Matt Gaetz, the former Republican Congressman from Florida, said Thursday that Israel should also give up on its nuclear weapons and if US president Donald Trump could get it done, he would win the Nobel Peace Prize. “If Trump pulled that off,” he said, “they wouldn’t just give him the Nobel Peace Prize — they’d rename it the Trump Peace Prize,” Gaetz said on his prime time show on One America News Network he hosts now.The Republican sharply criticise US involvement in the Israel–Iran conflict. He argued that what’s being sold as a war to stop Iran’s nuclear programme was another push by Israel for regime change in the Middle East — one that looks a lot like the lead-up to the Iraq war. “Israel didn’t kick their regime change habit with Iraq or Libya or Syria. It seems they need another fix,” Gaetz said. “I wish this was really about Iran’s nuclear programme, but it’s not.” Gaetz further said Iran, unlike North Korea, didn’t currently have nuclear weapons, long-range delivery systems, or re-entry capability. “North Korea could launch a nuclear weapon at the US today. Iran can’t even get their bird in the air,” he added. Gaetz served on the House Armed Services Committee for eight years and claimed to have seen the intelligence briefings himself. He pointed out that North Korea had issued open threats against US cities like Los Angeles and Seattle, but the US wasn’t bombing their missile sites. Gaetz said that the current war push was politically motivated and hypocritical — especially because Israel’s own nuclear programme remained off-limits to international inspectors. “There’s a secret nuclear programme in the Middle East — and it’s Israel’s,” Gaetz said. “They won’t allow inspectors, they operate in full secrecy, and everyone in Washington knows it.” He said he didn’t blame Israel for wanting a nuclear deterrent, but called it unfair to push the world towards war over one country’s suspected weapons while ignoring another’s. “To drag us into a regime change war over secret nuclear weapons when your ally also has secret nuclear weapons — that’s hypocritical.” Gaetz played old Fox News clips showing support for the Iraq invasion, where anchors described Saddam Hussein as an urgent threat and promised a quick, decisive victory. “I saw how wrong they were,” he said. “I went to the funerals. I saw the graves. We paid the price. Iraq war cost America $3 trillion and contributed to the rise of ISIS and China’s global power.” He also aired a recent clip from Tucker Carlson’s show where Senator Ted Cruz couldn’t tell the population of Iran while defending military action. Gaetz used it as an example of how disconnected Washington leaders were from the wars they supported. “It’s easy to back war from a Senate office or Fox News studio. No one’s firing missiles at you there,” Gaetz said. “But real people — soldiers — will have to fight and die. And many will.” The Israel–Iran war has caused divisions within Trump’s MAGA circle. Gaetz, Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Steve Bannon have all warned against US involvement. In contrast, Fox News hosts like Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, along with Senators Lindsey Graham and Cruz, support Israel’s actions. Trump himself has not made things clear. He has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” but also said, “Maybe we won’t have to fight. I’m not looking to fight. But if it’s a choice between fighting and them having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.”
