Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Dr. Ophir Falk | Foreign Policy Adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Joins S&FIM on Israel's National Election Day

Transcript

Dr. Ophir Falk | Foreign Policy Adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Joins S&FIM on Israel's National Election Day · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Dr.
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  Speaker 2: Ophir Falk happens to be Bibi's senior policy advisor. Bibi
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: doesn't leave home without him, okay? It doesn't matter, like
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: I said earlier, if he's in a board meeting in
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  Speaker 2: Jerusalem or if he's sitting with Trump in D.C. Ophir
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  Speaker 2: is right there with Bibi. He knows what's going on.
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  Speaker 2: He just wrote a great column. He gets a lot
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  Speaker 2: of columns published here in the United States, you know,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: New York Post and Wall Street Journal.
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  Speaker 1: This one reads, Netanyahu's foreign.
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  Speaker 2: Policy advisor, was coming on momentarily, urged voters to weigh
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  Speaker 2: the partnership with Trump, arguing it could help remove Iran's
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  Speaker 2: leadership and expand regional peace. What he's talking about is
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  Speaker 2: something that has to happen to win this war, which
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  Speaker 2: is change the regime. We know no nuclear weapon, the
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  Speaker 2: Strait of Hormuz, all that. But you've got to change
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  Speaker 2: the regime, or it never changes. Anyway, here he is,
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  Speaker 2: my friend, Dr. Ophir Falk, live in Israel. Dr.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Falk, how are you, pal?
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  Speaker 3: Great, Sid.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 1: It's great to have you.
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  Speaker 2: You know, this is the first election in your country
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  Speaker 2: since October 7th.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm seeing all morning long, Dr.
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  Speaker 2: Falk, that a lot of young people who really weren't
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  Speaker 2: all that interested in politics or voting before are now
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  Speaker 2: really interested.
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  Speaker 1: Are you seeing at least early on? I know you
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  Speaker 1: got another.
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  Speaker 2: seven hours before the polls close, but are you seeing
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  Speaker 2: a genuine enthusiasm from Israelis to go vote?
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  Speaker 3: If I am, I think this is a crucial election,
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  Speaker 3: and there's going to be a lot of, it's going
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  Speaker 3: to be a high turnout rate for the elections, because
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  Speaker 3: it's a really crucial, it's a crucial election here in Israel.
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  Speaker 2: So does it work in our favor? Like in America,
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  Speaker 2: for example, we keep begging Republicans to go vote next Tuesday, right?
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  Speaker 2: Because Republicans don't traditionally vote. In Israel, if the voter
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: turnout is larger, does that work for us, for Bibi?
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: Well, I think that if everybody who wants Netanyahu to
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  Speaker 3: be prime minister goes out to vote, Netanyahu will probably
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  Speaker 3: be prime minister. That's just the way that... the polls look.
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  Speaker 3: But I don't really want to get into politics. I'd
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  Speaker 3: rather focus on policy. And the big question, and there's
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  Speaker 3: a lot of questions in these elections, but the number
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  Speaker 3: one question, as far as I see it, is who's
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  Speaker 3: going to be the prime minister for the next two
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  Speaker 3: years of President Trump's administration? Who's going to be with
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  Speaker 3: the president to finish the job in the Middle East
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  Speaker 3: against the Iranian regime and to expand the peace? Is
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  Speaker 3: it going to be Netanyahu that was endorsed by the president,
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  Speaker 3: or is it going to be somebody else? Now, the
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  Speaker 3: president obviously wants Netanyahu to be prime minister. On the
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  Speaker 3: other hand, there's Iran, there's the Houthis, there's Hezbollah, there's
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  Speaker 3: Hamas that say that they don't want Netanyahu. So that's
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  Speaker 3: the dilemma. That's the dilemma, for me at least. And
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  Speaker 3: we'll see what happens.
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  Speaker 1: That works in our favor, though, Dr.
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  Speaker 2: Falk. And again, I've got people listening right now. We can,
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  Speaker 2: we gauge it. We see it. They're listening in Tel Aviv,
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  Speaker 2: in Jerusalem, in Haifa, in Netanya, all over the place, okay?
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  Speaker 2: So maybe we can change a couple of minds or
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  Speaker 2: at least make these people feel like they voted the
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  Speaker 2: right way. And look, President Trump has not only endorsed Bibi,
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  Speaker 2: he's endorsed him twice. He endorsed Bibi twice this week.
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  Speaker 2: And we know, we know that with all the great
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  Speaker 2: work that both America, okay, and Israel have done and
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  Speaker 2: done together.
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  Speaker 1: It's not over yet.
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  Speaker 2: It's not over yet. Why would I want to hand
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  Speaker 2: this over to an Eisencott or anybody? It doesn't matter.
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  Speaker 2: Why would I want to hand this over to somebody
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  Speaker 2: who hasn't done this, who hasn't gained the trust of
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  Speaker 2: President Trump?
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  Speaker 1: That's what you're saying, right?
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  Speaker 3: What I'm saying is that you're absolutely right, Sid. But
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  Speaker 3: what I'm also saying is that President Trump endorsed Netanyahu
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  Speaker 3: first and foremost because it's an American interest. It's in
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  Speaker 3: the best interest of America that the prime minister, Netanyahu,
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  Speaker 3: continues and helps President Trump finish the job. It's in
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  Speaker 3: the best interest of America. It's in the best interest
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  Speaker 3: of Israel. And I dare say that it's in the
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  Speaker 3: best interest of civilization.
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  Speaker 2: That's a good point. Civilization, very good point. All of
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  Speaker 2: Western civilization as well. So this article you just wrote,
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  Speaker 2: which I read, which was excellent, it's in the Jerusalem Post, actually,
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  Speaker 2: Jerusalem Post today, where you talk about removing Iran's leadership.
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  Speaker 2: And I keep saying this, Dr. Falk, yes, no nuclear weapon... Yes,
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  Speaker 2: make sure the Strait of Hormuz is open.
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  Speaker 1: But the truth is, we got to keep killing these bastards.
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  Speaker 2: I hate to say it that way, but it's the truth.
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  Speaker 2: Because I don't care if you're three levels down, five
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  Speaker 2: levels down, seven levels down. These guys, whoever comes up next,
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  Speaker 2: they want to kill us. They want to kill Americans,
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  Speaker 2: and they want to kill Israelis. So unless there is
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  Speaker 2: some regime change, nobody wins.
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  Speaker 1: That's fair to say, yes?
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I don't think the Iranian people want to have
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  Speaker 3: one Ayatollah replace another Ayatollah. What we have to do
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  Speaker 3: is make sure that this genocidal terrorist regime that is
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  Speaker 3: saying death to America, death to Israel for over 47
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  Speaker 3: years can no longer be in power there. And we're
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  Speaker 3: going to remove them from power. We're going to remove
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  Speaker 3: this genocidal regime. And then it would be up to
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  Speaker 3: the Iranian people to change that regime. We're going to,
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  Speaker 3: we're going to, we're going to create the conditions for
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  Speaker 3: the Iranian people to change the regime. But in terms
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  Speaker 3: of Israeli interests, in terms of American interests, in terms
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  Speaker 3: of civilizations interests, we have to remove this regime. It's
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  Speaker 3: a genocidal terrorist regime that's trying to acquire or build, uh,
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  Speaker 3: nuclear bombs to annihilate Israel. That's what they're saying. And
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  Speaker 3: then it's not only against Israel, it's against the West.
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  Speaker 3: They're not, they're not building these ballistic missiles, um, that
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  Speaker 3: can reach New York just for the fun of it.
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  Speaker 3: And it's a huge threat to Israel, to America, and
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  Speaker 3: to civilizations. And the only ones who have really stepped
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  Speaker 3: up to the plate in the past 47 years to
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  Speaker 3: confront this threat is President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
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  Speaker 2: Best one-two punch ever, in my opinion. I've been around
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  Speaker 2: for almost 60 years. Best one-two punch ever. Trump and...
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  Speaker 2: and Prime Minister Netanyahu. I don't live in Israel. I'm
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: not there every day, but I would imagine if I
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  Speaker 2: talked to the folks that lived in Israel off here
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  Speaker 2: that they would agree that there must be regime change.
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  Speaker 2: Leave it up to the people who live in Iran
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  Speaker 2: if there's really going to be any peace moving forward.
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  Speaker 1: Can I assume that that's what most Israelis want?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely. It's not only most Israelis. It's most, almost
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  Speaker 3: all rational people in the Middle East. You'd be surprised
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  Speaker 3: how many countries in the Gulf and in the region
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  Speaker 3: are rooting for us to end this regime and for
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  Speaker 3: Netanyahu to win, actually, because they know that he's the
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  Speaker 3: guy who can finish the job with the president. And again,
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  Speaker 3: the president wants to finish the job with Netanyahu, and
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  Speaker 3: on the other hand, Iran, the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, they
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  Speaker 3: don't want Netanyahu to win. That's the dilemma. Are you
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  Speaker 3: going to vote for somebody who President Trump wants to win,
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  Speaker 3: or are you going to vote for someone that Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah,
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  Speaker 3: and the Houthis want?
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 2: How is that a dilemma? You're going to vote for
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  Speaker 2: who the guys, the terrorists, want. I mean, you're right,
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  Speaker 2: it is a dilemma, but it seems so ridiculous that
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  Speaker 2: they would want what the terrorists want. Doesn't make any
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  Speaker 2: sense to me. What do I know?
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  Speaker 1: And, you know, listen, you know I'm very close with
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  Speaker 1: President Trump.
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  Speaker 2: We're friends, okay? And he's been treated very unfairly here.
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  Speaker 2: The DOJ weaponized the legal system to go after him.
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  Speaker 2: They literally made up crimes. They made up crimes. And
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  Speaker 2: you know the whole Trump history here in America. And
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  Speaker 2: it seems pretty similar to what Bibi and Sarah and
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  Speaker 2: those wonderful Netanyahu's are facing in Israel.
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  Speaker 1: So the opposition.
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  Speaker 2: The left, the other side, seems like they are taking
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  Speaker 2: out all the stops, including flying people to Israel and
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  Speaker 2: paying for their airfare just to vote against Bibi. So
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  Speaker 2: it does seem to me, Ophir, like you guys are
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  Speaker 2: up against it in this election.
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  Speaker 3: Right. So those are two different issues. But the main
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  Speaker 3: issue that you touched upon, the weaponization of the legal system,
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  Speaker 3: I think that there's two, President Trump and Prime Minister
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  Speaker 3: Netanyahu has something in common here, because the system has
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  Speaker 3: been weaponized against Trump and against Netanyahu, so they can
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  Speaker 3: relate to that. Thankfully, the cases have crumbled in court,
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  Speaker 3: and hopefully the witch hunt will come to an end.
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  Speaker 2: Hopefully. So when do you think you'll find out about this?
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  Speaker 2: I had Alex Trayman on earlier, Ophir, from JNS.org, and
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  Speaker 2: he said, you know, we could take 10 o'clock tonight.
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  Speaker 2: They start counting, but that's a TV. That's not the
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  Speaker 2: actual counting, 48 hours. And then by the time maybe
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  Speaker 2: they install a government, maybe they don't. This can go
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  Speaker 2: anywhere from two days to six months. Do you have
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  Speaker 2: any idea? Does PB have any idea when you guys
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  Speaker 2: will know?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think the election results will be known by
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  Speaker 3: late tonight, tomorrow morning. We'll usually know the results. But again,
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  Speaker 3: this is like a parliamentary democracy. You need to build
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  Speaker 3: a coalition. So it depends on the results. the coalition,
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  Speaker 3: it could take a while to build a coalition. It
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  Speaker 3: depends on what the results are.
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  Speaker 1: And I imagine you voted already this morning, correct?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, sir, I have.
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  Speaker 2: Did you go with Bibi or you went on your own?
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  Speaker 3: I went with my wife.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, very nice. Look at you guys.
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  Speaker 1: Well, listen, you know that with me... here in New York,
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  Speaker 1: and many.
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  Speaker 2: Many, many others, despite the noise and all the hate,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the haters are always very, very loud, but
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  Speaker 2: they're not always the biggest in numbers, that these smart people,
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  Speaker 2: the great Jews, people like me, Mark Levin, and others,
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  Speaker 2: we are praying to Hashem that Bibi Netanyahu wins today.
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  Speaker 2: We can never imagine... anybody else in that position than Mr. Netanyahu.
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  Speaker 2: So we wish you guys the best of luck. He's
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: got a great senior policy advisor in you, Dr.
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  Speaker 4: Falk.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you're just great. You really are.
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  Speaker 1: So best of luck from us here in America, in
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: New York.
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  Speaker 2: And hopefully next time you and I talk again, Bibi
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: will be in position to remain in power. We love
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  Speaker 2: you guys. Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you, sir.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: God bless you. You too. Dr. Falk right there. That
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: is Bibi Netanyahu's senior policy advisor.
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  Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to Sid and Friends in the Morning.
• 10:51
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• 10:54
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• 10:57
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• 11:02
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• 11:12
  Speaker 4: and X.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: See you next time for.
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: A new episode so you never have to wonder.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: What the heck is going on here?