In an interview with Chris Ryan, former UN Ambassador and National Security Advisor, John Bolton discusses the Israeli-Hamas conflict and the current cease fire; evaluates the overall foreign policy goals of the Biden Presidency; and speculates on the possibility of UFOs.
Ambassador Bolton asserts that Iran is testing Israel’s strategic defenses using rockets, missiles, and even drones which are being used by their surrogates—Hamas and also Hezbollah from Lebanon. In addition, Iran hopes to put pressure on the Biden Administration to renew the 2015 nuclear deal and to lift economic sanctions and to spark opposition to Israel.
“This is part of a broader political effort to delegitimize Israel. Unfortunately, it appears to be having some effect in the United States.”
John Bolton speculates that President Biden appears to be getting pressure from the Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party to take a more “even handed” approach in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. At issue going forward, will be any arms deals between the United States and Israel and President Biden’s promise to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.
Ambassador Bolton is not very optimistic about the effectiveness of the current cease fire or any future negotiations.
“A cease fire simply postpones an eventual reckoning. Negotiations with terrorists are fundamentally flawed. They have absolutely no reason to live up to their commitments.”
Political divisions in Israel and a perceived weakness in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s position, according to Ambassador Bolton, may have encouraged Iran and Hamas to start the attacks. However, the attacks might have the opposite effect and unite the Israelis behind Netanyahu.
Ambassador Bolton is surprised that President Biden, based on his record as a senator, has been rather uninterested in projecting foreign policy initiatives. John Bolton believes that the White House is more concerned with the how effects of domestic issues, like containing the COVID pandemic and climate change, affect foreign policy than dealing with the southern border, North Korea’s missile program, or the Middle East.
When the former National Security Advisor was asked about what the government might reveal about UFOs in a report which due to be made public in June, John Bolton stated that he remains skeptical about their existence, but he accepts the possibility of intelligent life somewhere in the universe. Bolton also revealed that, during his time as National Security Advisor, even President Trump didn’t express much interest in UFOs.