Israeli ambassador says U.S. and Israel have been in "lockstep from the beginning" of Iran war

[0:00] For more on the peace negotiations, we are joined now by Israel's ambassador to the United States, Dr. Michael Leiter. [0:05] Good morning. Welcome back to the program. [0:07] Good morning, Margaret. Good to be with you. [0:08] Israel and the U.S. have been lockstep in this war to date. [0:12] You heard the vice president sort of leave the door open to diplomacy, [0:15] but President Trump also said this morning the U.S. is locked and loaded for an appropriate moment. [0:21] Is it your understanding that Israel and the U.S. will hold fire until the end of this two-week ceasefire? [0:26] We have to remember that the president has been relentless in pursuing an end to this crisis through talks. [0:35] The talks preceded the June War. Talks preceded Epic Fury. [0:40] The talks are going on now, and I think that if we can conclude this crisis with Iran, [0:45] with this regime, this tyrannical regime that's pursuing nuclear weapons, [0:49] without going back into kinetic activity, it would probably be best for everyone. [0:53] The president continues to pursue that, but right now they saw face-to-face. [0:58] The vice president sat opposite this fellow, Ghalibov, [1:01] who's directly responsible for the murder of his own people just in January, this past January, [1:05] and just saw how obdurate and obstinate they are in pursuit of nuclear weapons. [1:10] When you said the talks are still going on, [1:12] is there any level of U.S.-Iran contact at this point? [1:16] Well, you know, the president gave the issue two weeks, [1:21] and we're just into the end of the first week, [1:24] so there is another week left for the potential for continued talks. [1:28] We know the Iranians. We know this regime. [1:31] We don't think they're going anywhere, but it's important to give it a chance. [1:35] Vance said, [1:36] we need to see Iran give affirmative commitment to not seek a nuclear weapon [1:41] or the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. [1:44] Is your understanding that the U.S. position is zero enrichment, [1:48] or are they still leaving the door open that Iran could have a civilian nuclear program for medical purposes? [1:55] Civilian nuclear program doesn't entail enrichment. [1:58] There are 57 countries with a civilian nuclear program that don't have enrichment. [2:01] But they want a little bit. You know that. [2:03] No, if they have a little bit, then they can have a lot to move from 60%, which they had, to 90%. [2:09] Look, you don't build these production plans deep underground if you're doing it for medical purposes. [2:15] You have nothing to hide. [2:16] These people lie. [2:18] We shouldn't be surprised when people who murder their own also lie. [2:21] This has been their pursuit. [2:23] They've been chanting for 47 years, death to America, death to Israel. [2:27] That's their goal. [2:28] Let's not be paternalistic about it. [2:29] But we're negotiating with that same regime right now. [2:32] We're trying at the same time to add we're negotiating them. [2:34] We're negotiating them after eliminating their Navy, after eliminating their Air Force, after degrading their leadership. [2:40] Hopefully, they'll come to their knees and say, we're surrendering. [2:44] Well, the president has said the war is won. [2:47] Your prime minister said the work is not yet complete. [2:51] Specifically, what part of Iran still poses a military threat to Israel? [2:56] Do you still consider it an existential threat? [2:58] Well, there are three things that we have to be concerned with from the beginning. [3:02] Number one, the pursuit of a nuclear weapon. [3:04] If they go back to that pursuit, that concerns us. [3:07] They say they aren't. [3:07] Number two, ballistic missiles. [3:09] Okay? [3:09] These ballistic missiles, they promised, by the way, that they don't have a ballistic missile that could reach Europe. [3:14] They lied. [3:16] We saw that they do. [3:17] You're talking about the firing on Diego Garcia. [3:19] The firing on Diego Garcia. [3:20] They said it wasn't limited to 2,000 kilometers. [3:23] We see now they've got 4,000 kilometers. [3:25] It's just a sprint to 8,000 kilometers and to hit Chicago or Tenafly, New Jersey. [3:29] So that has to be dealt with. [3:30] U.S. Intel says nine years. [3:31] And proxy. [3:32] Well, our Intel says less than nine years. [3:35] Okay? [3:35] Yeah. [3:36] And our Intel has been accurate on this from the very beginning. [3:39] Okay? [3:39] Now it was clear. [3:40] We said that they're in a sprint to achieve nuclear weapons. [3:44] And Mr. Witkoff came back from the talks beforehand and said they came in, they walked into negotiations and said, we've got 60% ready for 11 bombs. [3:52] Yeah. [3:52] 11 bombs at 60% means that you've got a week or two until you've got 90% and weapon grade. [3:57] And the last thing, Margaret, are the proxies. [3:59] Okay? [4:00] This isn't over until there is a complete delinkage between Iran and its proxies, which have spread death, mayhem, and destruction around the Middle East. [4:09] I want to come back to that in regard to Hezbollah. [4:11] But just to finish what you're talking about with intelligence. [4:14] There was this highly detailed New York Times report this past week, I know you read it, extraordinary journalism, that detailed this February 11th meeting where your prime minister pitched President Trump on bombing Iran. [4:25] It said the Israeli plan was to kill the Ayatollah, done, cripple Iran's ability to threaten its neighbors, spur a popular uprising in Iran, and then conduct regime change, leaving in place a secular leader. [4:37] Obviously, all those goals were not achieved. [4:40] Can you declare an end to the war without achieving that checklist? [4:43] First of all, all of those goals have not been achieved yet. [4:48] This is a process. [4:52] This isn't instant soup, number one. [4:53] Number two, I was in the room at that meeting. [4:57] The journalists who wrote that article were not. [5:00] And apparently, they received the information second, third hand. [5:03] There's an awful lot in that article, which simply isn't true, which is a narrative that's being created. [5:08] Interesting narrative, but not accurate. [5:11] So I'd be very careful about quoting from that particular article. [5:18] Well, specifically, what did they get wrong? [5:20] Because they say your intelligence services, the Mossad, argued the Iranian regime would be so weak it could not choke off the Strait of Hormuz. [5:27] That was wrong. [5:28] Iran would have the minimal. [5:29] No, we didn't argue that. [5:31] We argued the potential that we've got to work towards that. [5:35] Nothing was presented as a fact that if we do this, this will be the outcome. [5:39] It's not science. [5:40] Politics is not science. [5:42] Military operations are not science. [5:44] We presented the case that this is what we think should be done. [5:48] The president makes a decision. [5:49] This whole thing about the prime minister coming in and dragging the president into this, it's all, you know, for publicity purposes. [5:57] Did Mossad believe that there would be protests that would overthrow the regime and that Kurdish fighters would enter through the north? [6:02] The Mossad thought that, as we saw in January, hundreds of thousands and millions of people rise up. [6:10] The potential for that happening again is even greater now. [6:13] And we still think it's very great. [6:15] We still think that could materialize over the next couple of months. [6:19] Then why negotiate with the same regime that is suppressing those people? [6:22] Well, you can negotiate. [6:23] Is Israel really supportive of this diplomacy? [6:25] We're supportive of the president and his efforts. [6:28] Okay, we've been in lockstep from the beginning in the planning, in the implementation, [6:32] and we're going to end this thing together as well. [6:35] So we're completely supportive of the president's efforts, both diplomatically and militarily. [6:41] On the proxies, the Jerusalem Post today is writing that Israel's war in Lebanon is the price to pay for Iran reopening Hormuz. [6:48] The Israeli offensive against Hezbollah, and for our viewers, they are a political party in Lebanon. [6:54] They also are Iran's strongest militia and proxy force. [6:58] They've complicated things here. [7:00] The Trump administration is holding talks Tuesday in Washington. [7:04] You'll be at the table with the ambassador from Lebanon. [7:07] Hezbollah is not part of these talks. [7:10] In that lead up, is Israel going to pause, reduce the strikes on Lebanon? [7:16] If I can, a point of correction. [7:19] Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, which is also a political party. [7:22] It's not a political party, which also has a terrorist wing. [7:25] They are a terrorist organization. [7:27] They're a proxy of Iran, which has an agenda of destroying the state of Israel. [7:32] And they fire missiles into our towns and villages. [7:35] And we have to respond. [7:36] Now, we want to negotiate with Lebanon. [7:39] Lebanon and Israel can live in peace tomorrow. [7:41] I believe, you know, we had this initial phone call on Friday. [7:43] It was a conference call to myself, Lebanese ambassador, the U.S. ambassador to Beirut, all moderated by the State Department official, Mike Needham. [7:53] It was a great conversation. [7:55] And the thing we all agreed upon, that if we just put Hezbollah on the side and just Israel and Lebanon negotiate peace, two months, three months, we've got a complete peace agreement. [8:05] Let me just follow up. [8:07] You said Israel has to respond. [8:09] That's different when it comes to responding to a strike from Hezbollah versus the kind of bombing that we saw this past week, particularly on Wednesday. [8:18] The airstrikes killed more than 350 people that day, a third of them women and children and the elderly, according to the Lebanese health ministry. [8:25] The vice president said Israel had agreed to check itself with these strikes. [8:30] And the president said he spoke with Bibi, your prime minister, and he said he's going to low-key it. [8:38] Can you explain what low-key bombing means? [8:40] Is this a reduced cadence and volume of strikes from Wednesday? [8:45] What exactly did the U.S. and Israel agree to? [8:48] Reduced cadence, up cadence. [8:51] Operational issues aren't discussed on Sunday morning on television. [8:55] Well, the president. [8:55] Well, what we discussed is that we're going to be in tandem with the president's efforts in the Gulf. [9:02] And we support the president's efforts. [9:04] Right now, we are pursuing those who are shooting missiles against our civilians. [9:11] And the Operation Wednesday was targeted against operation centers of Hezbollah. [9:16] Now, what they do... [9:16] You dispute those Lebanese government figures of civilian deaths? [9:18] Oh, of course. [9:19] It's like Hamas releasing figures from Gaza, you know, their health ministry. [9:22] You're negotiating with the Lebanese government. [9:24] Absolutely. [9:24] Absolutely. [9:25] But sometimes there's this attempt to paint us as, you know, going after civilians. [9:31] We're going after, in a targeted fashion, the terrorist infrastructure. [9:36] That's what we focus on. [9:37] Now, what they do, Margaret, is they put their operation centers, their terrorist centers, among civilians. [9:43] Now, we tell them to get out. [9:44] They don't always get out. [9:45] But we do what we can. [9:47] Hamas does this in Gaza by building their bases within civilian centers. [9:51] Hezbollah does it. [9:52] And we saw the other day where Tehran sent their civilians out to the bridges and the energy plants so they wouldn't be... [9:59] This is a crime against humanity. [10:01] Well, you have your own diplomacy on Tuesday. [10:03] We will be watching for that and what happens. [10:05] Thank you for your time this morning. [10:06] Thank you. [10:07] Thank you. [10:08] Thank you. [10:09] Thank you. [10:10] Thank you. [10:11] Thank you. [10:12] Thank you. [10:13] Thank you. [10:14] Thank you. [10:15] Thank you. [10:16] Thank you. [10:17] Thank you. [10:18] Thank you. [10:19] Thank you. [10:20] Thank you. [10:21] Thank you. [10:22] Thank you. [10:23] Thank you. [10:24] Thank you. [10:25] Thank you. [10:26] Thank you. [10:27] Thank you. [10:28] Thank you. [10:29] Thank you. [10:30] Thank you. [10:31] Thank you. [10:32] Thank you. [10:33] Thank you. [10:34] Thank you.