'We Could Have a New Middle East' After the Iranian Regime Is Finished: Israeli Analyst

And joining us live from Israel is Josh Hastine. He's a Middle East senior correspondent with the Jewish News Syndicate. Josh, thank you for joining us this morning. First, on the ground in Israel, what's happening? So thanks for having me. Every several hours, we are going down to the bomb shelters as a result of the Iranian aggression here. There have been several people injured in the southern Negev town of Be'er Sheva over the last hour. Unfortunately, yesterday, nine Israelis were murdered, were killed in an Iranian missile strike in the town of Beit Shemesh, not too far away from Jerusalem. So every several hours, you don't know if it's going to come in the middle of the night, in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening. That's what's going on here. But we are confident that Israel and our allies, of course, including the United States, will defeat the Iranians. Khamenei, the head of the Iranian regime, the Ayatollah, is no longer. And we're optimistic the Iranian people will heed the calls of both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu that this is a generational moment right now in which they should rise up against their leaders. And we understand that it was the Israeli intelligence that ascertained Khamenei was convening that senior meeting before he and many other key regime targets were taken out. What's your understanding of that strike? Yeah, I mean, you give credit to the unbelievable Israeli intelligence. We've seen this time and time again, whether it's leaders Hezbollah, Hamas, or now the Iranian leadership. Precise strikes, limiting civilian casualties, which is always the Israeli goal, taking out the senior leadership, including the head of the octopus, the Ayatollah himself, who is responsible for the murder of thousands of people, whether Americans, Israelis, and most recently, thousands, perhaps, as the president said, 32,000 of his own people. So it's just an evil regime there in Tehran with their tentacles all over the Middle East. And as we're seeing today, Hezbollah also striking there in northern Israel. So a pinpointed strike, taking out their key leaders. And now we'll have to see what happens next. Now, we've heard about Israel's defense against these incoming rockets. It started with Arrow, then Iron Dome, then David Sling. Most recently, there's the Iron Beam. What is this latest iteration, and how is it performing? So I have unconfirmed reports that, in fact, yesterday, for the first time, from what I understand, the laser beam, the Iron Beam, was operational, taking down some of the missiles launched towards Israel, either by Iran or by Hezbollah. And it's just another layer to the system which we have, which has been very effective. Unfortunately, as we said before, some of the missiles have gotten through. I don't know the percentage. They haven't released the number right now, whether it's 90 percent, 95 percent of the projectiles which are headed towards population centers are shut down. And I'm just confident at this point that the laser beam system will just add another layer of security and protection. Whereas Israel protects our civilians, Iran, Hezbollah and the others, Hamas, of course, they like to use civilians as human shields time and time again. Can you explain the iteration and the significance of using lasers as opposed to conventional weaponry? Yeah, I mean, I'm definitely not an expert in terms of technology. But Israel, over the years, as time goes on, keeps upping its technological capabilities. I mean, I don't know if this is, you know, this is somewhere out of Star Wars, this type of system, from what I understand, the ability to actually liquidate, take down one of these missiles using laser technology. I'm not a scientific expert, but, you know, it's just pretty unbelievable. Israel is able to adapt using its technology, the technology at its disposal, which we do, of course, share with the United States, whether it's the David Sling or, of course, the Iron Gnome. So it's just another layer of security so that our civilians don't get hurt. And to that point, Josh, you had mentioned the society is in and out of bomb shelters. One missile did cut through and there were significant casualties. What is the sentiment on the ground? Is there fear? Is there panic? Is it calm? What is it like on the ground in Israel? So, unfortunately, we've been through this before in the 12-day war against Iran. But if you look historically, you know, Hamas started firing rockets, originally homemade rockets, at Israelis all the way back in 2001. First, it was southern Israel. Then they expanded their arsenal, firing rockets and missiles. And then, of course, Hezbollah. And now Iran. I believe this is the fourth time that Iran has fired ballistic missiles at Israel. So people are trying to go about their business. A lot of people are working from home. But the guidelines from the Home Front Command are telling us that we need to be near bomb shelters until otherwise told that we actually have to get into the bomb shelters. So you have to have a bomb shelter near you. But overall, I just came back from, you know, from the supermarket and whatnot. And things are relatively calm. People are optimistic. People are hopeful. I mean, we're about to celebrate the holiday of Purim 2,500 years ago, in which a Persian leader tried to wipe out the Jewish people. And it's unbelievable how we're going through that again right now, 2,500 years later. We had actually the holidays tonight. And, you know, the head of the octopus, the Ayatollah, the Persian leader, taken out. And now we have to see what comes next. So there's a lot of optimism. There's a lot of hope here. And at the same time, we understand it could be a long road ahead. And we have to maintain our vigilance as we literally are positioning ourselves near bomb shelters throughout the country. Maybe when the children celebrate Purim and they make their noisemakers, they will say hominy instead of Haman. Sounds very similar. Now, many Americans saw Trump's speech announcing operation, you know, the operation here from the U.S. side. But not many saw Netanyahu's address. And it was quite a historic address, announcing Operation Roaring Lion, the elimination of hominy, and signed off by saying, today, more than ever, the whole world knows, I'm Yisrael Chai, which translates to the people of Israel live. But it has a broader context. What does this phrase mean? And why did Netanyahu use it as he was signing off on what was very much a historic speech? I'm Yisrael Chai. The nation of Israel lives. We've been targeted by, let's call them what they are, anti-Semites for thousands of years, since we were slaves in Egypt from the stories of the Bible, from the book of Exodus. So this is nothing new to us. But despite it all, despite people think there's so many Jews in the world, that's not the case. I don't know where we're at today. It's 12 million, 13 million, whatever it is. There are 6, 7 billion people in the world. So we are a fraction of the population of the world community. And that being said, as you see, we're in the news all the time where you have people like Khomeini or Hitler or all the rest of them trying to target, trying to take out the Jewish people. And time and time again, they fail. And we've seen it again. We've seen it throughout our history. And this time is no different. I'm Yisrael Chai. The nation of Israel lives. We will thrive. We will endure. And we will get out of this situation as we have time and time again throughout history. So I think that's what the prime minister was trying to say, sending a message of hope that despite turbulent times, despite whatever we're going through now, literally in the bomb shelters, I'm Yisrael Chai. The nation of Israel will survive, will sustain, will live. And we will continue on our path. It's certainly the words chosen as people are heading to their bomb shelters, very important and significant to maintain that morale and that hope. Now, Josh, as we start to end up, I just want to get your sense of what you think the end game is for this current operation. Trump saying it could last about four or five weeks. What do you think we hope is achieved at the end of those four or five weeks? So I'm very hopeful. And I heard the president speak. And his main message was freedom, freedom for the Iranian people. So that's number one. The prime minister reiterated that as well. And Iran cannot be a nuclear threat. There were some reports even indicating that perhaps Iran was advancing towards nuclear weapons at a rapid pace. Maybe they could have even had them within several weeks. So Iran cannot be a nuclear threat to the state of Israel and, of course, to America and really to the entire global community. So I think that has to be the end goal. And then, as the prime minister also said in his comments this past Saturday night, he turned to the Iranian people, as he has done several times over the last couple of years, and said to them, now is the time. This is a generational experience. Now is the time to rise against those who have oppressed you for so, so long. You're talking about way back to 1979 when this regime took over. So I think both leaders and countries who are on our side around the world are in support of complete regime change, destabilizing the radicals in the Middle East. And we could have a whole new Middle East when this is all said and done. And Israel, from what I understand, this time around is really, really maintaining that they must take care of business once and for all, take out what is left of Hezbollah and Lebanon, and ultimately Iran. Those evil, evil individuals have to go, those leading those people astray. And Iran can no longer be a threat to the civilized world. Well, Josh Hastin, thank you for joining us from Israel, and please stay safe. Thank you so much.