“Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and Churchill. I mean, they’re the right two guys to confront this evil,” Graham said.
By Shula Rosen
Unreleased documentary footage obtained by The Wall Street Journal shows the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in private conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan and others during the early stages of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, offering a behind-the-scenes look at discussions surrounding the conflict.
The footage is part of a project tentatively titled “Lindsey’s Game,” assembled by British filmmaker Alex Holder from hundreds of hours of recordings. Holder is planning to release the documentary in the coming months. Graham died on July 11 at the age of 71 from an aortic dissection caused by cardiovascular disease.
In one exchange described by The Wall Street Journal, Netanyahu urged Graham not to encourage the United States to become involved in the conflict between Israel and Lebanon while Israel remained focused on Iran.
“We’re concentrating right now on Iran,” Netanyahu said. “If we tell Hezbollah that we’re going all the way, we threaten them, but if we actually do it, then they have no reason not to go all the way against us. And right now that’s not our interest.”
Graham responded that the advice was “actually good counsel.”
The footage also captured Graham expressing confidence that the war would end quickly and that Iran’s government would collapse. During a conversation with Sullivan, Graham predicted the Iranian regime would begin losing control of cities within three to four weeks and that momentum would become “almost irreversible.”
In another recording made in Graham’s office during the early days of the war, the senator celebrated the military campaign.
“We’ve done it,” Graham said. “I almost cried. I mean, how long have we been pushing this?”
Graham also recounted what he said was President Donald Trump’s reaction to the conflict.
“He’s jacked. He said, ‘Best thing I’ve ever done.’ He loves blowing stuff up,” said Graham, who had long advocated military action against Iran.
The senator also described Trump as a “great wartime president.”
“Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and Churchill. I mean, they’re the right two guys to confront this evil,” Graham said.
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