Tucker Carlson’s Interview with Steve Witkoff Reveals Surprising Ignorance

Witkoff and Trump

I have recorded a video for Counter Currents on Tucker’s blockbuster interview with Trump’s “peace” emissary, Steve Witkoff. My editor is in a different time zone, so it may not go up until Monday. However, I do have some comments about what we have learned about Mr. Witkoff. For starters, he comes across as a descent, honorable guy. And, I am sure he is a smart lawyer who knows the real estate business in New York City and is a strong supporter of Donald Trump.

However, he revealed a surprising depth of ignorance about the situation in Gaza and the war in Ukraine. I was shocked. One of the first bombshells to drop was his confession that he has not met with or talked to anyone from Hamas. All of his “diplomacy” with the Palestinians is via a Qatari cutout. If you are not talking to both sides and trying to establish your credibility, you cannot be an honest broker.

Witkoff also admits that he was shown a Zionist propaganda film about October 7, which he claims shows evidence of multiple rapes of Israeli women by Hamas. We know, thanks to Max Blumenthal and the folks at the GreyZone, that there is no evidence to support this claim. Witkoff makes no effort to hide his disdain for Hamas and accuses them falsely of using children as suicide bombers. Let me remind you of my earlier article, The Hard Facts About Palestinian Terrorism Debunk the Western Narrative. Here are some key highlights:

While Israel and the West repeatedly and incessantly insist that Hamas is nothing more than one of the most deadly, formidable terrorist groups in the world, the data collected and published by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs debunks that narrative. The claim against Hamas is false. You don’t have to take my word for it, I am going to show you the data. The following tables and spreadsheets contain data collected by Israel between 27 September 2000 and 26 April 2024. [Israel continues to update the figures at the website linked above.]

As an aside, Israel does not include the casualties suffered as a result of the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas. Israel calls it, Swords of Iron. In contrast to the meticulous list of the name of every dead Israeli and foreign victim, who allegedly died at the hands of Palestinians, the Swords of Iron data does not name the victims, especially the 40 children that Israeli officials insist were killed by Hamas. I find that curious, to say the least.

The first Israeli casualty in 2000 was Sgt. David Biri, 19, of Jerusalem, who was fatally wounded in a bombing near Netzarim in the Gaza Strip on 27 September. The last victim, who died on 26 April, was Sharif Suad, 35, of the Bedouin town of Sallama near Karmiel. An anti-tank missile launched from Lebanon hit the truck he was driving in the Mount Dov area on the Lebanese border. Between those dates, there were an additional 592 attacks. Mind you, these are attacks that resulted in the death of an Israeli or citizen of another country.

It is quite clear that “terrorism” attributed to Palestinians has been trending downwards since 2003. Not my numbers, those are Israeli Government numbers. It is noteworthy that the high-water mark of Palestinian violence in the five-year span — 2000 to 2005 — is commonly known as the Second Intifada. . . .

The public hysteria in the West about Hamas terrorism is not supported by the data — only 15% of the attacks during the last 24 years were attributed to Hamas, acting alone or in concert with another Palestinian entity. I am not suggesting that Hamas is a pacifist organization — it is not — but neither is it a political entity engaged in unrelenting violence.

Labeling Hamas as a strictly terrorist organization is, in my view, a cop-out from addressing the fundamental political issues that undergird the war between the Zionists and the Palestinian people. This is not just a battle of Muslim versus Jew, although many in the West certainly try to portray it as such. The truth of the matter is that Hamas is now the most popular entity among the Palestinian people, and Israel played a direct role in elevating them to that position, albeit unwittingly.

Another bizarre moment in his interview with Tucker comes when Witkoff celebrates the installation of Al Jawlani — a former member of ISIS, Al Nusra, and the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — as the leader of Syria. He dismisses Jawlani’s proven past acts of terror and ignores the current slaughter in Syria, by Jawlani’s crew, of Christians, Shia and Alawites. Witkoff apparently is ignorant of the policies Bashir Al Assad purused to protect those communities against jihadis like Jawlani. Witkoff has a selective moral compass and it oriented totally in favor of Israel.

The current narrative in the Trump administration, which Witkoff espouses, is that Hamas is an unrepentant band of terrorists and must be disarmed. He expressed outrage, albeit in a calm voice, at Hamas’ rejection of a recent US plan, without identifying the issue that evoked opposition from the Palestinians. Based on what Witkoff said in describing his presentation to the Arab League, I believe that Hamas rejected the US demand that they demilitarize. Hamas ain’t stupid. The Hamas leaders know that the minute they disarm, they will no longer be able to defend themselves against the Zionist genocide.

While Mr. Witkoff emphasized and reiterated that President Trump is sincere about securing peace deals between the Palestinians and Israel and between Russia and Ukraine, the terms being offered are likely to fail to entice the Palestinians and the Russians to ignore their own demands.

With respect to Russia, Witkoff demonstrated a similar lack of understanding about Russia’s key demands. For example, he was unable to name the four oblasts in Ukraine that have become part of the Russian Federation. He continues to labor under the delusion that Russia can be finagled into accepting a total 30-day ceasefire. While Russia is genuine about wanting to restore normal relations with the United States, and sees Donald Trump as the best hope of achieving that goal, Russia is in no hurry to put a hold on its military operations without concrete actions by the West, including an end to military assistance to Ukraine and Ukraine’s withdrawal from Russian territory.

Here is the reality… Trump is more eager to reach a quick deal than is Russia. Russia may be able to throw him a bone by brokering a deal the certifies Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program. Let’s call it JCPOA II. If Russia can persuade Trump that they will guarantee the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, this could give Trump a diplomatic victory he yearns for and avert a dangerous war.

Steve Witkoff is an intelligent man and is capable of learning new facts. But I fear that he is blinded by his own Zionist prejudices and will convince Trump to continue to support Israel’s campaign of genocide. Yet, he seems open to being educated about Russia. While he enjoys unfettered access to Trump, Witkoff wasted no words in declaring that the final decision on any proposed deals rests with Donald Trump.