It might be further into the podcast. For Israel, what really stuck with me was that he's suggesting that Israel is basically a US outpost in the Middle East. That makes a lot of things fall into place for me. Over here it's clear that the Israel lobby has an enormous influence on US politicians, but I suspect it's more that there's a powerful group - military contractors, US neocons, corporations that "rebuild" after war plus the current Israeli govt - that basically advocates for ongoing turmoil and war.
Regarding Ukraine: I think when you look at the history of US involvement, including multiple broken promises to Russia about not ever having a NATO country that close, and a color revolution that lead directly to the current conflict - you end up with a different perspective on the current military situation.