U.S. and Israeli Government Relations Before October 7

In this episode of Inside The Epicenter, Joel delves into President Herzog's visit to the U.S. and the implications of his interactions with President Biden and members of Congress. 

Despite the challenges faced by the U.S.-Israeli relationship, President Herzog's visit and powerful address to a joint session of Congress have sparked crucial dialogue. 

Discover the aftermath of this historic visit and its impact on U.S.-Israeli relations as we delve into the details of President Herzog's visit and explore the implications for the future.

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Transcript: 

- [Carl] The following conversation was recorded before the Hamas attacks, so please keep that in mind as you listen. We will continue to drop special updates in our podcast feed when necessary. Thanks again for all your prayers and support of Israel in this crucial time.

- [Joel] This is not how you treat your friend by refusing to meet with them. This is not how you treat your most, your most loyal and trustworthy ally.

- [Carl] Is President Biden a friend to Israel. President Biden has embraced the democratic squad members who have boycotted Herzog's speech to Congress. What does this say about his love for Israel or his stance as an ally of Israel? Hi, and welcome to this episode of "Inside the Epicenter" with Joel Rosenberg, a podcast of the Joshua Fund, a ministry dedicated to blessing Israel and her neighbors In the name of Jesus. I'm Carl Moeller, executive director of the Joshua Fund. Today we want to present President Herzog's visit to the US, and the reaction of some members of Congress and President Biden's treatment of Israel and its leaders. Welcome to this very special episode.

- [Joel] Tonight we're gonna look at the glaring contrast between some elements of the Democratic Party and the Republicans on the matter of US-Israeli relations, and we're gonna look at what Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, did to try to increase bipartisan support for the Jewish state. But first, let me say that I'm so grateful to be coming to you from Denver, Colorado, this week, not Jerusalem, although I love Jerusalem and I love doing the show from there. But the reason that I'm here in Denver is that my wife Lynn and I are visiting my two lovely sisters and their families and our wonderful godly parents. Mom and dad are now in their mid eighties, their health isn't great and they're needing some extra TLC these days, so it's been a joy to be together as a family this month. It's not easy living 7,000 miles away from the people that you love, and I miss them all so much. But I'm also grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to come back to the States and be at their sides. That said, I have to tell you how painful and infuriating it's been to be here in the country and to see just how the president of the United States and some of his closest political allies are treating the people and leaders of Israel. Look, President Biden says that he loves Israel, but since Netanyahu was sworn in again as prime minister on December 29th, Biden has adamantly refused to invite Netanyahu to the White House. He's refused to meet with Bibi anywhere else, why? Well, one reason is because he disagrees, he says, with some of Bibi's policies. The other reason is because he doesn't like some of Bibi's political allies. But come on this, this is not how you treat your friends by refusing to meet with them. This is not how you treat your most, your most loyal and trustworthy ally. After all, just look at some of the policies that Biden is pursuing. Biden is begging, begging the terror masters of Tehran to reenter the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. We've covered that on the Rosenberg report. Biden is trying to give Iran's leaders billions of dollars even though Iran is on the verge of building fully operational nuclear weapons. And Tehran is selling weapons to the Russians to slaughter innocent civilians in Ukraine, and the Iranian regime is openly threatening to wipe Israel off the map. Okay, those are some policies I'm not a fan of and I don't think you are either. What's more, have you looked at Biden's political allies recently? One of them is Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, okay. She's a member of the squad. She's one of the most anti-Israel, anti-Semitic members of the Democratic Party. In 2012, while Palestinian terrorists were firing thousands of rockets at Israeli citizens, Ilhan Omar tweeted this quote, "Israel has hypnotized the world. May Allah awaken the people to see the evil doings of Israel," okay? In 2019, she was denounced, Ilhan Omar was denounced by her fellow Democrat, why? "For making a quote vile anti-Semitic slur," quote unquote, that was quote, "Outrageous and deeply hurtful," unquote. That's one of the top Democrats speaking about a fellow Democrat. Now, Omar frequently and falsely accuses Israel of being a racist and apartheid state. Her history of hateful anti-Semitic language got her booted off the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this year, and rightly so. And Congresswoman Omar said quote, "There is no way in hell," unquote, that she was going to attend this address by Israeli President Herzog. Now, you'd be hard pressed to find a more hateful and destructive member of the Democratic Party. To admittedly, she's somewhat of an outlier, but she's not alone and yet Biden hasn't rejected her, he hasn't distanced himself from her. To the contrary, Biden has embraced Ilhan Omar, right. In April, Biden flew to Minnesota's fifth district, Omar's district, to do a political event with her, and he recently accepted her endorsement of his 2024 reelection campaign, but she's not alone. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, famously known as AOC, another member of the squad, she also hates Israel openly and is proud of that. She also falsely accuses Israel of being an apartheid state. She also boycotted the Herzog speech this week, and yet Biden happily accepted her endorsement this month, and Biden loves to heap praise on her. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. She's the only Palestinian American in Congress, and yet she's not only another progressive Democrat, and a member of the squad, she also hates Israel and is super clear about it. During a podcast in May, 2019, Congresswoman Tlaib said, quote, "There's kind of a calming feeling that she gets when I think about the Holocaust." Her words not mine. On that same podcast, Congresswoman Tlaib said that two weeks earlier, she had just quote, "Celebrated," unquote, the Holocaust. Again, her words, not mine. Congresswoman Tlaib also accuses Israel of being an apartheid state, yet she literally calls for a one state solution, meaning she only wants a Palestinian state in the land of Israel, she does not want a Jewish state. She too boycotted the Herzog speech this week, yet has Biden denounced her? Hardly, Biden loves her. In 2021, Biden flew to Detroit to meet with Congresswoman Tlaib and heap praise on her, and he continues to do that. Or take Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont socialist has run twice for the Democratic Presidential nomination, and twice came in second, 2016, and in 2020. He's got a huge following in the Democratic Party, even though technically he's an independent. But even though he's Jewish, he seems to hate Israel as much as some of his colleagues. He too accuses Israel of engaging in apartheid. Let me just be clear about that. Apartheid means no other race gets to have any political power in the country, except 20% of Israelis are Arabs, most of those are Muslims. They have every freedom to have their own political parties, run for the Knesset parliament. They serve on the Supreme Court. They serve as CEOs of major Israeli companies. But in the Palestinian authority, how many Jews are serving in the Palestinian government? None. How many Jews serve on the high courts in the Palestinian authority? That'd be none. How many Jews even live in the Palestinian authority or Gaza under Hamas? That'll would be zero. In fact, it's illegal to even go unless you have some special permit. That is apartheid, not Israel. But Senator Bernie Sanders, he calls Israel an apartheid-like system. He's denounced Netanyahu as promoting and quote, "Increasingly intolerant and authoritarian type of racist nationalism," okay? He's blasted Netanyahu's government as undemocratic and racist, okay? Senator Sanders even introduced legislation to block the US from even being able to sell Israel military equipment to defend herself from Palestinian terrorism and other terror attacks. Well, has Biden denounced Bernie Sanders? Not at all, Biden loves Bernie. He praises Bernie as a man who thinks big, okay? He was happy to get Senator Sanders recent endorsement of Biden's 2024 reelection campaign, okay? Now look, to be clear, I'm not saying that all Democrats hate Israel. What I'm saying is that there are prominent, powerful Democrats starting with Bernie Sanders and certainly the squad who do hate Israel openly, and they work against the safety and security of the Jewish state, and America's most important ally in the Middle East every chance they get. Yet, rather than denounce them, Biden embraces them, praises them, campaigns for them, seeks their endorsement and prizes their political support. Yet Biden refuses to meet with Bibi Netanyahu, the democratically elected prime minister of Israel, why? 'Cause he doesn't like some of the policies of Netanyahu and he doesn't like the people in Bibi's political orbit? Give me a break and don't be fooled by the headlines that said that Biden had called Netanyahu, well, he did do that, but that Biden had finally invited Netanyahu to come meet with him. There is no evidence that that's true. I mean, the call happened, but there's no evidence that Biden actually invited Bibi to a specific time and place. In the official statement, which is called a readout by the White House about the call, there was no mention of President Biden inviting Netanyahu to a meeting, not at the White House, not anywhere. And yes, a White House spokesman has made a vague reference to a possible meeting with the two before the end of the year, but he wouldn't confirm any specific time or place. My friends, this is wrong. More than that, it's downright repugnant, especially from a man who calls himself a friend of Israel.

- [Carl] Our verse of the day today is found in Isaiah chapter 8 verse 10. "Take counsel together and it shall come to nought. Speak the word and it shall not stand, for God is with us." Our prayer requests today are number one, pray that God continues to preserve the relationship between Israel and the United States. And second, pray that God continues to put the love of Israel in the heart of nations, so that they can stand with and support Israel.

- [Joel] With the US Israeli alliance under tremendous strain, Israeli president Isaac Herzog flew to Washington, he met with President Biden at the White House. He addressed a joint session of Congress and delivered a stirring, emotional, and pitch perfect speech that receives thunderous applause and dozens of standing ovations. He's actually only the second president of Israel ever to address a joint session of Congress, and you can read and watch the full speech by going to All Israel News. I wanna show you some of my favorite moments.

- [President Herzog] Madam Vice President, Mr. Speaker, on November 10th, 1987, I was sitting at home with my wife, Michal, expecting our first child. We were watching the first Israeli president invited to address a joint session of Congress in honor of Israel's 40th Independence Day. That president was my father. In 1949, the President of the United States of America, Harry S. Truman, met with the chief rabbi of the newly established state of Israel, my grandfather, Rabbi Yitskhak Isaac Halevi Hertzog, in the Oval Office. This was just a few years after each of them pleaded and campaigned for the rescue of Europe's Jews being slaughtered in the Holocaust by the Nazis. In speaking to President Truman, Rabbi Herzog thanked him for being the first world leader to officially recognize the state of Israel 11 minutes after its foundation. He spoke, Rabbi Herzog, of the divine providence that destined President Truman to help bring about the rebirth of Israel after 2000 years of exile. Witnesses of the encounter recalled tears running down President Truman's cheeks. We're honored to have President Truman's grandson, Clifton Truman Daniel with us here today. Mr. Speaker, perhaps the greatest challenge Israel and the United States face at this time together is the Iranian nuclear program. Iran is the only nation on the planet publicly calling, plotting and developing means to annihilate another nation, and members of the family of nations, the State of Israel. Israel has no border with Iran. Israel has no resources contested by Iran. Israel has no conflict with the Iranian people. And yet the Iranian regime, together with its proxies throughout the Middle East, is aiming and working towards destroying the State of Israel, killing the Jews, and challenging the entire world, the entire free world. Allowing Iran to become a nuclear threshold state, whether by omission or by diplomatic commission is unacceptable. The world cannot remain indifferent to the Iranian regimes called to wipe Israel off the map. Mr. Speaker, I'm not oblivious to criticism among friends, including some expressed by respected members of this house. I respect criticism, especially from friends, although one does not always have to accept it. But criticism of Israel must not cross the line into negation of the state of Israel's right to exist. Questioning the Jewish people's right to self-determination is not legitimate diplomacy, it is antisemitism. Thank you members of both houses for celebrating Israel's independence. God bless the state of Israel and God bless the United States of America.

- [Joel] Look, this was a great speech. It was candid, it was heartfelt, and it, look it alone won't heal the terrible tensions that have been created by Biden and prominent members of his party, but the tremendously positive response that the speech elicited did prove that the hostility towards Israel being shown by Biden, Bernie, and the squad, in no way represent the mainstream of American politics, much less the mainstream of the American people. Let's pray, let's pray that the momentum changes hearts in the White House or paves the way for someone who truly loves Israel to replace Biden in 2024.

- [Carl] Well, thank you for joining us for this very special episode, and I hope you understand now a little bit more of the implications of President Herzog's visit to the US and what it actually achieved. If you found this podcast valuable, please get in touch with us, let us know who you are. Are you searching for Jesus? You can find him here. Do you wanna talk about something else on the show? Do you have a question that you want Joel to answer? Go to JoshuaFund.com and click on contact us. Your feedback is incredibly important as we develop this podcast. And as always, you can check out our show notes for anything you heard on the podcast that you'd like more information on. For Joel Rosenberg and the Joshua Fund ministry team, I'm Carl Moeller. Thanks for listening to this episode of "Inside the Epicenter" with Joel Rosenberg.

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