Mark Geist, a US Marine Corps veteran who served in Benghazi and has worked in conflict zones across the Middle East and beyond, spoke with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News, expressing strong support for Israel during a visit to the country as part of a special solidarity delegation organized by the Israel Justice Organization.
Geist said that solidarity between Israel and the US is particularly important at a time of major changes across the Middle East.
"That's something that is so important between Israel and the US," Geist said. "With what's going on in the Middle East and the way things are changing, we have to have that solidarity because we are working together for the same purpose."
Describing Israel's ongoing war, he said it was being fought on multiple fronts and presented a complex set of challenges. However, he stressed that the conflict extended well beyond conventional military operations.
"It's not just warfare as we traditionally think of it, with bombs and everything else," Geist explained. "There's economic warfare, there's lawfare, and there are so many other ways that we can utilize things in society that most people don't think of as weapons of war."
He said these efforts were essential not only to ensuring Israel's safety and security but also to protecting the US.
Asked to assess the IDF from the perspective of an American military veteran, Geist was quick to clarify that he had served in the Marine Corps, rather than the Army, joking that the Marines had better-looking uniforms.
He praised the IDF as a top-notch military, citing his friendships with Israeli soldiers and his professional experience working alongside former IDF personnel as a private military security contractor.
"The training is phenomenal," Geist said. "They understand what they're fighting for. For you guys, it's the front lines. This is your backyard, where things are happening."
He also highlighted the IDF's innovation and technological capabilities, noting that modern warfare was rapidly evolving, as demonstrated in both Ukraine and the war with Iran.
"We've seen that innovation and technology are moving in different ways that we're not typically used to," Geist said. "And if we don't exploit it, the enemy will."
Turning to the concept of "total victory," Geist said it was important to define what victory actually meant in the context of modern warfare. He argued that it did not necessarily require the annihilation of an enemy but rather its subjugation or reaching an understanding that would allow the sides to coexist.
"Victory isn't necessarily the annihilation of our enemies. It is the subjugation of the enemy, or at least coming to an appeasement where we are on the same page," he said.
Drawing on his experience working in Iraq, Pakistan and Libya, among other countries, he said that different societies would never share identical ideologies. Nevertheless, finding common ground was essential.
"We're not going to all be the same. We're not going to have the same ideology, but we have to find that common ground, because it is only together that we are going to survive what we are really fighting, and that's good versus evil," Geist said.
Geist also addressed the importance of maintaining strong relations between Israel and the US, particularly amid renewed debate over the relationship following the elections and President Donald Trump's announcements.
He argued that cooperation between the two countries was essential to achieving peace in the Middle East, pointing to Trump's leadership and the Abraham Accords as important elements of the process.
"We cannot achieve any type of peace in the Middle East without strong leadership, which President Trump has provided," he said.
Acknowledging that no agreement would be perfect, he explained that the fundamental obstacles were the ideological differences between Israel and its adversaries, including Hamas and other regional actors.
"Working together is the only way that we can really bring peace, or an semblance of peace, to the Middle East, where our sons and our grandsons and our granddaughters don't have to worry about the same things that we do right now," Geist said.
Responding to the argument that the "America First" approach means the US should focus exclusively on its own interests and avoid involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts, Mark said that supporting Israel was also in America's interest.
"America First doesn't mean America only," he said, explaining that the policy should be understood in terms of what is best for Americans while continuing to support and work with Israel.
Geist noted that US-Israel relations had not always been as close as they are today but maintained that both countries should be working toward the same goal: peace.
"Any type of peace where our sons and daughters, our grandkids, don't have to worry about dying is wonderful for me," he said.
Geist also spoke about the emotional significance of his first visit to Israel. Despite having traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and other conflict zones, he said the experience of visiting the Jewish state had been particularly meaningful.
"To be honest, it's been phenomenal," he said. "To be able to walk where Jesus walked, to see where David's house was, everything."
A history enthusiast, Geist said that Israel's extraordinary history offered important lessons for the future.
"I love history, and not just modern history. We have to see what we've done in the past, and history will tell us that. That is how we have to use it to guide us in the future."