Transcript of Ex-Israeli ambassador says Trump, Netanyahu meeting will involve 'far more than Gaza'

For more on Netanyahu's upcoming visit and how long it will take to rebuild Gaza, former Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, joining us now. Mr. Investor, thank you for taking time today. You heard Trey's report there. What do you make of just how high the stakes are with this Trump Netanyahu meeting on Tuesday?

Good to be with you, Bruce. In fact, the stakes can't get much higher than they are, and I think Trey put his finger on it. If you go into the second phase of this ceasefire, what does it mean? Israel may get back a number of hostages. We have to assume that Hamas is not going to get back all the hostages. He's always going to keep a couple of hostages for a rainy day and say, Oh, we don't know where the hostages are. But let's say Israel can get back most of the hostages, dead and alive, and in return, Hamas basically takes over the Gaza strip again. It is a no-win proposition from the state of Israel. For the majority of Israelis now, according to the polls, they would prefer that the government actually agrees to the second phase of the ceasefire, get the hostages back, give the army arrest, pile up the ammunition, and wait for Hamas to break the ceasefire because Hamas always breaks the ceasefire. Hamas broke the ceasefire on October seventh, 2023. It always breaks the ceasefire. Then we go in full force, but we get the hostages back. In the government, though, and I think this is what Trey was getting at, there are right-wing factions in that government that says, If the fighting does not resume at the end of the first phase, then they will bolt the government.

We'll have a government crisis, we'll have elections in the state of Israel, and many, many chaotic things will then transpire. But I think also it's important to I want to point out that the meeting between the President and the Prime Minister, the first meeting of the President with a foreign leader, will deal with far more than just Gaza. Gaza is part of a piece of a puzzle. That includes Lebanon, it includes the Saudi Israel Peace Treaty, which is on the table, and above all, and I think Maybe the Prime Minister was intimating this as he was getting on the plane, Iran, Iran, Iran. Can there be a US-Israel cooperation in meeting the Iranian threat and eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat?

Michael, I think you're really hitting a lot of important points. But as we look to this meeting on Tuesday, again, Netanyahu's position, essentially, he vowed to the destruction of Hamas. That goal has not been met. Hamas is essentially saying, We'd like for war to end, but we'd like to stay in power. How could possibly a view be taken that the war could end with Hamas in power at all?

Because if you say, Okay, we're going to resume the fighting, you basically have to concede the fact that these hostages are not going to be released, that these very emotional pictures of hostages being reunited with their families will not recur, and that there'll be dozens and dozens of families in Israel who won't have that experience. It's exquisitely painful, and it goes to the DNA of Israel because we care so much about the lives of all of our citizens. My own kids will say, Oh, we'd rather say we'd lost the war, but an important thing that we get the hostages back, because if not, we won't be able to send our own kids to the army. It's that deep. It's very, very deep. I think one of the ways out of this could be, Bruce, is an agreement on Iran. Because if you eliminate Iran as a threat, it basically dries up Hamas. It dries up Hezbollah. Iran is the source of all of this instability, all this violence. Until Iran is dealt with and dealt with in a very effective way, violence will not stop.

It's such an important point, Michael. Yesterday, I interviewed former Secretary of State, Pompeo, who talked about the fear of more hostages. To your point, listen here.

We'll have more hostages if we can't get the Hezbollah to be completely destroyed by the Lebanese armed forces and allow the Israeli people who still aren't living in their homes. We have 70,000 people still can't go back to the northern part of Israel. We have to give the Israeli's the capacity to do that. I am sure Prime Minister, Netanyahu, is heartened to have President Trump as his counterparty to that and not President Biden.

Quickly, your reaction.

He's absolutely right. He's not just about the north. Israelis won't go back to the south either. This is a small country, the size of New Jersey. You take off the Southern part, the Northern part, you're left with virtually nothing. And so, yes, Israel is going to have to secure its borders. How do you secure those borders? You have to deal blows to Hezbollah and to Hamas that will ensure that they can never again attack these populations. You could do this kinetically militarily, directly against these terrorist organizations. But at the end of the day, you got to hit their sponsor, whether it's the head of the snake, the head of the octopus, whatever metaphor you want to use. There's no way around it. Iran comes back. We're going to be back to October 6, 2023, very, very quickly.

All roads lead back to Iran. Dr. Michael Oren, thank you for your time. Thank you..