Welcome to episode 46 of the Charles C.W. Cook podcast.

I usually start these shows with a bit of levity, but you know, I sat down today at my microphone,

and I just thought it didn't feel right.

My topic today is the atrocity that was committed in Israel on October 7th.

And I think given the enormity of that subject, we should just get right into it.

So here goes.

My guest this week is Dan Cynor, a former foreign policy advisor to the Bush administration and Mitt Romney,

and the author of The Genius of Israel, a new book that will be released next month.

I invited Dan on to this episode to talk me through what happened on October 7th, why it happened, what the reaction was and has been to it happening,

and what's going to happen next. Now, through a technical glitch that was entirely

my fault, I don't have the part where I welcome Dan to the podcast or the bit where I thank him.

So without sound effects or fanfare or introduction or outro, I'll just play our conversation

in its entirety.

Well, I wish I had had you on in better circumstances, but unfortunately, these are terrible circumstances. It's now been nearly three weeks since the heinous attack in Israel.

And I have found analyzing it very easy in one regard

and very difficult in another.

The regard in which it has been easy

is determining how to react morally.

We've seen an enormous amount of evil and stupidity in response to this atrocity,

and I've thought it was pretty easy to determine which side is in the right.

But in terms of analyzing the situation in Israel,

what happens next,

...