# Geopolitics with Ghost Ep. 106: Kagan's Checkmate, Haredi Crisis & Pakistan Deal - 5/12/26

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/badlands-media-6674661/geopolitics-with-ghost-ep-106-kagan-s-checkmate-haredi-crisis-pakistan-deal-5-12-26
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/badlands-media-6674661/geopolitics-with-ghost-ep-106-kagan-s-checkmate-haredi-crisis-pakistan-deal-5-12-26.md
Podcast: [Badlands Media](https://stenobird.com/podcast/badlands-media-6674661)
Published: 2026-05-12T23:15:17+00:00
Episode link: https://badlandsmedia.podbean.com/e/geopolitics-with-ghost-ep-106-kagans-checkmate-haredi-crisis-pakistan-deal-51226/
Audio file: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/z3tuj8hdqah98968/Geopolitics_with_Ghost_ep_106_1_aq2ml.mp3
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Duration seconds: 6549

## Resource

Ghost opens episode 106 with the Senate hearing where Lindsey Graham attacks Pakistan as mediator, then cuts to Trump defending Pakistan's field marshal and prime minister in real time. Two landmark op-eds frame the hour: Robert Kagan's Atlantic piece declaring the Iran confrontation a strategic defeat for US-led hegemony, and Prince Turki al-Faisal's Arab News essay crediting MBS with quietly pulling the rug out from under the war's advocates. Ghost walks through reports of secret UAE and Saudi strikes on Iran, calling them psyops aimed at fracturing Muslim world unity. Israel's Starlink de-anonymizing tool surfaces as confirmation of Ghost's theory about Russian intelligence helping Iran identify Mossad and CIA protest operators. At home in Israel, the Haredi factions move to dissolve the Knesset after Netanyahu fails to deliver the Yeshiva draft exemption, with the IDF chief warning the military will collapse without 12,000 new recruits immediately. Smotrich says publicly the war must end with expanded Israeli borders. The World Jewish Congress governing board meeting closes the episode with Ronald Lauder calling for more aggressive hate speech prosecution and the Axel Springer CEO declaring Europe must become more Jewish.

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## Transcript

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