Ep. 167 — Rafah red lines

Bill and Joe catch up on the last few days of headlines, including the helicopter crash that killed the Iranian president and foreign minister and whether this will impact Israel’s defensive war in Gaza; the International Criminal Court’s issuing of arrest warrants for Hamas leaders in addition to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant; the situation in Rafah; an airstrike in the West Bank; and Israel recovering the bodies of four hostages.

Bill is joined by Long War Journal regular and long-time friend of the show Edmund Fitton-Brown to talk about the Houthis. If you're here, you've heard of them — but how much do you actually know about them? What is their relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran? Why are they in Yemen? Edmund previously served as the United Kingdom's Ambassador to Yemen, a role which required him to negotiate and spend a significant amount of time in close quarters with Houthi leaders. He details some of his interactions with them and how the experience shapes his understanding of the region today.

Bill and Joe discuss the current low lows of U.S.-Israel relations as Israel prepares to proceed with finishing its stated goal of defeating Hamas without the blessing of its closest ally.

Israel’s operation in Rafah officially underway and met with the threat of pausing military aid from the Biden administration. Bill and Behnam discuss the potential consequences and ripple effects. 

On November 8, 2023, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs conducted a closed-door interview with Zalmay Khalilzad, the Former Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation and master architect of the Doha Agreement which cemented the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.Many items of interest came up during the marathon meeting, including Long War Journal. If you know, you know.Bill poured over transcripts of the nearly ten hours-long interview, and he had help from none other than LWJ OG Tom Joscelyn.Bill and Tom discuss the highlights.

Bill and Joe catch up on top Israel headlines, including this weekend’s attack by Hamas that killed four IDF soldiers and in which the Iron Dome was curiously not activated to intercept the rocket fire; the issues of humanitarian aid, pier, and port; the anticipated Rafah operation; the concept of a permanent ceasefire; the cycle of civilians being kidnapped and held hostage by armed Palestinian groups; reports of the U.S. withholding a shipment of military aid to Israel; an update on the eerily quiet West Bank; and Joe’s visit to his local “pro-Palestine protest.”

Bill is joined again by his FDD colleague and show regular David Daoud to unpack issues raised in David’s latest piece for The Wall Street Journal, “Hezbollah Stumbles Into a War of Attrition.” They also catch up on adjacent matters concerning Israel’s ground war in Gaza and the dumpster fire engulfing American "institutions of higher education.” 

Is anything more on-brand than seismic geopolitical events co-occurring with Bill’s family vacation? No.Bill is back and leaning on co-host Joe Truzman to help him piece together the events of last week. He doesn’t want it to be “a what-the-hell-happened episode,” so we won’t call it that.They revisit Iran’s historic strike on Israel and Israel’s retaliatory strike in Isfahan, Iran — including what targets they hit, what message they wanted to send by hitting them, and whether this was the right move. They contemplate whether Israel’s relatively tempered response is indicative of U.S. restraint and if Israel will continue to go after IRGC-QF targets.They also discuss reports of an attack on an Iranian-backed militia outside of Baghdad as well as allegations of Hezbollah Brigade forces launching an attack on U.S. forces in Syria.

Another co-host takeover ("Freaky Friday edition"): Behnam is joined by his friend, former FDD colleague, and top expert on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Ali Alfoneh, now with The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. They discuss this week's historic conflagration between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel.

In a special co-host takeover, Behnam and Joe discuss the Islamic Republic's unprecedented attack on Israel this weekend.