KT McFarland (Newsmax)
KT McFarland, former deputy national security adviser, told Newsmax on Tuesday that President Donald Trump will face “a lot of reevaluating” on Iran if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu loses power after Israel’s national election, in which exit polls showed neither major bloc winning a majority.
“If Bibi somehow doesn’t end up being prime minister, then I think President Trump has to do a lot of reevaluating,” McFarland said on “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” using Netanyahu’s nickname.
As of Tuesday night, no bloc had cleared the 61 seats needed to control Israel’s 120-seat Knesset. Public broadcaster Kan’s exit poll projected 53 seats for the opposition bloc and 50 for Netanyahu’s, while Channel 14 gave Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc 60.
Among Netanyahu’s leading challengers is Gadi Eisenkot, a former Israeli military chief of staff who leads the Yashar party.
Asked how the result could affect Iran, after the host suggested the U.S. appeared to be preparing further action against the Iranian regime following the midterms, McFarland said Trump would have “three options no matter what.”
The first is to continue what she called “economic strangulation.” That is the likely path, she said, if Eisenkot becomes prime minister and “doesn’t want to do a military operation with President Trump.”
A Netanyahu win would push the question in a different direction.
“Bibi wants regime change, and he’s not been shy about talking about how he wants regime change,” McFarland said. “So if that’s the direction Israel wants to go, regime change, then President Trump has to decide if that’s in our interest.”
She described a middle course of U.S. military action followed by a handoff to Iranians themselves, “especially if we think that within Iran, there’s opposition groups who could lead Iran.”
The third choice, she said, is “the nuclear option, not nuclear weapons,” an all-in campaign that would bring together Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Arab states, Israel, and the United States to “expand the war to go after the Houthis, as well as every major military site in Iran.”
The Houthis are an Iran-aligned militant group in Yemen.
McFarland also praised Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, after a shouting match earlier Tuesday with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla at the General Assembly.
The clash came during debate on a nonbinding resolution calling for an end to the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, as Rodriguez repeatedly interrupted Waltz and Waltz asked the Cuban delegation to move away from the podium.
“I’m the representative of the United States of America. Back up,” Waltz told the delegation.
McFarland pointed to Waltz’s Army Special Forces background, calling him “a pretty tough guy.”
“I wouldn’t want to pick a fight with Mike Waltz,” she said, adding that Waltz “called the Cuban out” and that “it’s about time somebody did.”
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