AP Images/Jens Panduro |
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and radio personality Glenn Beck may have much different theologies, but they have a common enemy in radical Islam.
Netanyahu spoke to Israel’s Christian supporters via a live satellite broadcast at the sixth annual Christians United for Israel Summit in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday afternoon.
“We hear your voice loud and
clear. We appreciate the rock solid support of the one and only Jewish
state …,” he said. “We need to defend the truth that Israel is the only reliable
ally the U.S. has in the Middle East. When you support Israel, you don’t
have to choose between your interests and your values; you get both.”
Later Tuesday evening, Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of CUFI, and Beck addressed a crowd of 5,000 at A Night to Honor Israel, the closing event of the summit.
“The truth that many Americans do not want to face is President Obama is not pro-Israel,” Hagee said during his speech at the Washington Convention Center, evoking a thunderous applause from the crowd. “Mr. President, go tell Russia what to do. Go tell the Chinese what to do. Go tell Iran to stop building a nuclear bomb.”
Hagee criticized how Obama has navigated U.S.-Israel relations since taking over as chief commander, saying: “Israel is not a vassal state of the United States.” Hagee also condemned the president’s recent suggestion that Israel revert to 1967 borders as a means to broker peace with Palestinian Arabs.
?“Attention liberal media: The Jewish people are not occupying the land of Israel, they own the land of Israel,” Hagee said. “America should never pressure Israel to give up land for peace, not for any reason, not to anyone, ever.”
Beck wowed the crowd when he made a $10,000 donation to CUFI and pledged to join the cause. Beck recently visited Israel’s Parliament,
as well as Auschwitz, the former Nazi death camp. He told the crowd,
which included 500 pro-Israel students, how deeply disturbed he was by
the visit.
“Jews must know
we know their history and are appalled by it,” said Beck during the
event, which was broadcast nationally on Daystar. “It’s time to say
enough is enough.”
Beck said
there is a difference between good and evil—and we must choose good:
“Israel is the canary in the coal mine. If Israel goes away so does our
Western way of life. We have to stand up for Israel. This is a test of
our lives and of our civilization. We must do it not because it will
bring in the Messiah or give us more baptisms, but because we love our
fellow man and because it defends our way of life.”
Although
Beck considers himself a late-comer in his efforts to stand up and
speak out for Israel, he said he’s working now to make up for lost time.
In his emotional speech, Beck went on to say: “When we see Israelis not
as part of us, but as us, we can move to the next level as human
beings. Let us declare ‘I am a Jew;’ they cannot kill all of us.”
Beck
will return to Israel for his Aug. 24 rally, Restoring Courage, an
event that aims to show the world Israel does not stand alone. Beck
anticipates 70 political representatives from around the world and four
American presidential candidates will attend, and said 700 “remote
viewing parties” have been planned.
“We
mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred
honor,” Beck said. “To our Jewish friends, intreat me not to leave thee,
or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will
go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God.”
