on this new hour of diamond, a key member of israel's core cabinet has resigned. what does this departure mean for netanyahu's war on gaza? also, tonight, extremism on the rise, hate group surge across america and why are migrant family still being separated at the u.s. border and being left in limbo. here with is live, let's do it. we began with an important seismic shakeup in the israeli government. benny gantz, one of the three core members of israel's war cabinet and vitamin netanyahu's top clinical rival has resigned. in a press conference today, he said, quote, netanyahu prevents us from moving forward to real victory and accused his far right coalition of prioritizing political considerations over war strategy. last month, gantz gave netanyahu an ultimatum, present a plan for the day after the war in gaza, by june 8th, or else. it was one of the most visible signs of division within the emergency wartime government, a team of political rivals who had until recently projected unity. but netanyahu has not produced a plan for gaza's future beyond rejecting a two state solution and insisting on israel's long- term security oversight over gaza and the west bank. so gantz followed through on his threat to step down, delayed by one day due to the brutal israeli attack to rescue hostages in gaza. today, netanyahu, for a second time, publicly urged gantz to stay, posting on x, quote, israel is in an x essential war on several fronts. benny, this is not the time to abandon a campaign. this is a time to join forces. with gantz's resignation, it will not merely think netanyahu's government but it does mean that he now needs the far right members of his coalition more than ever to stay in power. already, the national security minister highly controversial figure, ben-gvir, one of israel's most radical nationalists and is now demanding a seat in the war cabinet. he is saying he was the power of his party to be given expression and not as it has been until now. gantz was asked today whether his resignation leaves the israeli government without any adults in the room. here is what he said. >> i was very privileged together with my friends to bring to the cabinet room all the experience we have. i know that the other people, mainly off-balance and they know it should be done hopefully they will stick to what should be done, and it will be okay. >> this is the biggest shakeup to israel's leadership since october 7, and comes at a critical moment in the war. a comp room hostage deal is on the table right now. the world is waiting for a response from hamas, but it is not clear if israel will also accept the terms outlined by president biden. netanyahu says there are gaps between the proposal biden described and the one he approved, and even ministers like ben-gvir have rejected it. netanyahu will make his case for what he describes as israel's just war when he comes to speak before the u.s. congress. we must ask, will gantz's departure result in real fundamental change for the war in gaza? the problem does not lie singularly with netanyahu but with israel's ideological and institutional approach to the palestinian issue, largely speaking. the policies preventing, for example, palestinian statehood and liberation are deeply entrenched in israeli society and the resignation from one so- called moderate cabinet minister will not necessarily change that. joining me now to discuss this ambassador alan pincus, the formal israeli consul general in new york and chief of staff are four is really foreign ministers and eastern africa studies on the council of foreign relations. he is also the offer of the book, the end of ambition, america's past, present, and future in the middle east. gentlemen, it is great to have both of you with us. ambassador, i will start with you and get your take on this is recognition. does any gantz is recognition change anything about how israel conducts this war in gaza or these talks for a cease- fire and hostage deal? >> high, good evening. it looks like a drama. it looks like a political earthquake. it is not but it does have the potential to evolve and do something very dramatic if mr. gantz resignation. which is according to most of his critics was related by at least five or six days -- months. to a large extent, any guest in decision-making and the cabinet was marginal. his ability to affect change in both the prosecution of the war and in developing and crafting a strategy for postwar in gaza was marginal. he essentially became an enabler. i think if you read stephen cook's article on foreign- policy yesterday, even the americans got him wrong in terms of thinking he is some centrist, even left of center. in terms of policy, he is a decent man. there is no malice there. he meant well when he joined the government. it was a time of emergency. effectively, he enabled netanyahu. he is complacent and he is an accomplice to every mistake, every strategic fluid assumption that this government made. now, in terms of how this will affect the war, it doesn't change the fundamental element, the fundamental parameters of what needs to be done. israel still faces a binary choice, except the plan or not except the plan. it sounds bizarre, i'm in, netanyahu rejects israel's plan. it is like, you know. 1994. george orwell except that it is netanyahu's 2024. so in that respect, nothing changes as a result of his departure. >> stephen, there is an interesting element in his press conference, i should say, a fact that came out and that is he is honestly calling for new elections in israel this fall but that was somewhat echoed by chuck schumer here a couple of weeks ago. senate leader chuck schumer, the highest making jewish official american history demanding that netanyahu step aside and calling for early elections, as well. first of all, do you see that happening? what are the chances that the next reiteration of the israeli government does not move further to the right, if you do bring in somebody like ben-gvir or give more power to the more right of netanyahu elements in the government and society. >> there is pressure coming from the outside for a new elections, and certainly from within, from benny gantz. the other major figure in the opposition. but netanyahu, even with gantz's decision to leave the government has a solid majority in the knesset so he can stick it out as long as he has the support of his partners, the radical right. think of a. this government is likely to move further to the right, as a result. however, it is true, any gantz has played essentially a marginal role. now that you have ben-gvir demanding on a greater say in the war effort, that is likely to move things to the right in ways that are not good for the palestinians, obviously, and the israelis, as well. gantz poss resignation is actually quite puzzling to me and ways. if he is concerned with national security and israel, if he is concerned about the war effort, it strikes me that he would want to remain in the war cabinet and insert himself rather than take himself out and let the country continue its march to the right. and who knows what will happen. ben-gvir and most of us want to resettle the gaza strip. that is an ultimate disaster so it may be that gantz thought he could save himself but fight for another day and improve his political chances. but it leads to a suboptimal outcome for everybody else. >> what does that mean, stephen, for the united states in the situation? you got the secretary of state, antony blinken now heading to the region for the eighth time since october 7th. they are on the cusp of waking up to an israeli government that is more extreme and, as you just said, potentially calling for the resettling, the full reoccupation of gaza and the displacement, perhaps, of the palestinians. if you do bring in people, or not bring in, but to give people like into mark ben-gvir more power over the conduct of this war and gaza policy. >> i was perhaps the least optimistic person in washington when it came to a cease-fire anyways. and i am even less optimistic about this. there is no basis for agreement at this point. unfortunately, it seems, after all this terrible bloodshed, that the conflict is not yet ripe for a resolution and secretary of state tony blinken is going to find the same problems that he found on his previous trips. >> ambassador, your thoughts on what america should do now? as you probably heard my previous hours, spoke to former u.s. army major who resigned saying that america actually does have a lot of leverage over israel. perhaps more so than any other country in the region. he needs to step up and exerted to change course. as a diplomat, former diplomat, i should say. what you think america should do now as it sees this israeli government, and even just consistently moved to the right and to the extreme right with no fundamental change in policy, vis-@-vis the palestinians? >> in president biden's credit, to president biden's credit. he warned mr. netanyahu, the government was informed that this is an extremist government and then when mr. netanyahu instigated a constitutional coup in january of '23, it was followed by biden not refraining from inviting him to washington, to the white house for nine full months, and then the war rocha, et cetera, et cetera. so yes, the u.s. has all kinds of levers that it can use. it chose, until now, not to use them. and i heard your interview with major, and you made actually, you presented, submitted two premises, and you are right on both. both has letters and chooses not to use them, and, to a large extent, most of its lovers, because mr. netanyahu has been entranced and defiant and is actually seeking confrontation with biden. his plan right now is to try and stall and waste time and wait until america is sucked into its election cycle, full force. around september. and then he hopes that mr. trump will be elected. there is no question and there is no doubt about that. what the u.s. needs to do now is one of two things. it needs to do its basic calculus of how much our american interests being sergeant here. and that pertains to a possible escalation in lebanon and direct feed, rather than what the palestinians or pull out, meaning, you know, say to mr. netanyahu, do what ever the hell you want, but leave us out. which is obviously not a reasonable or realistic option. but what they can do. i know we don't have time. the u.s. can do and has not done until now is for president biden, not anyone else, not secretary of state link in, not national security advisor sullivan. for biden himself, for the president himself to stand out, stand up, and make a speech differentiating, drawing a distinction, a clear distinction between israel and mr. netanyahu and calling mr. netanyahu's bluff, if he believes that is going to be a blow. i don't know. >> will have to wait and see if the president is watching this, maybe he will heed your advice. ambassador, i noticed very late in israel. thank you so much for staying up for us. i really appreciate it. we appreciate it. we greatly appreciated. stephen cook, great to see you, as well. my friend, congratulations on the book next up, why a man dressed up as an exterminator started a hateful conspiracy theory that is spreading like wildfire ahead of november's election, then later on, caitlin clark left off with team usa. was she snubbed? 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>> first, thanks for having me on. i think it is right on target. what we saw after january 6th, 2021 was a period of time where you know, extremists kind of went into a short period of trying to regroup obviously the arrests and prosecutions had some substantial impacts on that world. but arrests and prosecutions aren't enough, and when you're not dealing with the root causes of the problem, these groups are able to kind of essentially regroup and then re- emerge even stronger. and i think that is exactly what we are seeing and what the southern poverty law center is pointing to. >> how does conspiracy theories play into the activity and rise of hate groups right now thinking about the harassment we saw play out at a migrant shelter in san diego. what led people to the january 6th insurrection, how is it that these baseless theories are resonating so much with people on the far right driving them to make these both online and real-life threats, even things like pizza gates that we saw several years ago? >> and menus, conspiracy theories are kind of a defining feature of extremist hate groups. one of the things that they do that is so important for them is that they offer a bridge of sorts and that conspiracy theories can reach a much broader audience. of course, we saw that on january 6th, in terms of the attack on the u.s. capitol. lots of different sorts of folks that ended up showing up by the thousands at the capitol that day. you had the proud boys, you had the three presenters. oath keepers, neo nazis, neo- confederate, a lot of folks that weren't necessarily affiliated with those groups. one thing they had in common is they all believed in this conspiracy theory about the stolen election. and you know, these kind of ideas are really, provide people a special sense that they are aware of things that the average person isn't aware of, and provides them with this kind of special knowledge, secretive knowledge, special insight. it really goes along with the idea, the that extremist groups offer to their adherents, that you're a part of a special population, special culture, special country, special race, special religion that is different and, quite frankly, superior to other groups. >> when you look at this record number of anti-lgbtq+ and white nationalist groups in 2023, numbering 186 and 165 respectively, why are these groups specifically, in your opinion, growing so significantly as they have grown? has there m.o. shifted and having this kind of hatred towards the lgbtq+ community? >> that is 18 many hot button issues that these kind of groups are good at identifying and then targeting and really spending a lot of time directing disinformation towards and propaganda and really trying to highlight the supp