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Bruce Pearl said President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have his full, unconditional support in their war against Iran.
“They have my support and my prayers, and I’m grateful for their courage,” the legendary former Auburn men’s basketball coach told PK Press Club Digital.
As the U.S. and Israeli militaries continue to conduct a joint operation against Iran after eliminating the Ayatollah’s leader, Pearl admits he is worried about what happens next, particularly regarding potential U.S. and Israeli losses.
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Former Auburn Tigers men’s basketball head coach Bruce Pearl walks on the court before the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. (Troy Taormina/Imagn Images)
Pearl has several friends and family members in Israel as Iran mounts its counterattack, and six U.S. service members have already been confirmed killed since the violence began.
Pearl blamed former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden for agreeing to deals that resulted in a transfer of funds to Iran over the past decade.
“I think President Obama was well-intentioned, but his decision was costly and wrong,” Pearl said. “He financed the terrorists who rebuilt Hezbollah, who rebuilt Hamas, who rebuilt the Houthis. The U.S. government is partly responsible for funding war and terrorism in Iran.
“President Trump doesn’t want war, but he’s also not going to look the other way and let Iran terrorize the Middle East, which he has done. So what does President Biden do? He comes in and he reverses every policy that President Trump passed, and he goes back to paying off Iran and treating this country like a normal country. And all they’ve done is refinance the terrorists, rebuild their weapons.”
The Obama administration transferred $1.7 billion in cash to Iran in 2016 to settle a 1979 arms dispute, while the Biden administration released between $10 billion and $16 billion in frozen Iranian oil funds as part of a prisoner exchange and humanitarian trade in 2023. The funds were Iranian assets frozen abroad, but they were not American taxpayer funds.
Pearl told PK Press Club Digital that he was personally angered by Iranian aggression against America over the past several decades.
“Iran is the world’s greatest enemy since Adolf Hitler. They’ve been this country’s number one enemy since 1979. They’ve killed more Americans than any other country in the world. So what I would say to America, we’re not the ones who started this war. Iran has declared war on us for a long, long time, and they’ve killed our citizens,” Pearl said.
“They sponsored, financed and green-lighted Hamas to commit the atrocities of October 7. And 46 Americans died. Innocent Americans died this way at the hands of Hamas, which was one of Iran’s proxies. It makes me angry. It makes me angry. As an American. And I’m glad this president is doing something about it.”
Pearl, president of the American Association for Education in Israel, remembers witnessing the deaths of people he was personally close to due to violence in the Middle East.
“I know families of hostages who lost their lives. I know Israeli friends who lost sons and daughters. I knew Americans who lost family members in Lebanon in 1982, in the barracks and also in the wars in Iraq,” he said.
Since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, Pearl claims to have encountered pro-Palestinian protesters in America.
The pro-Palestinian movement in the United States has become one of the largest and most sustained waves of protest in the country, sparked by a foreign event in modern history.
Just two weeks after the initial attack on October 7, the movement quickly expanded from the first vigils to 420 rallies in 46 states, according to the Ash Center at Harvard University. By November of that year, the burst of activity had grown into a sustained national wave, larger than any previous pro-Palestinian movement in U.S. history, particularly on college campuses.
Today, as America and Israel wage a consequential war against Iran, which could potentially fan the flames of the pro-Palestinian movement in the United States, Pearl has a message for these protesters.
“If you want to protest, understand why you are protesting. I ask you the question. Are women free in Israel or are they free inside Gaza? Are they in Israel, can they go to education, to university, to school, to live a normal and incredible life like any other human being, or are they subject to Sharia law? How can you protest for that? You want to protest? Protest for the Iranian people who are fights for his freedom,” Pearl said.
“How is it possible that on October 8, 9 or 10, just days after 46 Americans were murdered and 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. How is it possible that students are protesting to liberate Palestine from the river to the sea and support Hamas? Free Palestine from the river to the sea is liberating Palestine from the Jews from the river to the sea. That means either kill us or expel us.”
Many Americans have been stuck in Israel since the counterattacks began. This includes at least three American women’s basketball players.
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South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley led a public effort to bring them home.
Pearl, who admitted to not having heard of these players’ situation, said that “when the airspace is safe, they will be able to return home.”
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