U.S. – Israel Bond Going Strong

By Don Horwitz --
23 Jun 2017 --

“Supporting Israel in the USA” by Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs is licensed under CC BY 2.0 — “Supporting Israel in the USA” by *Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs* is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Jared Kushner’s trip to Israel is a strong statement that the U.S. stands with Israel and against terrorism.

When it comes to the Middle East, American presidents come and go, but one thing remains the same: the unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel.

U.S. – Israel Bond Going Strong[/tweetthis]

Since taking office, the Trump administration and Israeli leaders have traded visits and engaged in dialogue designed to show the world that the U.S. stands with the Jewish state.

In international politics, symbolism counts. As a Jewish Zionist, I believe the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. When the U.S. and Israel work together, it sends a message to the rest of the world, and to those that would wish to harm Israel, that the United States unequivocally supports Israel.

I am not alone in my belief that Israel is the rightful homeland of the Jews – hundreds of millions of Christians share the same belief – that God promised the Holy Land to the Jewish people. These Christians love Israel, and their support of Israel is vital to the continued security and success of the Jewish state.

Through my work with Christians Care International, which brings together Christians from around the world to care for Jews in need in the former Soviet Union, I see this love every day, and I am sure the Trump administration sees it too.

This week, Jared Kushner visited Israel to establish further dialogue with both Israeli and Palestinian leadership.

As with all high-profile diplomatic missions, optics are as important as policy. Kushner’s private meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders were not open to the press, so what we know, is what we could see from his visit.

Readout of Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt, and David Friedman’s Meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pic.twitter.com/43dttuCuMV
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) June 21, 2017

His first stop in Israel was to the home of slain Israeli Border Police officer Sgt.-Major Hadas Malka, who was stabbed to death in Jerusalem’s Old City a week earlier by Palestinian terrorists. Her murder was a crime that must not be tolerated.

Like his father-in-law’s visit to the Western Wall, Kushner’s visit to this grief stricken family sent a strong message – that the U.S. stands with Israel and against terrorism in all of its forms.

With ceaseless incitement against Israel, this is exactly the message the world needs to see today. There can be no moral equivalence when it comes to terrorism, which is not reserved to Israel, but rampant around the world.

Contemporary terrorism against Jews is just the latest chapter in a long history of persecution of Jews, which I still confront every day through my work at Christians Care International. Centuries of anti-Semitism and persecution have trapped generations of Jews in the FSU, including Holocaust survivors, in poverty and despair.

But through the support and blessings of Israel-loving Christians around the world, we are able to provide life-saving support to thousands of Jews who need help.

Yet Jews are not alone as victims of terror and persecution. Increasingly, Christians face hatred and violence. In Nigeria, thousands of Christians have been murdered and many more displaced from their homes. Just last month, 28 Coptic Christians were killed in Egypt, an occurrence that has become all too common in that country. Such violence and persecution against Christians extends throughout the Middle East.

The United States will always seek peace in the Middle East. This peace must be grounded in the recognition that Israel is the rightful homeland of the Jewish people and that there can never be any excuse for inciting hatred and terrorism.

Peace in the Middle East must be seen as part of a larger effort to stop terrorism and defeat extremist ideologies. Jews and Christians must continue to work together as partners to confront these ideologies not just in Israel, but wherever they arise. Until peace arrives, the United States must continue to stand by Israel, the eternal homeland of the Jewish people.