Transcription
We're just getting in more reports of Iran and Israel exchanging fire and missiles. Uh, this, of course, happened last year for people waking up this morning on a Monday. Can you just tell us why this situation is different?
Well, I think it's because Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that this time it's it's different. You're right. Last year there were exchanges of missile fire between Israel and Iran. Uh, that was Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, but they were targeted strikes. They weren't designed, as this operation is, to eradicate or, for a generation, uh, Iran Iran's nuclear program. Iranian strikes on on Israel were related to to the war in Gaza.
You know, Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that this time it is different and, as Eric was just talking about, you know, even though we have seen significant strikes, crippling strikes and potentially more to come, almost certainly more to come on the nuclear facilities, even though that was the original reason for uh Israel starting this war. Uh, since then and in fact very quickly after it began, you heard Benjamin Netanyahu talking about things like regime change, that that message to the Iranian people who he called the brave Iranian people, urging them to rise up, saying our war is not with you. Israel has your back.
And we know, of course, that for years I've been there when it happened. You know, in Iran, you have these occasional uprisings because it's not a popular regime. It's an authoritarian regime. It's very very difficult to live under if you don't agree with the way that it runs the country. But those rebellions, even if they might last for a week or two, are very very quickly and very very brutally repressed. But also, it's it's not even that simple. You know, uh, is not only is it's not a given that the Iranian people would rise up just simply given the opportunity because what does regime change mean? I mean, we've seen it happen in Iraq. It did not end well. We've seen it happen in in Libya. It did not end well because there is no alternative government, no, you know, alternative regime ready to come in. It's it's extremely dangerous.
Uh, and I think the other thing that's different about this is the damage that you're seeing inside Israel. Uh, we've seen significant casualties. Israel has an incredibly effective missile defense shield, but as we see, it does not stop everything. And Iran is not Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. It's not Hamas firing rockets provided by Iran. It's a nation-state with a powerful military and that's a fearsome foe to take on. Uh, and and there are many many more missiles potentially to come uh to towards Israel. Not all of them will be stopped by the missile defense shield, and Israeli civilians will be paying a price for this.