YouSaid · the spoken record

Tom Nides

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2023-02-16
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2023-02-16
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  1. “Again, we lived side by side with most of the really, most Israelis are very comfortable. This is what Israel is about, okay? The country was independence 75 years ago. It's a very young country, okay? 75 years ago, this year is the 75th anniversary of the state of Israel. Like any new young country, it's got to continue evolving, which is you're seeing right now. And you got to push back, friends have to push back on Israel when they're doing stupid things. Likewise, we got to push back on the Palestinians when they're doing stupid things. We got to keep the vision of a two-state solution alive. That is my view. And we got to make sure we don't lose sight of what's really important, which is every day trying to take care of the people, both in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “100%. Listen, I'm all about action deliverables, okay? But remember one thing Israel has 9 million people, 23% of the country, 24% of the country are here of Israelis, okay, who live side by side with Israelis every day, every day, okay?”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “What worries me more than anything is the next generation, okay? The next generation of kids who are at college campus at graduate school. And that to me is my biggest fear. And yes, Israel needs to do a better job of communicating. They need to communicate a way that young people believe that Israel is a democratic country. They're protecting the rights of people. They are.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “And by the way, David, just to be clear, both sides, okay, the policies have, you know, they have got plenty of issues themselves. But my view this is.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “When you see what happens, if you stand up and you're a Jewish kid or a non-Jewish kid and you talk about Israel, it's very difficult. And we've lost the narrative on college campus and we've got to focus on that. And I said to some, I just did before I did this interview. I did a tape for a hill out. You know, I never was a Hill guy, but it's a pillow all over the universities. I said, listen, guys, you can be. We've lost this narrative. You can be pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian people. Somehow we've missed that narrative on college campuses. You can have the discussion saying, I care about the Palestinian people and I am pro-Israel. That's okay. There's nothing wrong with that.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “I mean, I worry about it. What I really worry about, David, what keeps you up at night and what's going on in college campus because that's what really worries me.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “This is a fight every day. Okay. It's a fight to make sure that our lion stays solid, that what's a democratic Jewish state, I help the Palestinian people, I help the security of the state of Israel. It's an everyday kind of commitment that we all have.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “I only wish my father died, I don't know, you know, 12 years ago. My mother died like 14, 15 years ago. Sadly, my oldest sister passed away a few years ago. But I would love to see my parents' face. I mean, again, I think they'd be not because, again, they were like these religious people. But they would be proud that I mean it. I'm trying to do something. And I don't care about all the other nonsense that come with these jobs. By the way, if you really want an ambassadorship that's like, you know, like glory and you can have a lot of fun dinner parties, you can go with our friend Rom to Japan. I want to do a shout out to Rom. But the reality of this is.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “And I grew up in an environment that you need to get back. You need to get involved and you get in the game. And listen, it's interesting as you both of us know. It's frustrating, madly frustrating. But I wake up every day just trying to do the right thing. You know, I don't always get it right. Listen, we're none of us are perfect. But I'm really lucky. And listen, I'm not a big risk taker in some cases, but I'm a risk taker with my career. And I think you got to get in the game. And, you know, because I've had really good relationships with people who have been nice enough to help me as I try to help other people, you know, I'm humbled by this, guys. Being the American ambassador to the state of Israel arguably one of our most important allies is the most humbling experiences one could have. And I'm, you know, there's a lot of people. What was your family?”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “It was a prisoner. It has a lot to do with luck. Okay, guys, I was youngest of eight kids. I was a Pellgrand kid, okay? I had no cash in Minnesota. You know, I spent my first three years working in the dishroom at the dormitory, cleaning other people's dishes to make any cash to go to school. I got lucky. You know, I think I have decent values. I care deeply about, you know, humanity. I care deeply about being involved. You know, you know, sitting on the sidelines, I think it's really stupid. You know, I tell people all the time when I give speeches, you know, to sit around and just complain about how crappy things are and not doing anything.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Yeah, listen, dude. You know, you've been in the White House, okay? You've served in this government. You understand how this works. I think every reaction will be viewed on separately. And I'm very convinced that between Secretary Blinken, who is very focused on Israel and the Middle East, the president who has spent his career working on these issues, Jake Sullivan, who is enormously immense in these issues, will all come together and figure out what the correct reactions are to these actions.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “reiterated this as well which is this idea of the miracle that was created here so you know my hope is is with with the understanding of that the fact that hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Israelis are showing up that people will slow down slow down pump the brakes look back try to decide you know how they build consensus break these different pieces apart have debates have a legislative process that's timely and articulate people be able to articulate their views and have a process. I believe maybe I'm dreaming. Maybe, but I believe that cooler heads will prevail and that will be in that situation. We'll see. I mean, again, this is happening quite quickly. So, you know, I may be right or I may be wrong, but my hope is it's good for it'll be good for people to slow down here.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “Yes, I do. Maybe I'm optimistic. They have to, guys. They have to. Listen, the one thing that is getting the attention of the Prime Minister as it should is the economic impact this could have. Listen, the Prime Minister deserves credit. He was at the forefront of the startup nation. He deserves credit for knighting what was an economic boom here in Israel. And he was at the forefront as Minister of Finance and as Prime Minister the third and fourth time. He's now the prime minister's sixth time. He deserves credit for that. And he should be concerned, which he is, about the perception that this judicial reform will have impact among businesses, about investing here. That is getting his attention. And it's justifiably Tom Creeman wrote a piece today in the European Times, a fellow Minnesotan, by the way.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “I appreciate Netanyahu, Prime Minister Netanyahu is saying we are not going to change the status quo of the Temple Mountain. As you know, non-Muslim go up to pray, non-Muslims can visit. That's the rule. That's the status quo. That's what we have evoked. It lights up the Middle East when they do provocative acts. And we were very aggressive, as well as the rest of the GCC countries when this occurred. So Netanyahu came out forcefully and said he does not support, he supports the status quo to keep it as calm as possible. You're 100% right. This is the kind of nonsense, in my view, that lights things on fire.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “100%. I was the first person out there when Ben Gavir went up to the Tupamo to stir up trouble, in my view, okay? You do not need to do that. He's a member of the cabinet.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “Forces to take those actions and they do do that, by the way. Just to be clear, they have done it and they can do it. But because of funding and other rational reasons, the IDF goes in themselves. So it's a cycle, as you said, and it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart with an innocent Palestinian who had nothing to do with gets killed. And it certainly breaks my heart. When an innocent Jew is leaving a synagogue and gets, you know, It's terrible. It's terrible.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “The work, and that creates a revolving issue. So 100% right. Every action creates a reaction. In both these parties, you know, find themselves, one does one thing. So the idea of soldier comes in and they're under attack. They kill an innocent Palestinian. Terrible. The Palestinians react to that and they create another action. And it's just how these things unravel. It's tragic. It's tragic because the vast majority of these people are innocent people. Yes, the guys who wake up who are terrorists, who want to come into Israel and kill Israelis, they got to be put in jail. They had to be locked away. And there are people that are doing that. I've been to these Chippewas. I've seen this happen. Okay. And I think Israel would say they want the Palestinians, the security.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “Absolutely. Listen, guys, I mean, it's terrible. I mean, you have a couple things going on, right? You've got the Palestinian security forces. So if your listeners understand the Palestinians have their own security forces, many of them are very well trained, trained by America. You know, a lot of them are very well equipped, also helped by America and other people. I think the Israelis would love to have the Palestinians do all the security stuff themselves. So when there's a terrorist group in a place like Hebron or Janine that they go in as Palestinians and try to get the bad guys out. And by the way, the Palestinians don't like the bad guys either. There's a bunch of reasons why the Palestinians won't do that. Some of it is money because the money has been cut off by Israel. So some of it aren't being funded properly. So what ends up happening? Israel comes in, IDF comes in and does.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “Okay, that's ridiculous. Okay, they have the same values and the same interests that we do. And so I want to understand that and make sure that the reaction of one thing doesn't create another reaction of somewhere else.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “I'm a very practical guy. I'm a realistic guy. I spend a lot of time working with the Palestinians trying to help them. On the other hand, I've been to every Shiva call of every Israeli who sadly has been killed by a terrorist the last 18 months, okay? I mean, if you walk to a family of some you never met before and their kid was killed, you know, 16 hours earlier and you sit and hold the hand of that mother who lost her kid. It's something you never want to ever, ever, ever experience. So I understand the threat Israel is under, so make no mistake, okay? This is not, and that's not even beginning. We talk about the, you know, the threat of Iran and Hezbollah and Hamas. So this is serious for them. This is a serious issue. And I don't in any way discount it. At the end of the day, the vast, vast, vast majority of Palestinians do not wake up and think about how I can kill a Jew.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “You can help me, man. You know how to get these jobs. So I think it's for me, I'm not, I try not to get distracted. Okay. I try not to get distracted. Every time people try to take me off the road of, you know, let's do this dreamy, dreamy, dreamy thing, you know, listen, as you know.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “If I knew I was going to have this many prime ministers, I would have tried to get the job in London, better housing. I've had three prime ministers in less than two years. I could have gotten there the same idea and I get to do with the king and not have to do with all this stuff. But the reality”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “You know, listen, like every, you know, Corvum think I'm an idiot and forget it. You know, I would say 50% of them, you know, agree with it that there's no scenario here, which is why we keep agree to keep these conversations going. And 25% don't pay attention to me. So I think there is just like in any democracy, right? Listen, by the way, in the former government, which obviously we had a close relationship with Prime Minister Bennett, Bennett did not support a two-state solution, but LaPe did. Look he did, bet it did it. You know, again, there are people in this government. You know, that Silly did not support”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “You can have a one state and you can keep a Jewish democratic state. That's great. Show it to me. It's not possible. And until someone shows us a way that you can have three million people who live in the West Bank have the same rights as the 9 million people who live in Israel, you can pull that off. You know, then let's have a conversation. But sadly, that is not the case. And that's why it's important to keep a visual solution alive.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “Day-to-day basis. And by the way, other former administrations have come up with big peace plans, as you know. And sadly, as we chase that rabbit down the hole, we're not focusing on the things that need to happen on a day-to-day basis for the Palestinian people and be clear on the security for the state of Israel. Because ultimately, I believe the reason I support a two-state solution, I think it maintains Israel as a democratic Jewish state until someone says to me, hey, Tom, I got this new idea.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “That's material. That's something that actually makes a difference. And that's what we're trying to do. So I don't, I'm listening. I could drive myself crazy. I could wake up every night in tantrums about, oh my God, you know, I got this one, Netanyahu, and I got this and the boss. We're never going to get two-state solution. They're building settlements. Okay, I got that. We're going to have to handle that on one track. At the same time, we cannot lose sight of trying to help the average person who wakes up every day who does not wake up every day and say, oh, where's my two-day solution? No, they wake up and say, where am I going to get my education? Where am I going to get my job? Can I make a living? You know, can I buy a car? Those are real things. So again, I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm not suggesting that there's this magical formula that I'm concocting that we're going to lay out to the Israeli people and the American Congress about what we're doing. We're trying to face every day and trying to manage this.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “As we call under the Trump administration, they cut up all the funding for the Palestinians, okay? Everything, okay, under the Biden administration, over the last two years, we've given them about 750 million dollars of direct assistance to the Palestinians.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  28. “Wake up and try to do things that help the Palestinian people that's money. Listen, listen, under the Trump, under the Foreign Administration, I don't know politics anymore because I'm a diplomat. Yes. However, under the foreign administration, I see you're trying hard to be diplomatic, but go ahead. Okay, I'm trying. I'm getting close to the edge. A couple more minutes of this interview that I made over. But as you recall,”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  29. “You've got a prime minister in Israel who is avowedly opposed to a two-state solution. And in fact, campaigns saying if I'm prime minister, there'll not be a two-state solution. You have an enfeebled leader of the Palestinian Authority and President Abbas who's really lost the respect of large numbers of his own people. And he's 87 years old. And there's no obvious replacement. Palestinian security forces have deteriorated. And we've seen increased violence in the West Bank, in Israel itself, violence on both sides. Why should people feel hopeful that this cycle will be broken? Listen, I'm not dreaming I'm not a dreamer. I don't know if it'll be. Listen, I got it. You got Abbas who's, you know, 87. You got a conservative government. That's why I am focused on the things that make a difference, guys. I'm on trying to every day.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  30. “To provide them opportunities and jobs. That's what this is about. And so, you know, I'd like to say, yeah, listen, the idea of a two-state solution is wouldn't that be great? I'd love to have the Nobel Peace Prize. I love Joe Biden. I'd like you to get that too. Yeah. You know, we both like it, right? But I think, listen, and I think the president believes the same thing. He wants obviously security of the state of Israel and he wants to help Palestinian people. And that's what I'm trying to do.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  31. “By the way, education, healthcare, you know, real materiality to health. The average Palestinian wakes up every day, just like the average Israeli, and all they want is security and job and freedom and opportunity. Nothing more complicated than that. An American's job, in my humble view, is to do the best they can to provide that. And yes, we need to have a vision, an opportunity for a two-state solution. In the meantime, I don't want everything falling apart. So I'm trying to like spend my time, you know, getting things done that are real, that the average person can wake up and say, okay, I got, you know, listen, I have something. I can go to school, I have decent health care, you know, I've got an opportunity. I had Google come a few months ago. I gave $35 million for education for Palestinian and Harry communities to educate them on how to use technology.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  32. “I spent my time trying to get the Allen B. Bridge open 24 7 so Palestinians who want to go to Jordan have to wait for hours and hours to get over the bridge. I push aggressively to get an agreement on 4G so people, the Palestinian people have 4G not 2G on their phones. I got the, and I say I mean the American government, we spent, you know, I got $100 million to build out the hospitals in East Jerusalem for Palestine people. What frustrates me the hell out of this job is as we chase around the idea of a two-state solution and this summit at the end of the day, it's all about the people it's all about the Palestinian people, all about taking care without compromised security of state of Israel and for doing things for the Palestinian people. And they'll say, oh, Tom, you know, it's incrementalism. I don't care. At the end of the day, if I can do, we do half a billion dollars now to the Palestinian people through UNRWA, which is not a perfect organization.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  33. “And then there are issues on the Palestinian side as well. It seems like an empty kind of phrase at this point because there is no movement toward that. There's more violence on both sides. Why should people believe that A, there is a two-state solution to be had at this point and B, that the US is going to do anything materially to try and stop the development of additional settlements? Well, Prud, that's a great question. Listen, I talk about it as a vision of a two-state solution. Because I think it's important that as we chase this kind of idea of a two-state solution, which by the way, you can't want it more than the parties want it. We talk about 70% of Israelis and equally the side of the Palestinians. They either don't believe it or don't really want it, okay? If they want it, they're not sure it's ever going to happen. So I spend 60% of my time trying to help the Palestinian people.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  34. “And you probably do too when the then vice president went to Jerusalem for consultations with Prime Minister Netanyahu and he arrived and the very day he arrived more settlements were authorized. Again, it seemed like an act of open defiance of our very strongly stated position. And I remember when my family, we all pooled money together in the late 50s to send my grandfather and grandmother to Israel. And I remember what an emotional experience it was for them as it has been for me in the six visits I've made there. But 70% of the Israeli population doesn't believe that a two-state solution is even possible anymore. And a lot of policymakers don't because the more settlements you establish, the harder it is to do that.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  35. “He cares deeply about this bilateral relationship, but we will not roll over. We will not ignore actions that we think are against our values. It will work not only with the Israeli government, but we'll work with the world. As you probably saw literally a day and a half ago, the US-led, the Europeans on a very strong message to Israel about what we thought the settlement announcement outposts were done. And we are, you know, we're advising, we're talking, we're having conversations about actions we can and should take vis- ⁇-vis this. But this has not been the, you know, this administration is not the first administration that has dealt with, as you know, the settlement issue. And it won't be the last. We have a clear view that a two-state solution is the only way to keep Israel a democratic Jewish state, and we will continue to articulate very aggressively that position. I remember”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  36. “Listen, it's a great point. Listen, as you and I both know, we both serve in the Obama administration together. I have served in the Clinton administration. We've watched the Trump administration, the Bush administration. You know, obviously there's issue around settlement growth and outposts has been a vexing issue for our country, for Israel. And by the way, for the Arab countries as well, who tend not to speak up as much as they should vis- ⁇-vis some of the actions that are going on in the West Bank. We have the power of the microphone. We have the power of the coalition. We have the power of getting things done together and collectively. And we will express those.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  37. “And then we have a cloth, unbreakable relationship with Israel, and we have the space to tell Israel when we think they should be working towards a better goals than they're currently on.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  38. “Would help the security of Israel. In both cases, America plays an important role in all of this. Everything we do that Israel does, we play an important role in it. So we have plenty of things that we're working to collectively on. And as I said to him, the Prime Minister a hundred times, we can't spend times on the things we want to work on together if your backyard's on fire. Okay. So ultimately, you know, things such as settlement growth and things that we will talk about including judicial reform. Again, I want to be clear. The United States is not sitting here telling Israel how they should pick the Supreme Court, okay? Or what they should be doing on judicial reform beyond the fact that we believe a strong democratic value is democratic institutions are critical to our relationship, okay? And to try to create consensus among your people, you know, we got to be careful. And what we tell countries how to do and what to do.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  39. “Did I say that? I'm not sure I said that, David. No, but you know, the question is around the UN. We can put that aside for a second, okay? Let's talk about this. The reality is, I like to say the prime minister wants to do big things. He tells us he wants to do big things. Big things include Iran, which we could talk about, and what's going on with Iran, which is a secured massive security risk for Israel and quite frankly, for the Middle East and the US. Second, he would like to expand the Abraham Accords with getting Saudi Arabian involvement in the Abraham Accords, which ultimately would help.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  40. “Son of a president, grandson of a chief rabbi, his brother is the passard. It is a family business, okay? The Herzogs, a heart and soul of Israel regards if you're left, right, or center. So him speaking up and speaking out is hugely important. And hopefully it will galvanize the current government to come to the table, including the opposition, because they need to come to the table too if we're going to actually work this out. Listen, we are going to support Israel just so there's no misunderstanding. We've got Israel's back, both on security and at the UN. We'll work with them. We'll get through this period of time, in my view. It's going to be rough. It's going to get tough. But as I said at the beginning, you can have a great relationship with your ally. And when you disagree, you disagree.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  41. “Well, let me proceed. I love Bougie Herson. Okay. And just for your audience understand it, he's not just the president. He's run for office. So he ran for Prime Minister, almost won the Prime Ministership.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  42. “Of what it is and what it isn't. The reality is there is a belief among not only the population in Israel for at least 50, maybe almost 60% of the people. And certainly American Jews and not just reformed liberal Jews like me, but modern and conservative Jews are quite worried. So I think they need to hear it. Sometimes even when you hear things, you don't want to hear, you need to hear it and step back. Ads, by the way, what President Herzog, the president of this country, is trying to do.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  43. “Among at least 50% of this country, is it going too fast and that the actions they're taking is somehow going to change the democratic values of this country. You know, we can debate if the judiciary system doesn't need some reform. Okay, let's assume it does. Like many judiciaries, I mean, this is a complicated place. They don't have enough judges here. The judges are overwhelmed. Okay, let's accept that. My point has been go slow build some consensus. Be the Democratic country that this country is. Step back. Try to bring the opposition together. Listen, it's not going to be perfect. And I do think at the end of the day, they will do that, but a lot of damage is getting done in the meantime. And obviously, you know, my hope is that they, you know, cool our heads will prevail and understand they're trying to do something significant and without getting all the details.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  44. “I'm certainly brain more in this job. But that's another issue. Yeah, listen, I think at the end of the day, perception is reality, both in politics, certainly in politics, and also, as you know, I spent half my career in business as well. So perception is important. The perception is.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  45. “Consensus brings the parties together. This is very complicated. It is trying to do things way too fast and to pump the brakes. Slow down. So that's the message I've been saying to the Prime Minister. I think President Biden has been saying the articulation around the democratic values, as well as Secretary Blinkett. As you know, David, you work with Joe Biden. Joe Biden really, really cares about Israel. He believes in his heart, in his soul, in his Kishka, as we us Jews would like to say. Yes, I do. Would say he is, you know, you don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist, he cares about this place. So when he speaks up, he does speak from a position of passion and caring.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  46. “I'm not actually exactly sure what they could read into an election. We all know people who misread election results tend to overreach, as we've seen, both in all politics in the United States and I think they're probably facing that same thing here. But at the end of the day, the United States is not going to be in the position to tell and dictate to Israel how they picked their Supreme Court. I don't think we should be doing that. However, to be clear, The one thing that binds our countries together is a sense of democracy and a sense of democratic institution. That is how we defend Israel at the UN. That's how we stand up for the values that we share. And when we believe that those democratic institutions are under stress and strain, we're articulating. That's what we're doing now. We're telling the prime minister that, as I tell my kids, pump the brakes, slow down, try to get.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  47. “And they're debated. So, Netanyahu wins, he wins 64 seats, and he's 61 to win. You've got 64, which doesn't strike a lot, but it is actually a significant percentage of the vote that he got for the coalition. One of the things that they believe that they were able to, why people voted for them was this idea of judicial reform. You know, we can debate if that's why people really want to vote. I think people really voted for security and economics no different than America.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  48. “$150,000 on Saturday, $100,000 yesterday at the Knesset. The reality of this is that 72% of this country voted for the fifth time in two years. It's unbelievable. I mean, we can only dream of that in America, right, to get anywhere near 60%, right? Just think about this. So this is a vibrant democracy. People care deeply about this place, including the 23% of Arab Israelis, 57% of them showed up. So people really care. As I like to say, they give a damn here a lot.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  49. “Well, it's a great question. We have to step back for a second and to say the following. First of all, you were right. This is a vibrant democracy as proven by the numbers of the tens of thousands of people who are protesting every Saturday.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  50. “Yeah, a little harder than I anticipated. Listen, the most important thing is that this relationship between the United States and Israel is an unbreakable bond, which is the direction I got from the president when I took this job. And we're going to continue, even though when we disagree, which we're going to disagree, that's what friends do. Listen, you have followed the U.S.-Israel relationship for a long time, David. You know all the players. This is what friends do. And we're going to disagree on things that we don't like that does not anyway suggest that we don't have Israel's back, that we don't support Israel's security. Really important to understand that. But we are going to argue when we believe in things that are strongly against the interests we believe are in Israel's best interest. But we want to work with them when we can.”

    2023-02-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 522 — Amb. Tom Nides · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source