Footage shows Lindsey Graham discussing U.S. support for Israel’s Lebanon war and Iran strikes

US Senator Graham offered military support for Israeli war on Lebanon, new footage shows Just one day before his funeral is set to take place in Washington, DC, video footage has emerged showing a gleeful Senator Lindsey Graham rejoicing at the launch of the US-Israeli war on Iran, and even single-handedly offering US military involvement to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his war on Lebanon. The clips are from British filmmaker Alex Holder, who has been following Graham for the last three years for a documentary on his relationship with President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  Holder appears to have been granted access to staff meetings on Capitol Hill as well as discussions Graham had with national and foreign leaders, including the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Read more: US Senator Graham offered military support for Israeli war on Lebanon, new footage shows Former US Senator Lindsey Graham waves to reporters after his meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, Ukraine on 10 July 2026 (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

US Senator Graham offered military support for Israeli war on Lebanon, new footage shows Submitted by MEE staff on Mon, 07/27/2026 - 18:51 A loud and proud interventionist, Lindsey Graham's funeral is scheduled for Tuesday Former US Senator Lindsey Graham waves to reporters after his meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, Ukraine on 10 July 2026 (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters) Off Just one day before his funeral is set to take place in Washington, DC, video footage has emerged showing a gleeful Senator Lindsey Graham rejoicing at the launch of the US-Israeli war on Iran, and even single-handedly offering US military involvement to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his war on Lebanon. The clips are from British filmmaker Alex Holder, who has been following Graham for the last three years for a documentary on his relationship with President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  Holder appears to have been granted access to staff meetings on Capitol Hill as well as discussions Graham had with national and foreign leaders, including the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.  "I almost cried. How long have we been pushing this?" Graham is seen asking members of his office in one clip, as he watched Trump give remarks to the press five days into the launch of the war on Iran. "[Trump] loves blowing stuff up," Graham said. "There are a lot of people inside that didn't want to do it. So I've had my challenges. President Trump, when he gets into the zone, he listens, asks good questions. You know, no tweeting... He's been a great wartime president," he added.  "I said last last night that Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and Churchill. I mean, they're the right two guys to to confront this evil." In another clip, Graham is again seen in his office, having dialed Netanyahu and put him on speakerphone. "I'm just so impressed. Glad to be your friend," he began the call.  "I'm going to meet with the president this weekend. I'm going down to Doral," he said, referencing Trump's golf club in Florida.  "I'm going to try to get him to join with y'all in Lebanon to maybe fly some with you. Would you like that?" Graham asked, in a stunning unilateral offer for US military intervention in Lebanon, where Israel had significantly escalated its air and ground assault along with its attacks on Iran.  "Yeah, I I get that. I think I think you have a point, but I've been thinking about the other side of it for a second. We're concentrating right now on Iran," Netanyahu responded. Lindsey Graham, staunch backer of Israel and US wars, dies aged 71 Read More » "If we tell Hezbollah that we're going all the way, we're threatening them. But if we actually do it, okay, then they have no reason not to go all the way against us, okay. That's not our interest." Graham replied that he only "put it out there as an idea", and that he appreciated Netanyahu's "good counsel". A third clip from the documentary showed Graham on the phone while in the passenger seat of a moving vehicle, speaking to former White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. "To be honest with you, I think about three to four weeks we should have them in a spot where they start losing control of some cities," Graham said on the call in reference to Iran. "And what we're trying to do is just get a few cities to fall in the next month. Get the Arabs more openly involved tomorrow, or by the end of the week, and just have almost irreversible momentum." Five months in, that momentum still has not materialised.  'Conflicted' The Wall Street Journal detailed some conversations from clips not yet publicly available, including further discussion with Sullivan in which Graham complains that Trump's chief negotiators - his peace envoy Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner - are simply not equipped to handle talks on Gaza or Iran.  “I can’t do it with Jared, and I can’t do it with Witkoff. They’re just too conflicted. It’s gotta be Rubio," Graham reportedly said. Holder told the Wall Street Journal that Graham was closer to Saudi Arabia's Mohamed Bin Salman than any other US official, and that Graham was also treated like a king whenever he went to Israel to meet with Netanyahu or the Mossad. The senator is said to have frequently complained that many people inside the administration and surrounding Trump are against the war on Iran and angling for a deal, which complicated Graham's endeavours. “Very few people are out selling this war from the administration. I’m shocked,” he reportedly said. But he also relished how much media attention he was getting since the war - which he had been demanding for decades - kicked off.  “We could do a media show every two seconds," Graham told the documentary crew.  Forever interventionist Long one of the loudest voices on US foreign policy and a loyal ally to Trump, Graham died suddenly at the age of 71 from an aortic dissection earlier this month.  First elected to the Senate in 2002, Graham regularly courted intense international criticism for his pro-war rhetoric and interventionist foreign policy.  Karim Khan describes threats from David Cameron and Lindsey Graham in new interview Read More » He staunchly backed Israel in the US Congress and called for increased military assistance to Tel Aviv alongside increased aid for illegal settlements.  Netanyahu characterised him as a close friend of Israel, while President Isaac Herzog declared Graham's support for the country had been unwavering. Throughout Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, Graham repeatedly defended Israeli military actions and opposed efforts to restrict US support for Israel. His comments frequently drew criticism from Palestinian rights advocates, human rights groups and Muslim civil rights organisations. In July 2024, Graham described Palestinians in Gaza as "the most radicalized population on the planet who are taught to hate Jews from birth" in a social media post that sparked widespread condemnation. The Council on American-Islamic Relations responded by saying that he was promoting racist stereotypes about Palestinians, calling his comments "hateful and absurd".  Graham also drew flak for suggesting that Israel should consider measures comparable to those used by the United States against Japan during World War Two, remarks that opponents described as inflammatory. In 2019, during a visit to the occupied Golan Heights, Graham called Israel's security and prosperity vital to US national security and advocated recognition of Israeli control over the territory. In March, he blamed Saudi Arabia for refusing to join the US-Israeli war against Iran and warned of potential "consequences" for countries that declined to support military action against Tehran.  War on Iran News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

At least one American was cheering when the White House decided to drop bombs on Iran.Previously unreleased documentary footage has put late South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham’s warmongering on full display, exposing just how gleeful he was when the country ignited the Iran war.“Look what we’ve done here. I almost cried,” Graham says in one video clip, practically giddy.“I talked to [Donald] Trump this morning, he’s jacked, he said, ‘Best thing I have ever done.’ He loves blowing stuff up,” the conservative lawmaker said at the time. “I mean, how long have we been pushing this?“There were a lot of people inside that didn’t want to do it, so I had my challenges,” he added.Lindsey Graham celebrating the start of the Iran war. Dark stuff. pic.twitter.com/IJmjg0ATqa— Dave DeCamp (@DecampDave) July 26, 2026The footage was captured by British filmmaker Alex Holder, who had been granted remarkable access to film Graham since 2023. The footage is a part of an upcoming documentary that is currently titled “Lindsey’s Graham,” a reference to the senator’s personal perspective on his role in U.S. foreign policy.“He would call what this was ‘a game,’” Holder told The Wall Street Journal, recalling that Graham had shared how bizarre he felt it was that a senator from South Carolina was closer with some Middle East leaders than most presidential administrations.Graham reportedly agreed to the angle of the film, claiming that he wanted the public to understand his role in the Senate. Holder told the Journal that Graham had remarked how “cool this was.”In another clip in which he expresses his joy with the interventionist strategy, Graham compared Trump to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Winston Churchill, likening the burgeoning Middle East conflict to World War II.“President Trump, when he gets into the zone, he listens, he asks good questions, no tweeting. He … hasn’t tweeted much at all,” Graham said. “No drama, he’s been a great wartime president.“I mean, they’re the right two guys to confront this evil,” Graham added.In other recently released footage, Graham was captured phoning Netanyahu—whom he referred to as his “friend”—about a joint plan to lobby Trump to get involved in the conflict.“We’re concentrating right now on Iran,” Netanyahu told Graham over speakerphone on a March 4 call. “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.”“That’s actually good counsel,” Graham responded from his Senate office, decorated with Trump merchandise. “I’ll put it out there as an idea; we can always go back to it.”UNSEEN FOOTAGE of Lindsey Graham on CALL with Netanyahu revealing plans to LOBBY Trump to BOMB LebanonBIBI: Glad you’re my FRIENDGRAHAM: Going to try to get Trump to join with y'all in Lebanon… WOULD YOU LIKE THAT?B: Concentrating right now on IRANG: Can always go back pic.twitter.com/9Wt0MCuEpq— RT (@RT_com) July 26, 2026Yet the Iran war has done nothing good for America in the 21 weeks since it began. The conflict has so far killed at least 18 U.S. service members and wounded more than 600 others. It has also taken an enormous toll on daily life in the U.S., inflaming the cost of practically everything as shipping companies contend with rising oil costs.

'I Almost Cried' - Documentary Video Trove Shows Lindsey Graham's Joy At Start Of Iran War Batches of previously unreleased documentary footage give a behind-the-scenes look at the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's work to maneuver the United States into military conflicts on behalf of Israel, and the sheer joy he exuded when President Trump finally brought Graham's long-held dreams of an all-out war on Iran to fruition.   The video comes from British documentary filmmaker Alex Holder, whom Graham had granted close, ongoing access from 2023 up until Graham's sudden death on July 11. Holder plans to release a documentary called "Lindsey's Game" later this year, but he's just released several samples from his hundreds of hours of footage. They fully cement Graham's reputation as a man who constantly pushed for war and found unparalleled joy in bringing destruction to foreign peoples.  That latter dimension of Graham's twisted personality can be vividly seen and heard in footage of Graham in his Senate office in late February. He and is staff are watching Trump, on Fox News, bragging that "virtually everything [the Iranians] have has been knocked out." WATCH: Unreleased documentary footage shows Lindsey Graham extremely happy that Trump finally bombed Iran. “Look what we’ve done here. I almost cried… How long have we been pushing this?” Graham says after U.S. strikes begin. Graham also says Trump told him the strikes were… pic.twitter.com/ULQrxwteyl — Clash Report (@clashreport) July 26, 2026 Positively exuberant that massive US-Israeli attacks on Iran  had just begun, Graham laughs aloud with joy, then gushes to the documentary crew and his own staffers, “Look what we’ve done here. I almost cried. I mean, like, how long have we been pushing this?" Holder replies, "you've been pushing this for years." Graham laughs again and -- sounding just a child on Christmas morning -- says with dewy-eyed disbelief, "Right...it's here!"  Graham says Trump is enjoying the war too. "I talked to Trump this morning -- he’s jacked. He said, ‘best thing I have ever done.’ He loves blowing stuff up.” We'd be remiss if we didn't remind readers that one of the first things Trump and the US Navy had already blown up in Graham's giddy early hours of the war was an elementary school in southern Iran. More than 150 civilians were killed at the Minab school, most of them girls between age 7 and 12.   Iranians dig graves for more than 100 schoolgirls killed by US Tomahawk missiles in the opening round of the US-Israeli war on Iran (Iranian Press Center/AFP) In another remarkable scene, we get to sit in a March 4 Graham phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom Graham had actively conspired to maneuver Trump into simultaneously blowing up Iran and blowing up Trump's many promises to break the cycle of never-ending US wars in the Middle East. The call starts with Graham greeting "Bibi" and sycophantically saying how "impressed" he is with Netanyahu. In what sounds like a thinly-veiled boast for the benefit of the documentary's eventual audience, Graham adds, "I'm glad to be your friend."  That's nauseatingly entertaining, but what makes their ensuing strategy discussion so remarkable is that the infamously bellicose Netanyahu emerges as the relative voice of restraint. Graham tells Netanyahu that he intends to visit Trump in Florida to convince him to join Israel in its war with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, but Netanyahu diplomatically tells Graham to take it easy.   UNSEEN FOOTAGE of Lindsey Graham on CALL with Netanyahu revealing plans to LOBBY Trump to BOMB Lebanon BIBI: Glad you’re my FRIEND GRAHAM: Going to try to get Trump to join with y'all in Lebanon… WOULD YOU LIKE THAT? B: Concentrating right now on IRAN G: Can always go back pic.twitter.com/9Wt0MCuEpq — RT (@RT_com) July 26, 2026 “We’re concentrating right now on Iran," Netanyahu replies. "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." Perhaps not wanting to fully spoil Graham's dreams of American service members being thrown into another conflict for Israel's benefit, Netanyahu offers, "We can do it later." Another clip nicely illustrates just how wrong Graham and other promoters of the war on Iran have been about what would be be rapidly accomplished. In early March, as he's being driven across town, Graham tells documentarian Holder that, in "three or four weeks," the United States and Israel would "have them in a spot where they start losing control of some cities" and, with more open Arab involvement in the war, achieve "almost irreversible momentum." The Iranian regime outlived Graham https://t.co/7KZ3fwbKAN — 🏴‍☠️ (@calvinfroedge) July 26, 2026 Five months later, no cities have come even remotely close to falling. Instead, outraged over a war of aggression launched on their country on several bogus pretenses, support for the Iranian government has been galvanized. That's been manifested in many ways, but none greater than what may have been the largest funeral in the history of the world, as millions turned out earlier this month for a multi-day state funeral for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Continuing its long-running pattern of violating international norms that put heads of state off-limits -- and furthering its corruption of what little remains of US government geopolitical morality -- Israel collaborated with the United States to kill Khamenei, his daughter, son-in-law, and 14-month-old granddaughter in February's opening assault.  In other footage reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Graham voices his disappointment that more Republican politicians aren't stepping up to promote the war on Iran, which quickly became the most unpopular major war in US history -- even less popular than what was observed in the worst polling on the Vietnam War. “Very few people are out selling this war from the administration. I’m shocked,” Graham says.  The last footage recorded by the documentary crew  -- at a Columbia, SC bagel shop in June -- shows a Graham who's frustrated that Trump has signed a memorandum of understanding that was supposed to be a precursor to a lasting peace. “He’s letting this thing slip away,” Graham said. “I got to go talk to him.” Tyler Durden Mon, 07/27/2026 - 11:10