Day 805 - Danielle Pletka on what Trump wants in the Middle East

9 snips

Dec 19, 2025

Danielle Pletka, a distinguished senior fellow in Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, offers sharp insights on U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East. She critiques the Albanese government's handling of antisemitism in Australia and discusses Biden's shifting control over U.S. policies during the Gaza conflict. Pletka praises the Abraham Accords while expressing skepticism about the viability of an International Security Force for Gaza, and analyzes Trump's evolving approach to Middle Eastern politics.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Watching Bondi Attack During Hanukkah

Danielle Pletka describes watching the Bondi Beach attack unfold while lighting Hanukkah candles with family.
She recounts the prime minister’s delayed, non-specific response and visit pattern as revealing political indifference.

INSIGHT

Government Permissiveness Fueled Extremism

Pletka argues Australia's government has been permissive toward Islamist extremism and has failed to confront rising antisemitism.
She ties public street protests after October 7th to a predictable escalation culminating in the Bondi attack.

INSIGHT

White House Staff Shaped Policy Over Biden

Pletka asserts by 2022–23 Joe Biden had ceded decision-making to staff like Jake Sullivan.
She says that staffers who distrust American global leadership shaped policies less sympathetic to Israel.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus. Each Friday, catch diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.

This week, we’re joined by Danielle Pletka, distinguished senior fellow in Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where she focuses on US foreign policy, the Middle East, and terrorism.

Pletka, speaking to Beman from her native Australia, blasts the Albanese government for its failure to confront antisemitism and for its entirely insufficient response to the deadly shooting at a Hanukkah party in Sydney on Sunday.

Turning to US policy around the Gaza war, Pletka argues that then-US president Joe Biden was indeed a friend of Israel, but was already losing control over the White House to figures such as former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan when Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 and taking 251 hostage to Gaza, on October 7, 2023.

She critiques elements of US President Donald Trump's foreign policy, including the lack of Middle East experts and the influence of countries such as Qatar over decision-making. Still, Pletka gives high marks to the Abraham Accords and Trump's aggressive policy against Iran.

Pletka predicts, however, that the nascent International Security Force for Gaza will collapse on its own, allowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say that he was willing to go along with Trump's plan before resuming his own tactics.

In the wake of a social media bust-up this week, Pletka says that US Vice President JD Vance is not anti-Israel, but is instead willing to take whatever positions will help him advance politically -- even if it means befriending Tucker Carlson, who had a softball interview with Nick Fuentes after the antisemitic media personality used racist slurs against Vance's wife.

Despite some warning signs, Pletka says that the evidence indicates that most Republicans -- and the "soul of the party" -- still support Israel and the continued alliance between Washington and Jerusalem.

Lazar Focus can be found on all podcast platforms. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Danielle Pletka (courtesy) / President Donald Trump and Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi hold signed documents during a summit to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, October 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.