Fox News guest on Israel: 'They don't have any right to exist'

Former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer told Fox News on Monday that Israel had a right to defend itself from terrorist attacks but "no country has a right to exist."

Host Brian Kilmeade asked Scheuer, a former CIA analyst and regular Fox News guest, if the only resolution to the current Middle East fighting was for Israel to "steamroll Gaza."

"That's up the the Israelis," Scheuer explained. "The Israelis have an undeniable right to defend themselves, they don't have any right to exist. No country has a right to exist."

Kilmeade blinked, tilted his head and offered a very confused look, but moved on by suggesting that Syria and Iran were benefiting from Israel's conflict with Hamas.

But Scheuer seemed to go off script again, warning that Iran was not necessarily responsible for actions Hamas took against Israel.

"Hamas has alienated themselves from the Iranians, they've moved out of Syria," the former CIA analyst explained. "Hamas would have always much preferred to have worked with Sunni people rather than Shia. And now they have those people to work with, plus they have all the arms they want coming out of Libya and Tunisia after the Arab spring. Their reliance on the Iranians is much less than it used to be."

"Michael Scheuer, thanks so much, great analysis," Kilmeade concluded.

For years, Israel has contended that one of the largest obstacles preventing peace is that Hamas has refused to recognize Israel's "right to exist." During 1988 negotiations, then-Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat first recognized Israel's "right to exist in peace and security for all."

Over the weekend, Fox News CEO Rupert Murdoch lashed out at what he called the “Jewish owned press” for its coverage of the recent fighting.

“Why is Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis?” he wrote.

Watch this video from Fox News' Fox & Friends, broadcast Nov. 18, 2012.