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Home » Prof. John Mearsheimer: Why Israel Will Fail (Transcript)

Prof. John Mearsheimer: Why Israel Will Fail (Transcript)

Read the full transcript of American political scientist Prof. John Mearsheimer in conversation with Judge Napolitano of Judging Freedom podcast titled “Why Israel Will Fail”, June 26, 2025.

Opening Remarks

JUDGE NAPOLITANO: Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Thursday, June 26, 2025. Professor John Mearsheimer will be here with us in just a minute with his views on why Israel will fail.

Professor Mearsheimer, welcome here. For those of you who were watching us with Professor Sachs a few minutes ago, my Internet went down. Professor Sachs did not. Producer Chris’s did not. And they were able to maintain the show for another eight or nine or 10 or 12 minutes. We don’t expect that to happen again, but we are prepared.

Professor Mearsheimer, I have a series of questions for you, but before I do, this just came in from Haaretz, the English language Israeli newspaper that you and I and many others read. I’m going to read it. It’s a significant description of the mess that things are in. So this is two minutes old.

Prime Minister Netanyahu halted the entry of humanitarian aid into northern Gaza after far right Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to quit to leave the coalition government. Iran’s Supreme Leader Khomeini declared victory over Israel and said the US “will definitely pay a heavy price” should it attack Iran again. EU states believe that Iran’s kilograms of highly enriched uranium were not consecrated in Fordo, the Financial Times reported. U.S. Secretary of Defense Hegseth said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting things were not where they were supposed to be. President Trump called – you can’t make this stuff up – President Trump called for an immediate cancellation of Netanyahu’s criminal trial. Three Palestinians were murdered by IDF gunfire in the West Bank.