These pictures, just released by the IDF, show them attacking a number of Hezbollah targets. Israel's defense minister has issued a 48 hour state of emergency in the country. We are operating in self-defense from Hezbollah and any other enemy [00:00:16] that joins in their attacks against us. The failure to get a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza could see this escalate into a wider regional conflict. American officials have announced that they're sending two aircraft groups [00:00:33] and a guided marine guided missile submarine to the Middle East, after Israel carried out preemptive strikes in Lebanon over the weekend. Now, the move by the United States is allegedly meant to deter a possible attack from Iran. [00:00:49] And I want to get to the details of that because obviously it has repercussions and consequences for Americans in just a minute. But first, a little bit of context into those preemptive strikes that were carried out by Israel. So Hezbollah has vowed retaliation against Israel over the fact that Israel has [00:01:07] assassinated one of its senior commanders. His name was Fayad Shakir in Beirut last month. In addition to that, Iran and its proxies have threatened to attack Israel in retaliation for Israel's assassination of a top Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, [00:01:24] in Tehran in on July 31st. Now, Israel says that it carried out these preemptive strikes in Lebanon in order to thwart a missile attack by Hezbollah. In the early hours of Sunday morning, around 100 Israeli jets hit dozens [00:01:39] of Hezbollah launch sites in southern Lebanon, destroying thousands of rockets the military said were aimed at Israel. In fact, reports indicate that Israel struck 40 separate sites in Lebanon. And I want to go to Benjamin Netanyahu justifying these attacks on Lebanese soil. [00:01:58] Let's take a look. What happened today is not the end of the story. Hezbollah tried to attack the State of Israel with rockets and drones. Early in the morning, we instructed the Israeli army to carry out a powerful preemptive strike to remove the threat. The Israeli army destroyed thousands of short range rockets. [00:02:15] All of them were intended to harm our citizens and our forces in the Galilee. In addition, the Israeli army intercepted all the UAVs that Hezbollah launched at a strategic target in the center of the country. Yeah. So first of all, self-defense, my ass. [00:02:31] Let's review the timeline here. Israel bombs Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, killing one of the top leaders of Hezbollah. So that's Israel striking first. And I know you can get into. Yeah, but how about throughout the war going back and forth? [00:02:46] How about October 7th? How about 1948? How about 1967? I'm talking about this particular conflict. Are we going to go to war or Israel going to go to war with Lebanon and Iran? Right. So Israel bombs first in the middle of Beirut, then before Hezbollah can respond [00:03:01] they do a preemptive strike. So they bombed them twice before Hezbollah could even bomb once. Hezbollah then does a light bombing. How do I know it's light? Well, first of all, a lot of their stuff was knocked out, which I'll get back to. So Israel's not entirely wrong about the preemptive strike. [00:03:17] I'll get back to it in a second. But then Hezbollah fires back. Limited number of bombs. You could say hundreds. But remember, these are like these. They're like throwing rocks, basically at Israel. Every one of them gets knocked down. None of them lands, according to Israel. [00:03:32] So totally ineffective. Then you think, okay, it's over. And Hezbollah even says, well, look, we did the best we could. It might be over. Then Israel hits him again this morning. So that's three times that Israel has hit Lebanon, and only once back with no effect at all against Israel. [00:03:50] Hey, don't scroll away. Come back, come back. Because before the video continues, we just want to urge you to lend your support to tight U power. Our honest reporting. You do it at tight.com/team and we love you for it. So this is not self-defense. [00:04:06] This is Israel trying its mightiest to start a war in the Middle East. That America will have to fight for it a lot more where that came from. Both a little slight defense of Israel and a slight defense of Hezbollah's actions as well in a minute. But, Ana, go ahead. Hezbollah wasn't attacking Israel when Israel, you know, [00:04:23] wasn't carrying out the atrocities that it's currently carrying out in Gaza. So Hezbollah is obviously retaliating, retaliating against Israel over its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. To be quite clear, it's not like they're being hands off with Palestinians in the West Bank. They're being driven out of their legal homes, both by settlers [00:04:41] and by the Israeli military standing by and allowing it to happen. And so, I mean, this is why a ceasefire is so incredibly important. It's not only important because it will secure the release of hostages. It's also important because it will help prevent a broader regional war, [00:04:57] which is quickly, by the way, escalating into a potential war between the United States and Iran. So I actually want to get to that portion of the story right now. So in yet another sign that things are escalating into a potential war with Iran. The State Department has announced that it is sending, as I mentioned earlier, [00:05:16] more military personnel to the region to defend Israel against a threat from Iran. So two aircraft carriers, the Theodore Roosevelt and the Abraham Lincoln and their accompanying warships and attack planes are now in or near the Gulf of Oman. [00:05:32] Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent guided missile submarine Georgia to the region, an unusual move as the Pentagon seldom talks about the movements of its submarine fleet. The Georgia can fire cruise missiles and carry teams of Navy Seal commandos. [00:05:47] Now, one might argue that the U.S. Is doing this as a deterrent. It's just simply a deterrent. Others could, I believe, rightfully argue that this is a provocative move by the United States and will potentially provoke Iran and its proxies, and it doesn't help when you have other state officials give the types of quotes [00:06:06] that I'm about to read to you, to the New York Times. A senior U.S. Official said on Saturday night that the American military was better positioned, better positioned to address the threat from Iran and that the Israeli Defense Forces would shoulder the bulk of any defense from attacks carried out by [00:06:23] Hezbollah across the border in Lebanon. So let's just quickly decode that. The argument is no, no, we should fight any threat from Iran, meaning the US should engage in a potential war with Iran in order to defend Israel. Israel can focus on its border with Lebanon as it fights Hezbollah. [00:06:42] Yeah. So, look, you're my opinion on this part is not going to surprise you. I don't think we should fight Israel's war for it. I don't think we should have any aircraft carriers or submarines going there to try to intimidate anybody in the region, because it is not making war less likely. It is making war more likely because. Okay, so now let me do this. [00:07:00] A slight defense of Israel and Hezbollah that I was going to do because it relates to this. So Israel did a preemptive strike. I'm never in favor of preemptive strikes. There's a different word for that. It's called attacking first, declaring war, etc., right? But this is a really rare case where it looked like Hezbollah was about to launch, [00:07:21] and they did hit Hezbollah targets that were going to launch against them. So if anything is preemptive, this kind of was preemptive. Having said that, they did the bombing in the first place, and that was their second bombing. And we don't know. We'll never know for sure if Hezbollah was going to attack with those things because [00:07:37] Israel didn't give them a chance to. They just attacked them for the second time. But my job is to give you the context there. And as preemptive bombing goes, that looked like that was pretty on point. Okay, so the slight defense of Hezbollah is, they're signaling in every diplomatic [00:07:53] way we are doing a light attack. We do not want a broader war. Here comes the missiles and the drones. And even after you hit us a second time, we don't want a broader war. Iran did the same thing. So Israel conducts bombings in Iran. [00:08:11] Remember this whole saga played out and Iran essentially like, sent a signal to the United States and Israel to let them know, to save face with our people in Iran, to make it seem like we're not being weak. We're going to carry out these strikes. But here's where the strikes are going to land. [00:08:28] Here's what we're doing. Here's what they're going to get to you. I remember they had hours and hours worth of warnings before the strikes were conducted. Yes. And so that was on purpose, intended to basically create as little damage as possible because they didn't want to escalate the war. [00:08:46] So but there's no winning with Netanyahu and the insane right wing government of Israel because, if Hezbollah had done major damage, they would have said, oh my God, 13 Israelis are dead. We have to strike back and obliterate Beirut. [00:09:01] We have no choice left. Hezbollah did this, etc. Right now. Good news. There's no casualties. No hits at all. So what does Israel say? Do they say, oh, to be fair, if they had hit someone, we would have been really livid. But they didn't hit anyone. So we're good. Let's just stop. We bombed them twice before they even bombed us once. [00:09:18] We're good. No. Instead, they said they put out a statement saying, you see, this shows Hezbollah doesn't have much capabilities and Hamas doesn't have much capabilities outside of Israel. So we have no incentive to stop. So you were going to keep going on the war no matter what? [00:09:34] Yeah. Whether Hezbollah did a big bombing, a small bombing, whether they had casualties or they didn't have casualties, you had excuses ready to continue the war. And either the outcome because you don't want the war to stop, you want to start a giant war and make us fight it. So we're sending a bunch of aircraft carriers. [00:09:52] They're like, look, guys, do you know how to solve this? The easiest thing in the world. The minute I say it, all of you are going to agree. Even like the hard line, Israeli people are going to be like, it's kind of true, but don't do it. Don't do it. Right. And That is Us uses its leverage and goes, Israel, cut the crap out. [00:10:07] You know, you're not doing any more bombings, and we're not sending any aircraft carrier groups there. And if you don't listen to what we're saying, we're going to cut your funding or at a bare minimum, we're going to do a weapons embargo and not send you any more weapons. Does anyone think Israel wouldn't respond to that, that that wouldn't be proper incentive for them to get to a ceasefire? [00:10:24] Everyone who's rational and on planet Earth knows that's how you get to a ceasefire. If we use our leverage, which is gigantic. We just sent them $26 billion, right? Well, and by the way, it's not all sent. You could just say, I'm not sending the remaining 22 billion [00:10:41] until you sign a ceasefire. You have a ceasefire tomorrow. The US is choosing not to do that. Instead, they're sending a bunch of aircraft carriers over there to encourage Israel. Don't worry, buddy, I got your back. Bomb as many capitals as you like. Bomb. Tehran, Beirut, Damascus, which they already did. [00:10:57] But how many goddamn capital you like? Start anywhere you like because we're going to have these sucker Americans pay for it with their lives and with their treasure. Because remember, Israel is the boss of us. Keep it real. And you know that's real. And look, let me frame this in a way that maybe officials within the [00:11:14] Democratic Party will understand, because that's the party in charge right now. That's the party in the executive branch. And Anthony Blinken, of course, is the one who's allegedly attempting to broker a ceasefire deal. I say allegedly because no one in the Biden administration is willing to [00:11:30] use those weapons as leverage at all. And in fact, during the DNC, Kamala Harris speech made abundantly clear that she will in no way threaten Israel's weaponry. And so when I say that they're playing with fire, what I what I specifically mean is, if this war escalates to a situation in which we are in a hot war with Iran, [00:11:51] that's going to hurt Kamala Harris's chances of winning this election. Well, and. By the way, let me let me say one other thing. Netanyahu and the far right government of Israel has made it abundantly clear that they want Donald Trump to serve another term. So, look, I don't know. [00:12:07] This is speculation, but not only does it serve Netanyahu's interest in expanding this war so he can remain in power. It could also potentially, if it continues to escalate, have an impact on who gets elected in our presidential election. Yeah. [00:12:22] So look, if a giant war starts, which Iran has not counter-attacked yet, God knows what's going to happen there. Hezbollah, now that they got hit again on Monday, are like, well, okay, I guess we're not done. So we I guess we got to go another round now because Netanyahu definitely, [00:12:38] definitely wants the war, right? Meanwhile, if you had a cease fire, all this would end because Hezbollah says we will not send a single more bomb if you get to a cease fire. But they don't want to. So why Netanyahu, after Hamas agreed on July 2nd to the cease fire terms, said I was lying. [00:12:55] I am adding two more demands. I want to reoccupy Gaza. I want the southern border occupied and I want a central strip in Gaza occupied. So Hamas said, yeah, no, we're not going to agree to that. We just agreed to your goddamn deal in the first place. Now you're moving the goalposts. He doesn't want a peace deal Make him do it. [00:13:12] Of course they're not going to. So to get to Anna's point. Look, I don't know what happens if that giant war starts. I do know all bets are off and no one has any idea who's going to win the US election if that war starts. It depends on the reactions, etc.. I also know that Anna is likely to be right, that that albatross will [00:13:29] be put around Kamala Harris's neck. Why? Because they're in charge? Exactly. It's the Biden-Harris administration. Exactly. Joe Biden could both save the, you know, not just the Palestinians, but the Israelis from a giant conflict and let alone Iran, Hezbollah and the whole world. [00:13:45] And he could save his own party. And right now, Kamala Harris is leading. If there's no war. Kamala Harris is likely to win. He could save all of that by doing one sentence. If you don't listen to us, we're going to cut the funding. [00:14:01] But he won't say it. He won't say it. And then they come and send the liars out there and go. We're doing everything we can. No you're not. It's obvious that you're not. It's so preposterous that every reporter doesn't immediately launch into them. Are you joking? [00:14:18] You haven't used one piece of leverage. Not one. You haven't threatened $1 and you're claiming you're doing everything you can. No, you're doing everything that Israel allows you to do. The Israeli people want a cease fire. There were mass protests in Tel Aviv over the weekend as well. [00:14:36] Okay. You have the family members of the hostages who obviously want a cease fire. You have the Arab nations surrounding Israel wanting a cease fire. Everyone wants a cease fire. So this doesn't escalate. So the hostages are returned. [00:14:52] And by the way, in regard to Israel, we haven't even talked about how this war has completely decimated their economy. Israelis are suffering based on the horrible decisions that Netanyahu and that far right government are making, and they're making it for themselves out of their own self-interest, not [00:15:09] over what's best for the Israeli people, not over what's best for the hostages. Certainly not what's best for Palestinian civilians. They couldn't care less about that. And so as this continues to escalate, the real question is, is the United States going to continue enabling this far right regime in Israel to the detriment [00:15:27] of the international community, as, by the way, the international community watches in horror as we've been enabling Israel and their belligerent military activity. All right. Last thing I'll say is, look, I, I hate to all the anti-Semitic tropes, they Israel is a government. [00:15:42] Governments do terrible things. So I don't want anybody thinking, oh, this is one of those. The Jews control everything. That's nonsense. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos among a billion other people are not, well, literally 8 billion. Other people are not Jewish. They're not just going to go, oh, okay, Jews, you run the place. [00:15:58] That's not how the world works. It's ridiculous. On the other hand, does Israel, the government of Israel, control the government of the United States? Definitely and obviously. And how do they do it? They have. AIPAC spent $100 million in American elections. They buy off our entire government. That is obvious. [00:16:14] Any government can do that. Any corporation can do that. In fact, most corporations do do that. Look into Big Pharma, Big oil, etc.. Right. So I'm not going to engage in, you know, the tropes and the hatred and any of that nonsense. I'm going to fight against it, but I'm also not going to engage in nonsense [00:16:31] where, oh no, Israel has no effect on U.S. Policy. U.S. Is just. And the money in politics that has no effect at all. Shh. You're not allowed to say it. No. America just happens to love Israel so much for no apparent reason. [00:16:48] We give them 26 billion here, 4 billion a year. We follow every command of theirs in humiliating fashion. No matter what they say and no matter how much they ignore us. And is it true that Bibi Netanyahu owns Joe Biden? Well, we all have eyes and we all have ears. [00:17:05] So Biden says, don't do it. Netanyahu comes on and goes, yeah, I'm going to do it. What are you going to do now, idiot? And Biden goes, okay, you didn't give me permission. I'm so sorry, Bebe. I'm so sorry. And then he Bebe dog walks him. So we all saw it on the national stage for the last couple of years here, certainly for the last 12 months. [00:17:21] Anyone who denies it is not living in objective reality. So you can be the biggest Netanyahu fan in the world and be like, of course Israel should control America. And of course, the US president should be the dog of the Israeli Prime minister. But if there are people, there's a significant number [00:17:39] of people that believe that. And almost all of them live in Washington, DC. But for the rest of us, this is getting exhausting and humiliating. You get one American soldier killed there and you're going to have massive problems in this country. Thanks for watching The Young Turks really appreciate it. [00:17:56] Another way to show support is through YouTube memberships. You'll get to interact with us more. There's live chat emojis, badges. You've got emojis of me Anna John Jr. So those are super fun. But you also get playback of our exclusive member only shows [00:18:13] and specials right after they air. So all of that, all you got to do is click that join button right underneath the video. Thank you.