, if we don't move forward, will be able to resuscitate, but they're out of the picture. Syria no longer exists. And Hamas has been eliminated. Three levels of their leadership has been eliminated.
29:30Three more months of fighting would take them out of the picture. The very thing that you're saying, their very support network is gone. And if you ask me, Pierce, the strike on Qatar, I'm not a member of the government. I'm not a member of the Security Cabinet. I think it's not a coincidence that within three weeks of Israel striking Qatar, there's a peace deal that's bringing 20 hostages home. Now, you might think that the U.S. had no idea. I think that's completely nonsense. You think the U.S. had no idea? I'm sorry. Pure lies. Benjamin Netanyahu had to apologize for it. That is nonsense.
30:04Piers Morgan:I think that's a ridiculous thing to say. Why should we apologize for striking a terror regime that is close to 40? I'm going to understand something. Pierce, you said you are the estate dinner. This is exactly why. I'm sorry, Dave. This is a regime that houses the heads of Hamas. This is a regime that is intimately connected, Dave, to 9-11. Do you think that's a conspiracy theory? Do you think they were connected to 9-11? Is it a conspiracy theory that Benjamin Netanyahu sent the head of Mossad there to, quote, beg them to keep the funds going into Hamas? Is that a conspiracy theory? Yes, no, this is true.
30:39It's absolutely true. Okay. And guess what? guess what guess what Dave I think it was a horror exactly I agree with your point Dave I agree with your point the fact that we allowed Qatar to fund Hamas all these years under whose pressure U.S. pressure Israel not wanting to get the job done was a catastrophe and led to October 7th by enabling that regime to get that funding how can you say that hold on hold on hold on led to October 7th. However, once October 7th happened and Israel woke up to the idea that you cannot contain an enemy like Hamas. You cannot just feed Hamas. You have to risk your lives.
31:17You have to go after a regime that spent 20 years, Dave. I was in Gaza. Have you been to Gaza? Did you go to Gaza between 2005 and 2023? Does anyone on the internet not know the answer to this question, Pierce? No, you have not been to Gaza. So guess what, Dave? If you would have gone to Gaza, like I did, and like many other reporters that you saw on the news, it took 18 years for them to build 500 miles of terror tunnels under buildings in our homes, which I've been in, which I have seen it with my own eyes. And guess what? We didn't want to go in. Do you know why? Because we knew once we went in, Pierce Morgan, Dave Smith, Derone's building would be debating about genocide, which never happened because Hamas put their people there.
31:57You are literally So you're admitting exactly how much...
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32:44Piers Morgan:For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15 % off using code PEERS, that's P-I-E-R-S, at oneskin.co. That's 15 % off oneskin.co with code PEERS. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them, so please support our show and tell them that we saved you. We allowed for must-be-build... I actually think, Doran, I actually think, Doran, I actually think when all this is over, and hopefully we're at the beginning of the end, when it is all over, and we look back on how the Mossad, in particular, the world's supposedly most brilliant intelligence agency, did not know that 500 miles of tunnels were being built.
33:26Piers Morgan:by Hamas or question why that might be, and had no apparent knowledge of any attack of the scale that happened on October the 7th. And cannot, no one can explain why it took so long on that day for Israel to properly defend itself. All of these things seem pretty inexplicable for the most superior armed force in the Middle East. No question. And supposedly, that was October 7th, which you can tell. So my point is, there's a lot of accountability to come to answer some of these questions. No question. There's no doubt, by the way. Now that we wake up from an attack. Hang on. You talk about Qatar, but let's talk about also...
34:06Piers Morgan:I'm going to leave it with this because we have to move on. But if you look at what Netanyahu did in helping funnel billions of dollars to Hamas through Qatar, then he was trying to do divide and rule with the Palestinian Authority. It suited Benjamin Netanyahu to have the Palestinians split between these two groups. He actively encouraged it, but unfortunately he created a monster that he didn't realise, or maybe he did, we don't know, he didn't realise the scale of the monster he created or that it would come and do what it did on October 7th. And there will be serious questions for Netanyahu when this is over, which may explain why he has perpetuated this war as long as he has, because he's also facing a criminal court case over corruption.
34:52Piers Morgan:I disagree, Pierce. I don't think you agree. I'd like one minute to respond. I've got to leave you there. I've got to leave you there. I would like one minute, half a minute to respond. We've run out of time. But no, that's just my overview. Maybe I'm wrong. Oh, it's not your overview. That's your opinion. Yes, my opinion. I will just say, I will just, my opinion, in 20 seconds with your permission, that Prime Minister Netanyahu has now carried out a war that has destroyed enemies throughout the Middle East and has put Hamas to the brink. And on that, you want to condemn him. On building Hamas, he made a mistake.
35:23On fighting Hamas, you cannot condemn him because that is what is going to protect Israel for the future. You should be pushing that Hamas is going to be destroyed so that Israelis can sleep at night.
35:34Piers Morgan:All right, let me give Dave Smith 20 seconds to respond. Super, super quick. When Hamas won the elections back in 2005, they didn't win with a majority in one single county, in one single area. They had a plurality and they got in there. If Netanyahu had not been giving them hundreds of millions of dollars during that time period, it's quite possible Hamas wouldn't have even been in power on October 7th and it wouldn't have happened. Well, they threw people off the rooftops of the building that opposed them. So do an investigation. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're bad. I think there are a lot of unanswered questions.
36:04Piers Morgan:With Israel's money. I hope it gets to the bottom of it. And one way to get to the bottom of it is to let international journalists into Gaza and do their jobs, which remains a disgrace that they're not allowed to. No, you actually do, Pierce. Start by coming to Israel. I will take you to the kibbutzim, you'll smell the burnt flesh, and you'll understand... I don't need to be reminded how awful that was. You need to smell the burnt flesh and see the dirt sitting through the bone so you understand what we're fighting about. I don't need to do that. Because you're quarterbacking without seeing it.
36:30Piers Morgan:No, no, I don't need to do that. What I need is for international war correspondents whose job it is to do this, to be allowed free unfettered access into Gaza to verify all the claims the IDF are making, which at the moment they can make with impunity without anyone knowing of telling the truth. That has not happened in any modern war that I can recall. It is completely shameful. And the IDF and Israel's government should allow journalists to go in without following them everywhere they go and showing them a sanitised version of what they've done. And when they do that, if it turns out they've committed no war crimes, fine, I will say that.
37:06Piers Morgan:I have an open mind about this, but I have deep suspicions about what the Israeli government and the IDF have got up to in Gaza given their continued ban of international journalists. It is completely outrageous that you won't let journalists go and do their jobs there. And there's a reason, I think, and I think it's a reason that Netanyahu feels very uncomfortable about admitting, which is he doesn't want journalists to find out what's really been going on. And maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think I am. I'm going to leave it there. Thank you both very much. Thanks, Piers. Joining me now is the political scientist, author and activist, Professor Norma Ficklesteed.
37:39Piers Morgan:Norma, welcome back to Uncensored. You were listening to a bit of that debate. Look, do you believe we're in a place now where this war is actually going to end? It depends on what you mean by will the war actually end. My own view, which I'm happy to spell out, is that we'll probably return to the status quo anti, the status quo before October 7th, where the blockade will remain fully in force and the conditions that created October 7th will continue. However, there is one very big difference, and that difference is Gaza is no more. There is no Gaza. There's about 50 million tons of rubble in Gaza mixed with toxic substances and unexploded ordnance.
38:35The international agencies say would take until 2050 just to clear out the rubble in Gaza. 95 % of the housing has been pulverized, 70 % of the hospitals. Most of the agricultural land will probably not be able to be cultivated for decades, maybe even centuries. according to the most recent U.N. reports. So there is no Gaza. I don't agree with you. I've made it clear many times. I do not believe Israel's assault in Gaza was disproportionate. It is my opinion the assault in Gaza was proportionate. It was proportionate to the goal. and they spelled out the goal very early on the first couple of weeks.
39:34Among the goals was to make Gaza uninhabitable. So as Ghiora Ailand, a senior advisor to the government, put it, we will leave the people of Gaza with two choices, to stay and starve or to leave. That objective was achieved. So it's not a return to the status quo before October 7th. The blockade will remain in place. But there's no Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahu was hoping for a stampede out of Gaza. That didn't happen. But now he'll have to settle for a trickle out of Gaza. But whether it's a stampede or a trickle, there's nothing left there. That, I think, is pretty clear.
40:31Piers Morgan:I mean, look, Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants people to return to Gaza. We are seeing people returning to where the remains of their homes are. He's also made it clear the West Bank cannot be annexed. It does seem to me from the outside here that Donald Trump is trying what he can to certainly restrain the far-right element of the Israeli government like Smodrich and Ben Gavir from clearly their publicly stated intention for ethnic cleansing and getting all Palestinians to leave. Trump has clearly made it clear that is not going to happen. Are you not optimistic that Donald Trump and the United States are exercising a control valve on the more radical far-right elements of the Israeli government to prevent the worst excesses here happening.
41:20Piers Morgan:And that actually he is genuine in his aspiration of rebuilding Gaza and bringing a lasting peace settlement here. And that is what he really wants to achieve. And that if he doesn't give Israel ongoing support in the way they've been used to from the United States, then it makes Israel much more vulnerable. So it's in their interest to allow this to happen.
41:46I don't think one should attach particular importance to a statement by President Trump when, as you know, his statements change with the passing of each day. I am not here to attack President Trump. I am simply stating the obvious. As many world leaders have learned, not least Mr. Zelensky, what President Trump says on one day or in one week is not necessarily what he's going to say on another day and another week. So I'm not going to parse his statements. Rather, I will try to look at the big picture. President Trump has made clear that he wants what he calls the deal of the century with Saudi Arabia.
42:39Now, that, in my opinion, is the top item on his agenda. However, Saudi Arabia can't normalize relations with the U.S. and Israel, so long as there is a genocide occurring in Gaza. That's a bad optic. So it's quite likely that the actual bombing, artillery shelling, and physical destruction of Gaza, I think it's quite possible that it will end because President Trump wants that deal with Saudi Arabia. As you might recall, at the time of the original Abraham Accords, the states that joined in with Israel, they made the claim that they had stopped THE BEST OF THE BEST OF THE BEST OF THE BEST OF THE BEST BANK.
43:36AT THAT TIME, ISRAELI LEADERS WERE TALKING ABOUT ANNEXING THE WEST BANK. AND THEN THE GULF STATES CLAIMED THAT IT WAS BECAUSE THEY JOINED IN THE ABRAHAM ACCORDS THAT ISRAEL DIDN'T ANNEX THE WEST BANK. THAT WAS COMPLETELY FOLSE, BUT THAT WAS THEIR PRETENSE AND PRETEXT. AND NOW SAUDI ARABIA NEEDS A
44:03resumes the bombing, they lose any faith-saving excuse for entering into the Abraham Accords. So that's President Trump's principal goal. I agree. It's quite possible that he will enter, he will prevent Israel from resuming the bombing and the artillery shelling in Gaza. However, to imagine anything beyond that, I believe requires a suspension of irrational faculty. Israel devoted fully two years, the longest war in its history, longer than the War of Independence, which began in November 1947, the Civil War, then extended into the invasion, and that lasted until March 19—yes, March 1949. This is the longest assault by Israel in its history.
45:11It pulverized Gaza. And are we expected to believe that after voting two years to annihilating and obliterating Gaza, all of a sudden, Mr. Netanyahu is going to join hands with his cabinet, sing Kumbaya, chant Give Peace a Chance, and rebuild Gaza for the two million people? whom they targeted for annihilation, whom they targeted for obliteration, who the international abroad consensus of the international community said was committing genocide? That's as if to say, that's as if to say, after the annihilation, the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943, all of a sudden Hitler, Himmler, Goering had a change of heart and they were going to rebuild Warsaw for its Jewish inhabitants.
46:26Is that believable? Is that plausible? Is that credible? I think not.
46:34Piers Morgan:Well, I think it's... I agree. I have serious misgivings about Netanyahu's intentions and what he'd really like to happen. and I have even bigger misgivings about what people like Smodrich and Ben-Gavir want to happen because they've made it crystal clear they'd rather get all Palestinians kicked out of Gaza altogether and the West Bank if they could do it. But the key part of this is Donald Trump, who seems to me to be crystal clear in his directive that Palestinians must be allowed to return to their homes, those homes must be rebuilt. He wants a coalition of people, including all the Arab countries at Nehber Palestine to get involved as well.
47:12Piers Morgan:The West Bank cannot be annexed and so on. And again, I come back to my point that if it was just trusting Netanyahu to do this with his government, then I would have very little hope this could happen. But if it's America laying down markers here, that it must happen. And I completely concur with you. I think Donald Trump's tour of the Middle East earlier this year, which was very successful. You know, Trump is a man who believes in peace, not war, because apart from anything else, he hates the loss of life, but he also hates the cost of war. As somebody who money is his kind of driving factor for his business career, he doesn't see anything as a massive waste of money.
47:49Piers Morgan:He spent his time in the Middle East tour, you know, racking up huge amounts of pledged investment to the United States, and he wants to preserve that, and he wants to continue what has been a mutually beneficial relationship with the likes of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and so on, and expand the Abraham Accord. So Trump has a real motivation there, along with America, of peace and of actually getting what they want to happen here done. And if Netanyahu defies him, again, I come back to what I said a little earlier, which is he might imperil the unequivocal support from the United States.
48:26Piers Morgan:And I don't think Israel is going to throw that roll of a dice. The future of furniture is here. Why buy ordinary furniture when you can come home to King? Save up to 50 % on selected designs at the King Living Summer Sale. Shop online or visit your nearest King showroom today.
48:49As we've already said, and I don't think there's any dispute between us, Mr. Trump, President Trump, has made many statements. You certainly remember when he talked about turning Gaza into the Riviera.
49:06Piers Morgan:Yeah. He said the whole population would happily leave Gaza, that there would be incentives applied. So why we should credit a statement yesterday versus a statement a week or a month ago, I don't know. Well, let me answer that point. But, Norman, let me answer that point, because I know Trump very well. I think that he's a transactional guy. He's a dealmaker at heart. He believes in leverage. He often chucks things at the wall which seem extreme, and then he settles on something more moderate. And that is born from his 50 years as a real estate tycoon in New York, where you do that all the time with property prices.
49:49Piers Morgan:So it is, you know, I would think it's quite feasible that when Trump said that, what he was really trying to do is put the wind of fear into Hamas that this might actually be what he really wanted to happen. And that maybe, and I don't know, we'll find out in the annals of time, I guess, that it may be that that was one of the things which eventually persuaded Hamas to come to the negotiating table and try and end this, is the thought that maybe that was what America wanted. And if it turns out Trump was playing a bit of a leverage game with them, but ultimately gets to a place where the Palestinians stay, in a rebuilt and rejuvenated Gaza and maybe ends up being the dream Riviera he talks about with the beautiful beachfront resorts and so on.
50:33Piers Morgan:You know, these things can... It could happen if there's enough collective will. And if the West Bank isn't annexed, ultimately, we could look back in 10 years' time and see that Trump's natural deal-making skills and the way that it can appear to be very inconsistent in the moment, that actually it led to a good result. So I would never... I take your point. You often change his position seemingly on a whim, but it could also be part of a negotiating pattern. And I don't think we know yet.
51:06I cannot obviously psychoanalyze Donald Trump. I do not know him intimately. I do not even know him remotely. What I can do is look at the historical record and judge from that. THAT I DO KNOW INTIMATELY. THE HISTORICAL RECORD SHOWS THE FOLLOWING THINGS. NUMBER ONE, IF YOU LOOK AT THE TWO CASES WHERE THERE WAS A DEAL MADE, THEY WERE THE CAMP DAVID ACCORD UNDER JIMMY CARTER 1977 AND 1979. AND THEN THERE WAS THE OSLO ACCORD DURING THE PYRAMID OF Bill Clinton's presidency. In each of those cases, it required intense concentration, focus, intellectual determination to achieve those agreements. Whatever you want to say about Jimmy Carter.
52:12He was an extremely smart fellow, extremely smart fellow, and he was hyper-focused. I have read the record of Camp David. It comes to many volumes, what's called the Foreign Relations of the U.S. volumes on Camp David. He was astonishing in his focus and concentration. The same thing can be said to a lesser extent, but still significantly with Bill Clinton. At one point, Bill Clinton said, I think at this point, I know every street in Jerusalem. And I think there's actually a possibility he did. He was hyper-focused, extremely competent, like Jimmy Carter. And at certain points, at certain points, each of them was willing to apply the pressure, more Jimmy Carter than Bill Clinton, on the Israelis.
53:26I see no evidence whatsoever, zero, of those qualities in President Trump. Number two, the record also shows that the Israelis can be very, very stubborn. Actually, Jimmy Carter, who was negotiating with Prime Minister Begin at the time, he wrote in his diary that he wondered whether Menachem Begin was sane or whether he had, and now I'm using my colloquialism, or whether he had lost his marbles. If you look at the record of the Israelis, let's just take one example. So after Operation Tiller of Defense in 2012, an agreement was signed, and it was signed by Ehud Barak. and part of the agreement, like all of the agreements, called for lifting the blockade of Gaza.
54:34And when Barak, Ehud Barak, was asked about that, he said, quote, nobody ever remembers the fine print when the document is signed. This part about rebuilding Gaza, letting in humanitarian aid, the very same government, when the international agencies were saying that a quarter of the population was suffering from famine, that same government said there was no hunger. You surely remember Prime Minister Netanyahu saying there was no starvation in Gaza, when the international agencies were saying a quarter of the population, 500 ,000 people were suffering from famine, can it possibly be believed that this government is going to admit the requisite international humanitarian aid necessary for the people of Gaza?
55:41Or will it persist in its goal, persist in its objective of emptying out Gaza, not by a stampede, but by a trickle?
55:55Piers Morgan:Normal figures team, always great to have you on Uncensored. I hope that is not the scenario that we see, but we shall see. But I appreciate you coming on again. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you. Joining me now is Fleur Hassan, a special envoy for trade and innovation in the Israeli government. Welcome back to Uncensored, Fleur Hassan. J.D. Vance has been talking in Israel, saying the US will not set a deadline for Hamas disarmament and saying that there will be no commitment of US forces in Gaza. First of all, your reaction to those two pieces of news from him? Well, there's many more pieces of news for him from J.D.
56:38Vance, who's here and who said something very clearly. First of all, Hamas has to disarm and any reconstruction, help, budget, resources will not go to Hamas. And so he's very busy. And today he spent the day with Jared Kushner and Witkoff in Kiryat Ghat, which is the center for the International Security Force, putting together that security force in order to replace Hamas. What has Hamas done since Israel retreated? they returned the living hostages which was I think President Trump's biggest feat that I've seen I never thought that a genocidal terrorist group like Hamas would would give up its its main leverage but within 72 hours they were supposed to give them back the dead hostages to come home for a dignified funeral they're holding on to those bodies they're drip drabbing them out two a day one here one then and we still have 15 dead hostages who have to come home and that was the first breach of the ceasefire that they did.
57:37And so the second one is that they had to disarm. Now, this is something that President Trump said to them, you will disarm. And they said, we won't disarm. And the question now is, who is President Trump and the government of Israel going to bring in to be those honest brokers to make sure, A, that Hamas disarms, they are a terrorist group. By the way, I don't know whether you saw the footage, but they've been killing, they've been on a rampage, killing their own people. Hundreds of people, including five-year-old children.
58:03Piers Morgan:But Israeli forces have also been killing... Five-year-old children. Hang on, hang on. Israeli forces... Israeli forces have also carried on killing a lot of Palestinians in the last few days. What's happened is, first of all, they breached the agreement by not bringing back all the hostages, which it was supposed to do within 72 hours. So they didn't do that. Then they started killing their own people, which is a breach of the agreement. They weren't supposed to go on a vengeance campaign to the poor people who had the guts. who had the courage to stand up and say, enough is enough, look what they're doing to destroy our society.
58:34And then they threw an RPG and killed two soldiers. And so Israel has retreated to its line, as was intentioned in the agreement. If the terrorists are coming towards that line, where they're not supposed to be there, of course Israel has to open fire. Then we have no agreement at all. So let's put that aside for a second. The point is what's going to happen from here. And of course, you've had Norman Finkelstein with his revisionism and doom and gloom. But I really hope that if we can bring some moderate Sunni Arab countries, like the Saudis, like the Emiratis, countries that have a record of de-radicalising their own societies from the Muslim Brotherhood, if they could do that here, that would be hope for the people of Gaza and for the entire region.
59:18Piers Morgan:Yeah, I don't disagree. And I do think, as I said to Norman Wickelstein, I do think that it's premature to think that this is all going to end in disaster. Donald Trump appears to be taking absolute firm control, I believe now, of this situation because he wants to forge peace. He wants to normalise relations with other countries as part of the Abraham Accords, including Saudi Arabia, of course, the big prize for that initiative. And I think he recognises that the longer this war goes on, the less likely that is to happen. So Trump has a pragmatic view about this based on too many people dying, too much money being spent, and the bigger picture of a peaceful region in which actually most of the neighbouring Arab countries to Israel have normalised relations and can live peacefully with each other.
1:00:10Piers Morgan:That's the Trump dream. So did we. We had that dream. Why do you think October 7th happened when it happened? Because the Saudi king, MBS, said a month before, we are on our way to normalising relations with Israel. and the Islamic Republic of Iran started activating its proxies to make sure that didn't happen. This is a way bigger picture than Israel and Gaza, than Hamas. There's a bigger picture that people seem to be missing. And that is the Middle East for a while now has been split into two. The countries that want peace and prosperity, the Sunni moderates, the people that have spent 10, 20 years de-radicalized and decided kicking out the Muslim Brotherhood and the Shia extremists in Iran activating the Sunni extremists in the region because they don't really care about the Sunnis, but they do activate them.
1:01:01Hezbollah in the north, Gaza in the south. We've got the Houthis throwing rockets at us. And that's what's happened here. Everybody wants to zoom in and make this about Israel and Gaza. But if you zoom out a little bit, you see that there's something much bigger going on in the region. And that is why, and I've always said this, the arrangement, the solution can only be regional, because this is a regional story.
1:01:24Piers Morgan:I don't disagree with that. I want to just talk briefly about what's going on with Maccabi Tel Aviv, the football team, obviously in Israel, and this ongoing farce, it seems to me, over their trip next month with Aston Villa here in the UK. They've now announced Maccabi Tel Aviv they're not going to sell tickets to their own fans. How sad. Well, I think it's not just sad, it's kind of slightly inexplicable at a time when the British Prime Minister's intervened and said, this should happen, this game should go ahead with fans on both sides. It seems an odd time for the team or the club to just basically withdraw and surrender on this.
1:02:07Piers Morgan:Why have they done that? Because Keir Starmer intervened, but the police never said that they could protect these fans. And so if the police are not guaranteeing their protection, What are we doing? Sending lambs to the slaughter? We're taking responsibility for the fact that Britain and the police in Britain have given in to an Islamist mob that doesn't want Jews going to that game. I think it's disgraceful. It's disgraceful that the police just rolled over and said, no, no, it's fine. Well, you know, yeah, they shouldn't be here. When did that ever happen? This is the first time it's happened.
1:02:40And I don't like to make comparisons to Nazi Germany, but in 1933, Jews started getting excluded from public events.
1:02:48Piers Morgan:Well, I would say, look, on a technical point, it's not the first time you've had games where opposition fans have not been allowed to go, and it's often been linked to football hooliganism by British fans at British clubs, actually. So there is historic precedent. That's what I'm saying. And the cynicism to say, oh, it's because they misbehave. Come on, football fans are known for misbehaving. No, I made this point. I made this point to someone yesterday. To use that as an excuse is so farcical. No, I agree, I agree. It's ridiculous. Listen, I agree. I think the idea that the British police are incapable of avoiding too much trouble erupting at this fixture, I think is ridiculous.
1:03:24Piers Morgan:And also it sends a very dangerous precedent where if people think that the police are going to roll over in policing football matches, then where does that end? Well, let me tell you where it ends. where the airport authority says, oh, we can't take a plane from Tel Aviv because it's dangerous. And then you've literally isolated and boycotted an entire country, which happens to be the only Jewish country in the world. So you tell them. It's very, to me, as a Brit, very sad to see that. Also, there's a lot of British fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv. Are they now supposed to feel scared about showing up to Aston Villa because they're on the side of the team?
1:04:02Let's say many Jewish people now, if a solidarity, in solidarity with Maccabi Tel Aviv show up. Are those fans, because they're Jews now, they're not even coming from Israel? They're supposed to be worried? Is the West Midland police going to protect any fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv or just the ones flying in from Israel? It's honestly a very bad, dangerous and sad precedent.
1:04:24Piers Morgan:I agree, and I don't think it should be happening, and I don't like the way any of this has been handled, and I think it sets a very bad precedent. and I'm astonished, actually. I'm not. When even the British Prime Minister intervenes and said this is ridiculous, you would have thought that the police chiefs involved would crack their heads together and work this out. But it's a perfect... I mean, look, they've policed games over the years with extremely volatile sets of fans who hate and detest each other and would, you know, kill each other if they were given half a chance and they've managed to police those.
1:04:57Piers Morgan:And I just don't understand why they rolled over on this one, which sends such a poor message to the world. Absolutely, and I think that two-tier policing is a very real thing. Well, you made a point I agree with. Imagine if this was an African football team. People would be outraged in calling it racism. But because it's Israel and Jews, it's OK. It's hard to disagree with that. It's open season. I think you're right about that. It's open season for Jews at the moment. Flo Ersan, I appreciate you coming back on. Thank you very much. Pittsburgh on our sense that it's proudly independent, The only boss around here is me.
1:05:31Piers Morgan:If you enjoy our show, we ask for only one simple thing. Hit subscribe on YouTube and follow Piers Morgan Uncensored on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And in return, we will continue our mission to inform, irritate and entertain. And we'll do it all for free. Independent, uncensored media has never been more critical and we couldn't do it without you.
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From the publisher
With Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners finally home, it does seem like the beginning of the end of the war in Gaza is possible at last - at least officially.
However, the IDF launched airstrikes on southern Gaza just days into the truce after two of its soldiers were killed by Hamas. Who is running Gaza if rebel fighters continue to roam? And how can the ceasefire possibly hold when the far-right ministers who prop-up Netanyahu’s government are already demanding the IDF return to finish the job?
Piers Morgan is joined by Part of the Problem host Dave Smith and IDF international spokesman and author Doron Spielman before speaking to political scientist, author and activist Professor, Norman Finkelstein and special envoy for trade and innovation in the Israeli government, Fleur Hassan.
Piers Morgan Uncensored is proudly independent and supported by:
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