All Episodes
Previous Next
May 13, 2025 - Judging Freedom - Judge Andrew Napolitano
24:04
AMB. Charles Freeman : Who Won the US/Yemen War?
| Copy link to current segment

Time Text
Hi, everyone.
Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom.
Today is Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
Ambassador Charles Freeman will be here with us in just a moment.
President Trump is in Saudi Arabia.
Who won the war in Yemen?
We'll be exploring all those ideas, but first this.
While the markets are giving us whiplash, have you seen the price of gold?
It's soaring!
In the past 12 months, gold has risen to more than $3,000 an ounce.
I'm so glad I bought my gold.
It's not too late for you to buy yours.
The same experts that predicted gold at $3,200 an ounce now predict gold at $4,500 or more in the next year.
What's driving the price higher?
Paper currencies.
All around the world, they are falling in value.
Big money is in panic as falling currencies shrink the value of their paper wealth.
That's why big banks and billionaires are buying gold in record amounts.
As long as paper money keeps falling, they'll keep buying and gold will keep rising.
So do what I did.
Call my friends at Lear Capital.
You'll have a great conversation and they'll send you very helpful information.
Learn how you can store gold in your IRA tax and penalty free or have it sent directly to your doorstep.
There's zero pressure to buy and you have a 100% risk-free purchase guarantee.
It's time to see if gold is right for you.
Call 800-511-4620, 800-511-4620 or go to learjudgenap.com and tell them your friend the judge sent you.
Ambassador Freeman, welcome here.
Thanks very much for joining us, my dear friend.
I do want to talk to you at some length about the undeclared and now apparently over by truce or ceasefire war between the United States and Yemen.
But before we get there to the news of the moment, just a few minutes ago, President Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia, where, of course, you were once...
The U.S. ambassador, and you're very familiar with the culture and the politics of the country.
What's awaiting him there?
What's confronting him?
What is he hoping to achieve?
Well, Saudi relations with the United States have gone through quite a bad period.
They were terrible under the Biden administration, in part because of the murder of my friend Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in the Saudi consulate.
In part because Saudi Arabia has become increasingly skeptical about the value of the U.S. relationship and U.S. protection, in part because of Saudi diversification of its international relations, to include China, which, of course, the United States is deeply concerned about.
So what I think is happening in Saudi Arabia...
This time will reflect those realities and the political realignments in the region.
Saudi Arabia is no longer an enemy of Iran, although it remains skeptical, vigilant, and concerned about Iran.
But it does not want to be part of any war with Iran, and it's made that very clear.
The possibility of Saudi-Israeli normalization has receded and is essentially Unthinkable now, given the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
I think that issue will have to be discussed.
There are indications that the president is distancing the United States to some extent from Israeli policies, and that the America Firsters in his administration now have his ear more than the Israel Firsters.
But the big headline will, of course, be arms sales.
Apparently, there have been quite a few transfers arranged.
There's also a big business conference going on in Riyadh with many CEOs from the United States attending.
And I would expect that there will be a lot of business done.
The United States basically wants to lock Saudi Arabia firmly into our embrace rather than have it go off on its own or sail into the embrace of China.
Is there any chance of a recognition of the Jewish state without the United States recognizing and defending the sovereign independence of Palestine?
There never has been.
The Arabs have been consistent over many decades.
They're prepared to accept relations, normal relations with Israel, recognize it only if there is Self-determination for the Palestinians, security for the Palestinians.
That's been the position forever.
And there have been several Arab peace initiatives which have offered peace to Israel.
Israel has spurned that in favor of continued expansion and depopulation of Palestine, ethnic cleansing, and now genocide.
There are signs of a crack in the relationship between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Some of the Western press is...
There are, of course, some unmistakable facts here.
The United States negotiated directly with Hamas for the release of this young American-Israeli From New Jersey, the United States is providing humanitarian aid directly to Gaza.
The United States stopped the killing in Yemen, about which more later.
But it did all of these things without Israeli, in some cases even knowledge, much less consent.
And the uber, super Zionist U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, was forced to say, On international television, we don't need Israel's permission for what we do.
I'm sure it was difficult for him to say it, but he said it.
Okay, so all of these things happened.
Do they lead you to believe that Mrs. Adelson is losing influence, that Prime Minister Netanyahu is losing influence, that the president's thin skin and big ego have had enough?
Well, the president certainly has every reason.
To be annoyed with Mr Netanyahu, who's not an ally of the United States.
He's a manipulator of American policy, a contemptuous of the United States, and often at odds with the President, including Mr Trump.
So he certainly has reasons to want to distance himself from Mr Netanyahu.
I think history also shows that the only The way you can have any progress on issues involving Israel, the Arabs, and Palestinians is if the United States takes the initiative and does what it believes necessary without regard to Israeli politics, which at the moment are in a particularly poisonous condition.
So, yes, I think America firsters are gaining ground on Israel firsters.
I think those who envisage a clean break, to coin a phrase, with Israel are probably dreaming.
I doubt that's going to happen.
But clearly the United States is declaring a bit of independence from tutelage by Prime Minister Netanyahu.
On Sunday there was a closed meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
of the Knesset.
And someone at the meeting reported to Haaretz what this person says Prime Minister Netanyahu told the committee.
This is the Haaretz full screen in Hebrew, but the translation is, now this is reportedly from Netanyahu's mouth, I think we will need to wean ourselves off American military aid.
Well, Ambassador, if that's true, how could they possibly exist without American military aid?
Well, they couldn't.
And this is, therefore, a very significant statement by Prime Minister Netanyahu.
I saw it earlier in a version, a different version, in the Russian media, which described the relationship with the United States as toxic.
He said we have to detoxify our dependence on the United States.
So the problem here is that there's no one who could take the place of the United States in support of Israel.
But I believe that this relationship has reached that stage.
When I see the United States cease to veto recognition of a Palestinian state in the Security Council.
Cease to protect Israel from charges of human rights violations, which are entirely justified in the same forum or in the International Court of Justice.
I haven't seen that.
So what we have is some talk, bickering, if you will, between an old established couple.
Will this lead to divorce?
I don't know.
An old, established couple.
Very old and unfortunately very well established.
Let me ask you about the plane from Qatar.
You know the Middle East mentality.
Do they give away something worth $400 million without expecting something in return?
Goodwill.
Yeah, no, they're very generous.
I don't think the problem is with the Qataris.
Offering this, first of all, as an American, I find it somewhat humiliating that our president has to accept a gift rather than have the U.S. Air Force provide a suitable aircraft for him.
Second, this is an unconstitutional emolument from a foreign government, pretty clearly, in part because it's not only being given to the White House, it's apparently to be used by President Trump, when and if he steps down from office.
So I think there's a lot wrong with this, but it's really a reflection of the degree of disregard for the Constitution and the laws in the United States and our decadence and our corruption.
Trump is scheduled to meet with, of all people, Al Jolani.
The Al-Qaeda terrorist, who now is the nominal head of the government in Yemen, excuse me, in Syria, and perhaps he hinted at this yesterday, even rescind sanctions.
And of course, Trump's own State Department had a $10 million bounty on Mr. Jelani's head, which they since have dropped.
What conceivable benefit?
Or what likely humiliation or what misfired signal to the international community could come about from this?
Well, I'd say first, you have to give President Trump credit for a willingness to change his mind.
That's often a criticism of him, that he's inconstant and unpredictable.
He is inconstant and unpredictable, but sometimes in a sensible way.
In the case of Syria, the United States has spent decades, including recent years, spending $5 billion to destabilize Syria in the interest of Israel, basically, which has always wanted Syria to fragment and which is still pushing that line at the moment.
We bear a good deal of responsibility for the many hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of people dislocated We bear some responsibility for the flood of refugees into Western Europe from Syria that has destabilized Western European politics in favor of the right wing.
So if we're going to condemn meeting Mr. Jelani, which others have done, as you see, then I think We have to accept that we also should condemn our earlier behavior.
This is a classic case of the pursuit of American interests, rather than Israeli interests, of American interests in establishing a decent relationship.
And in the case of Syria, the sanctions should never have been put on.
They have immiserated an enormous number of people.
Syria can't recover.
Without those sanctions being removed.
So I think this is the case of realism triumphing over hypocrisy.
Would have been better if they had never imposed the sanctions in the first place.
I agree.
Here's President Trump yesterday teasing about the potential lifting of the sanctions.
Chris, cut number five.
Don't underestimate Thursday in Turkey.
President Erdogan is going to be a great host.
And we are doing some work with him, having to do with Syria, too, by the way.
We're going to have to make a decision on the sanctions, which we may very well relieve.
We may take them off of Syria because we want to give them a fresh start.
I mean, you have to commend him for that.
None of his predecessors was willing to do that.
Is Al Jelani going to become Thomas Jefferson?
But, you know, if he truly has repented of his sins, which are well established, that's all for the good.
He is trying to bring Syrians together.
He's trying to deal with the aftermath of the horrors of civil strife in Syria, which we and others, the Israelis, the Turks, the British.
and to some extent the French, as well as people in the Gulf, all backed.
He's trying to pull his country together, and I think we need to give him a chance.
Thank you.
What did the U.S. gain by spending a billion dollars bombing Yemen?
Not a thing.
I think President Trump, again...
Demonstrated some character by expressing his admiration for the fortitude and resilience of the Ansarallah, the Houthis, who stood up to pressure.
Over the last decade, they've been continuously bombed, first from Saudi Arabia with our support, more recently from Israel and from the United States and UK.
They have not flinched, and they have not conceded the point that they have the right.
In fact, the obligation under the Genocide Convention to oppose the genocide in Gaza as best they can.
And so they have reserved the right to continue to strike both Israel, which they have been able to do successfully despite Israeli air defenses, and shipping in the Red Sea that is bound to or from Israel or supportive of Israel.
Let's get back to Prime Minister Netanyahu's lament, which we're not really certain how to translate it, but it's clearly a lament.
He's either saying the relationship is toxic or we need to wean ourselves off of it.
Either way, what will Netanyahu do if Trump and his negotiators agree to allow Iran a certain level of uranium enrichment for domestic civilian, usually energy and hospital related purposes?
I think his government might fall.
He's staked a great deal on the fairy tale that Iran has made a decision to build a bomb.
He's been pursuing a war with Iran for decades, trying to get the United States involved in that.
If it becomes clear that he no longer has the clout in Washington, that he has claimed to Israeli voters, Israel is a democracy for Jews, if not for others, he has claimed a special relationship and ability to manipulate the politics of the United States.
If that is no longer the case, I think he's discredited in a way that could easily be fatal for his political career, and then he would face How thin is the political ice on which he is standing as we speak, Ambassador?
Very thin.
He has managed to alienate the entire world, other than the United States, which now appears to be wobbling in that direction.
Internally, he has, of course, no friends in the region.
There is no real peace.
That is to say, peace is the condition that others find sufficiently satisfactory that they don't feel any inclination to overthrow it.
There's nobody in the region who's satisfied with Israel as the regional hegemon.
Internally in Israel, he's alienated the ultra-Orthodox.
He's alienated the hostage families.
He's alienated liberal Israelis who support the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.
He's alienated his own intelligence apparatus, his own military, the reservists.
He's brought disaster to the economy.
He's destroyed the livelihood of...
Literally hundreds of thousands of Israelis.
He's forced many Israelis to emigrate.
He has basically ruined Israel.
And I think he is on very, very nice for all those reasons.
You know, one wonders where this is going to go, because even though President Trump has surrounded himself in his national security apparatus, With about two-thirds neocons and about one-third America firsters.
By America firsters, I mean those who do not favor the use of American force to change the governmental structure of other countries and who view war as a last resort, even though he sometimes listens to them.
To a person.
Neocons plus American firsters.
They are Zionists.
To a person.
Correct.
So he is almost shoveling against the tide of the West Wing if he's irritating Netanyahu.
Am I reading this as you do?
I think you are.
And again, I give him credit for having the courage of his own convictions.
Yes, he's bombarded.
I think he's made a whole series of absolutely disastrous appointments and personnel decisions.
But notwithstanding that, he seems to maintain the independence of his own thinking.
And while the execution of his policies must depend on those subordinates, the basic attitude, the basic thrust of U.S. policy, now on many issues is in the right direction.
He's seeking peace between Russia and Ukraine and a revamp of transatlantic relations to ensure that Europe takes more responsibility for its own He's negotiating with Iran to restore some sort of international supervision of its nuclear programs, at least, and prevent the nuclear proliferation.
Interestingly, he has not imposed a similar condition on Israel, which is a nuclear power in violation of everything.
In the NPT and which of course insists on wielding its nuclear power to reinforce its freedom of action against all its neighbors in disregard of international law.
He has called off the war in Yemen, I think recognizing that it was both a waste of money and energy and totally ineffectual.
He has now backtracked, at least temporarily, on the trade war with China.
He implemented tariffs.
He assaulted China with economic warfare.
They responded.
He's now backed off.
They have responded again by acknowledging the retreat.
So on many, many issues, he is taking a position aimed at peace, at long-term arrangements that are advantageous.
To the United States, whether the implementation is good or not, I think you have to give them credit for trying.
A great summary, a great handle on what's happening, Ambassador.
We'll conclude with it.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for that last very, very insightful analysis.
Thank you for your time, as always.
Have a good day, a good week.
We look forward to seeing you next week, sir.
You have a good week, too.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
All the best.
▲
Export Selection