Today on Sekulow, are Democrats preparing to betray the state of Israel? We'll talk about that more today on Sekulow. Live from Washington, D.C., Sekulow Live. Phone lines are open for your questions right now.
Call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. So let me say this, if you heard the opening of the broadcast, Democrats preparing to betray, are they preparing to betray Israel?
I am not talking about, I want to make it clear, those who already have politically who used to be on the fringe, the AOCs, the Rashida Talibs, the Ilhan Omar's, the Presleys of the world. This is not who I'm talking about. I'm talking about the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, who is a Democrat, Gregory Meeks, Congressman from New York. He got elected to the position in December of 2020, so he's fairly new to the position.
But here's a headline. Back when he was chosen for this position and elected to the position as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, this is from a pro-Israel, it's called Times of Israel newspaper. It said, Pro-Israel Democrat Gregory Meeks voted chair of key House Foreign Affairs panel. He has voted in favor of military aid for Israel. He's been against, voted against the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. He put out, he had support from AIPAC, but he also had support from the more liberal J Street. So again, he was someone who was just seen as a supporter of Israel.
So he got the House Foreign Affairs Committee seat. On May 10th, Hamas begins firing rockets into Israel. And this is what the House Foreign Affairs Committee tweets, and these are great tweets, especially coming from a Democrat chair. Chairman Gregory Meeks, Hamas attacks into Israel are terrorism, plain and simple.
It must stop immediately. And that was on May 10th. Well, now it's May 18th and yesterday in a breaking news, Congressman Meeks is sent a letter to President Biden requesting a delay of the sale of $735 million in precision guided missiles to guess who? Israel in the middle of a conflict. Seven days ago, he was calling Israel as being attacked by terrorists. Seven days later, he doesn't want their missiles to be replenished while they're having to utilize them to protect their citizens. They are holding emergency meetings about this weapon sale to Israel.
And Thanh, I want you to explain people the House role in this sale. When a sale like this is approved by the administration, as it was by the Biden administration, Congress has 15 days to review the release of that sale. And technically, Jordan, the chairman of the committee, in this case, Gregory Meeks, could get together and could move a resolution of disapproval. They have 10 days to review it. And then if they were to pass that resolution beforehand, it technically it would freeze the funding.
Now, there might be a legal fight after that. But this is I say all that, Jordan, to underscore how significant of a role Chairman Meeks played in this. And I will tell you, you know this, Jordan, but we went to great lengths to highlight this statement from Chairman Meeks because of how significant his role is. He has a very significant role. So his about face is significant.
And Jordan, I would tell you this when I boil all of this down. Here's the conclusion I draw. The pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party is driving the bust of the Democrat Party right now. I really believe that. Yeah, and this is why.
I mean, you see a shift in just a week. It's like, who got to him? Who got to him and said, on the one hand, they are being hit by terrorists. That's very clear language. On the other hand, say, but let's not replenish their weapons.
And by the way, we're not doing it for free. They're buying it from us. They're buying it from the United States. They were planned to buy it from us.
So why is this conflict not, instead of it should be a delay, why maybe, how about maybe moving it up? So where are these pro-Israel Democrats like Chris Coons, like others that we've heard about, are they going to speak to Meeks? Are they going to get to the bottom of this so that Israel knows whether or not this purchase is going to be able to go through? It's preplanned, $735 million. Nothing yet indicating that the Biden administration isn't ready to do this. But hey, 24 hours ago, there was no indication that Chairman Meeks, a Democrat, was going to oppose it. And he was supporting Israel. So this is all happening very fast.
That's why we say, are they preparing, preparing to betray Israel so that their radical left elements, their party, don't break off and start launching primary challenges against more than they already are? We'll talk about this. Thank you. Give us a call.
1-800-684-3110. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.
But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.
That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work.
Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.
It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Welcome back to Secular. We are taking your phone calls too.
I want you to weigh on this 1-800-684-3110. Do you believe that the Democrat Party, and I'm not saying they couldn't be swayed back. That's why we want to take action here.
We don't just talk about things in this broadcast. The Democrat Party is preparing to betray Israel step by step. You know, it takes steps. So you have someone like House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, a week ago when this conflict begins, May 10th, sends out a tweet in support from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, but quoting him, saying that Hamas' attack into Israel are terrorism.
Plain and simple, it must stop immediately. And yet, breaking yesterday afternoon was that the House Foreign Affairs Chair Rep. Gregory Meeks is sending a letter to President Biden in the next few days, requesting a delay of the sale of $735 million in precision-guided missiles to, guess who, Israel. Do you think in that week delay, in that week time period, maybe he's been influenced by the AOCs, the Rashida Talibs, the radical left of the world in Congress, especially the Democrat Party, which has gained more steam, has been more out front about their support of the Palestinians. They're not just saying they're anti-war and they're anti-conflict and they support a ceasefire, but they're actually pro-Palestinian, and they believe the U.S. policy is wrong.
Is that the direction we're moving in? When you make a change like that within seven days, I mean, just think about that from saying they are being attacked by terrorists to being say, but let's not rearm them, even though they're going to be paying for those arms themselves. I want to go to Wes Smith first, because Wes, as a retired colonel, I mean, this idea, again, this is the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, he got the position because he was seen as someone who supported Israel. Clearly, he got the endorsements from those groups on the Democrat side who are pro-Israel and from some non-partisan groups, and he put out the right kind of message on day one, but here we are, day eight. The only thing that's changed is that Hamas continues to up the ante, continues to fire rockets day and night into Israel, and now he wants to delay Israel rearming. And, you know, think about it, and Israel has made this clear, if Hamas will stop the attacks, Israel will stop responding. They have refused to stop attacking innocent civilians in Israel, and so the fight goes on.
What this indicates, Jordan, is how far left some members of the Democratic Party and Congress have gone, and how that moderate Democrats like Meeks are more and more being held captive by the far left, or they are intimidated into acquiescence. And the thing that I find so striking about some of this craziness coming out of people like AOC and some of the others, they are enamored, they are actually enamored with terrorist groups, and what they show is a lack of logic and of critical thinking if you really examine what's going on in Israel, and with the Palestinian Authority and all of that. If they really, really cared about the Palestinian people, do you know who they would be condemning? They would be condemning Hamas for causing this. They would be condemning Hamas for using civilians as human shields. They would be condemning the Palestinian Authority for abandoning the real needs and concerns of the Palestinian people and lining their own pockets. If you care about Palestinian people, and frankly many of them suffer, they don't suffer because of Israel.
They suffer because of their own leadership and a terror group that has taken over a whole section of their territory. Yeah, I want to listen. Dana Perino had a Democrat U.S. Senator Chris Coons, who also calls himself a supporter of Israel. He got asked about this $735 million. Take a listen.
Bite 9. Some Democrats are objecting to the administration's approval of some weapons systems, about $735 million. Do you think that that might be cancelled? I doubt that very much. So he doubts that very much, but I say, Harry, Chris Coons has got to prove himself that the U.S. Senate and the Senate Democrats are going to speak up and not let House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, who is now wavering, Gregory Meeks, or maybe he'll get back on track. I hope he does. Maybe his constituents will reach out to him. But again, that they are going to step up and do something.
It's not just word service. I think you are precisely correct. So the key question is can Senate Democrats, can the moderates in Congress, can they recapture a backbone? Can they stand up to the left-leaning members of their own party? So it's a very bizarre situation that we are dealing with here. While rockets from Hamas are still flying into Israel, evidently House Democrats and perhaps President Biden may be prepared to betray Israel.
And it's startling, but it does recall past history. Who can forget the Obama administration's failure to veto the December 2016 U.N. Resolution 2334. U.N. Resolution 2334 was intended to do one thing and one thing only. It was intended to tip the balance of the peace process to favor the Palestinians. It constituted a reversal of American policy. Keep in mind that the United States supported U.N.
Resolution 242, which affirmed Israel's victory in the Six-Day War. And so the Obama administration caved in 2016. The key question before all of the American people is whether the Biden administration will now follow suit. You know, it's interesting too, Andy, we see from CBS News their producer tweeting out that President Biden has just had an eight-minute conversation with Rashida Tlaib and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell on the tarmac in Michigan. We all know about Congresswoman Tlaib. She is a vocal supporter of the Palestinians. She herself is Palestinian and is very anti-Israel. So they just had a 10-minute conversation in front of everybody, not trying to hide this. So you've got President Biden associating himself with the radicals who would love to defund Israel.
Well, that's exactly right. We know Tlaib is completely and irrevocably on the side of the Palestinians. She is one. And she has made it very clear that Israel is the enemy, that the Palestinians are the victims of Israeli attacks and Israeli terror and so forth.
And now the President of the United States is talking to her on the tarmac and giving her lip service. Look, I believe what Harry has said is very accurate. There is there here an imminent betrayal of Israel on the part of the United States.
I apprehend. I am very scared that that is what's going to happen here, Jordan. I think that there is a lot of – what happened, as you said, in a week to change Gregory Meek's mind? In a week he's saying, first of all, that Hamas' attacks into Israel or terrorism has got to stop. And then eight days later, seven days later, he says, well, we need to think about the $735 million arms sale and we need to review the sale. What is there to review?
What is there to review? Hamas is attacking Israel. Tell me what the provocation was. There was no provocation whatsoever except they picked some symbolic days. Jerusalem Day. What was the other day? There was a name to that day? The Catastrophe Day.
Catastrophe Day. And they chose those. And that is what they do.
They pick these days of symbolic gestures to begin rocket attacks. And the United States has only one alternative if we are going to support Israel as we must, and that is the arms sale needs to go through and Biden does not need to cave to the left wing of his party. Now, this is I think the whole issue to me is that you've got now Joe Biden is cavorting with the radicals on this issue. Gregory Meeks, someone who's got to him, he's the House Foreign Affairs chair. I mean, from seven days on, he tweets a great supportive message about Israel being attacked by terrorists.
He lays it all out there, the truth. And then yet, you know, just a few days later, a week later, he's changing his tune about an arms sale. I mean, throwing their hands up then about an arms sale that they knew about that was on the books.
It's a sale. We're not giving anything to Israel. This is something you would do normally with your allies, regardless if they were in a conflict or not, but especially if you thought they were engaged in a conflict that they didn't start that was started by terrorist attacks, like Gregory Meeks said.
If the congressman really believes that, why would he be doing this to Israel? Yeah, a couple of things I'd say here, Jordan. First of all, I don't think the Biden administration wants any advice from me, but I would give them the advice that these tarmac conversations do not generally go very well.
Maybe avoid tarmac conversations going forward. But second, Jordan, it is going to be incumbent on the moderate wing, the so-called moderate wing of the Democrat Party to step in here. And you played that soundbite from Chris Coons. And look, I've got some real concern here, Jordan. We had Senator Lankford on our broadcast just a couple of days ago, and he talked about the good faith of Senator Coons.
I've seen that as well. He's typically had a good track record on Israel. But Jordan, let me just remind our listeners of something. He was also just over in Europe trying to sell the Iran deal. So look, I think the moderate wing, the so-called moderate wing of the Democrat Party, and I would include Senator Coons in this, now is the time to not rest on a good track record and rest on friendly remarks about your ally Israel. Now is the time to actually stand up and take the action that is necessary. Now is the time to not push an Iran deal with an entity trying to wipe Israel off the face of the map. Now is not the time to cater to the radical base that would want to freeze this arms sale to Israel. Now is the time to actually back up your words with action.
So look, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Senator Coons, you've been good in the past, but guess what? Your ally desperately needs you when?
They desperately need you now. It's time to step up and act. Yeah, I mean, you know, these calls for ceasefire, I understand that. I think that'll be up to Israel, though, and the Palestinians. They've got to stop firing rockets. Hamas has to stop firing rockets. Can't be one-sided.
But second, that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about the ability for Israel to complete a pre-approved arms sale that was announced by the Biden administration, and now Democrats are standing in the way. We want your calls and thoughts on this.
Is the Democrat Party going the way of AOC and Rashida Tlaib? 1-800-684-3121. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.
It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.
Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.
But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.
That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today.
ACLJ.org. All right, welcome back to Secular. We are taking your phone calls to 1-800-684-3110.
That's 1-800-684-3110. But I just think we get to this point now where you've seen congressional leadership Democrats who have supported Israel in the past, made it a bipartisan issue, but now they're kind of backs up or against the wall. There's an actual conflict going on. It didn't stop in five days. We're eight days into this conflict.
Looks like we'll go into a ninth day. Don't know if even a ceasefire would hold, how long it would hold, but right now there's no idea of that actually happening. One was they tried one.
That didn't move very far at all. But you had congressional Democrat leaders, not rank and file. Remember AOC and those types, they haven't moved into leadership positions.
You could still say they were outliers, but they are becoming more and more influential, especially when you have the John Ossoffs of the world get elected to the U.S. Senate, the Wardocks of the world get elected to the U.S. Senate, and suddenly you start having some pretty radical colleagues in both the House and the Senate with loud voices. And then did they get to the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee? Why did he on May 10th, a Democrat, say that Israel is being attacked by terrorists, it must stop? And then on May 17th, he's putting in letters to Joe Biden to slow down a sale of precision-guided rockets to the state of Israel and now they are engaged in a conflict that he called was a conflict started by terrorists.
And Wes, you pointed out as a military man, these are precision-guided rockets. They help to minimize civilian casualties. Yeah, it speaks to Israel's intention, and it's this way every time there's conflict. Israel never targets civilians. They truly regret any time a civilian is killed, whereas Hamas uses their civilians as human shields even when their civilians try to flee a rocket launcher site or a munitions warehouse, frequently Hamas soldiers will not let them leave.
And so there's a difference there. And yeah, the $735 million in question here are for two things. They're for JDAMs, which are Joint Direct Attack Munitions. These take a dumb bomb and make them into a precision-guided smart bomb to try and limit collateral damage.
The other is a GBU-39, which they are using in Gaza because it is a small-diameter bomb that is lower explosive than the other ones. Israel is doing everything they can to defend themselves and to not kill innocent people. And yet, on the left wing of the Democratic Party, they are totally clueless about this. It's almost like they're saying, do not confuse us with the facts. They have this anti-Israel bent that they simply will not back away from, and they're trying to influence moderates in the Democratic Party. And as you said, the real question is, will they be successful so that, in large measure, the Democrats abandon our chief ally in the region, the nation of Israel? Mike has called in from Nevada online, too. Hey, Mike, welcome to Sekulow.
You're on the air. Yeah, thanks for taking my call. Yeah, so I probably won't be able to word it exactly, but my question is, if I'm not mistaken, there's actually not a real Palestinian people or nation, per se. I mean, there are nomadic people like Arabs and other cultures that basically were nomads that occupied that area. There's not a recognized nation of Palestine or a Palestinian nationality. So, you know, because I'm always hearing that, the poor Palestinians, all that land was Israel's initially, and they allowed those people to live there and give up that territory. But there is no Palestine, correct? Yeah, so I think you go back in history, you're going to find a land that was called Palestine by the British. You're going to find that the people that found themselves in that at that moment didn't claim to be Palestinian, but yet instead they do. They are part of the larger makeup of the Arab world.
You're correct that probably the closest would be Jordanian and some Lebanese, depending on what part of these territories you're talking about, or Syrian as well. But again, over time, we've gotten used to, and even under international law, there are these territories, there's the Gaza Strip, and then there's the West Bank, and there is some status there. So I don't want to make too broad of statements to say, but I get your point, and your point is well taken, that a lot of this is manufactured. And unfortunately, what we saw early on was Arab states and countries utilizing this people group to be their front lines against the evil, bad Israel. And so they would fund them, they would support them, and that was, I think, the real issue.
But I got to go to this, so I hope that answered your question. I mean, you're right, but we also have to deal with the reality. The reality is they've got a lot of recognition now, especially at the United Nations. They don't have their own state, they don't have defined territories, they don't have defined systems.
But I've got to go to this. Jen Psaki was just asked about why Joe Biden is so quiet on this. Where is the leadership?
Why is there such a vacuum? We're going to be talking to Rick Renell in the next half hour of the broadcast, and he said that Joe Biden hasn't even nominated a US ambassador to Israel. Take a listen to Jen Psaki today by 46. Again, I would say that we are not following the same tactics of the prior administration. The President has reinstated humanitarian assistance and security assistance to the Palestinians. That's something that was stopped back in 2018, and we felt was not a constructive action by the prior administration. Aside from putting forward a peace proposal that was dead on arrival, we don't think they did anything constructive, really, to bring an end to the longstanding conflict in the Middle East. All right, one I want to hit right away, which is that they reinstated humanitarian and security assistance.
Hey, Andy, that stopped the conflict. Yeah, I mean, what about the Abraham Accords? Oh, forget that completely.
We don't want to talk about that at all. No, no, they were a complete failure in the Middle East. But this is an administration that literally came in and gave the Palestinians humanitarian aid and security assistance, and they used it to target Israel. That's right. That was the purpose. Joe Biden responsible for their newfound wealth.
Well, that's right. Joe Biden doesn't want to admit that. But the reality is that what Biden did, which was a reversal of the Trump administration policy, was to exacerbate the situation in the Middle East and to minimize what President Trump did in the Middle East as far as securing peace. And we don't even want to talk about, as you said, the Abraham Accords, in which Israel has now had relations with Arab countries in the Middle East that would never have happened before. Was there this happening in the Middle East during the Trump administration? Were rockets flying in from Gaza and attacking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem? No, but it happens under the Biden administration because they have taken a position in favor of terrorists and against the peaceful state of Israel, who is trying only to defend itself.
Yeah, I mean, this is, to me, I mean, you've got the Taylor Force Act violated. So much of this, again, she's bragging about what they did for the Palestinians, but look what the Palestinians did with what they got. And the region is on fire today because of the Biden policies. You know, you can, if you took her criticism at face value, which would be a very dangerous thing to do, you could at least say that during the four years of the Trump administration, there was relative peace there in which the Biden administration is totally destroyed.
But you're right. The Taylor Force Act, what she did not mention is the reason we stopped giving financial aid to the Palestinians is we gave them a condition, an ultimatum. That is, if you will stop paying murderers who kill Americans and Jews and quit giving stipends to their families, which is what Palestinian authority does. If you will stop that, we will continue to give you financial aid to which the Palestinians said, keep your money. And they to this day still continue to reward people who kill Americans and Jews. Thus, the Taylor Force Act.
They have refused to stop doing that. And what does the Biden administration do? Well, we'll go ahead and we'll give you the money anyway.
That is a boneheaded thing to do. Coming up, second half hour, Rick Rinnell is going to be joining us, our senior advisor for foreign policy and national security. So he'll be joining us as well to discuss this and also a brand new documentary we're releasing today called Not Forgotten. And it's a short doc, so it's something you can watch on your tablet, on your phone called Not Forgotten, the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson. So that is being released today by ACLJ Films.
You want to check that out at ACLJ.org and you'll see it throughout social media. We'll talk to Rick about that. Talk to Rick about Israel as well. We come back on Sekulow. Get your phone calls in at 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. We'll be right back. To learn more about our life changing work, become a member today. ACLJ.org. Live from Washington, D.C., Sekulow Live.
And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. So it's quiet diplomacy. That's what's been put in place by Joe Biden.
He's been pretty quiet about everything. Sometimes that may be a good thing for Joe Biden to be quiet and not try to ramble through words. But when there's a world conflict going on, it's good to let your own country know what side you're on, what side the United States administration is on. I know where the American people are. I know the American people support the state of Israel. But what about our President and his administration, Jen Psaki, who was already asked about this idea of, oh, but we did all this stuff for the Palestinians.
Yeah, that didn't turn out well. You know, they had a disaster in the Middle East because she doesn't mention the Abraham Accords because they don't like making peace deals with the Gulf states. That's not Iran. So if it's not Iran you're making a peace deal with, you failed in the Middle East, even though their peace deal, their nuclear deal with Iran didn't hold up very well either. But she was asked again, what are you doing with this quiet diplomacy by 47? What are you getting out of this quiet diplomacy strategy?
Well, again, this has been going on now for eight days. Every person who loses their life, every day it continues, is one we'd like to see, of course, an end to the conflict. But our tactical approach is that most of our conversations, the majority of them will happen behind the scenes. Yeah, I mean, behind the scenes with who, Hamas, Perry? Behind the scenes with Hamas and with Iran. So I think it's clear that elections have consequences, policies have consequences, and the Biden administration has incentivized terror. And so now the Middle East is literally in flames and the Biden administration is apparently proud of their achievements that have led to those rockets flying over Israel and to the further entrenchment of Iran with respect to the Palestinians. And I think the Biden administration has also incentivized Hamas.
Why? Because they've engaged in negotiations with Iran to rejoin the failed Iran nuclear deal. I want to go to Thay a minute because Thay, it's one thing to say, you know, diplomacy happens behind the scenes.
That's great. But it's also, sending a strong public message shapes that behind the scenes diplomacy. And they're not doing that when they say just, well, while people are dying, we don't want that to continue, we want that to stop. That's not sending a strong message to those who are conducting the behind the scenes diplomacy.
Yeah, you can make an impact in these situations, Jordan. I mean, look, what I would say back to Jen Psaki is your tactical approach is not working. Clearly, the evidence is there to show that it's not working.
Maybe it's time to pivot. Maybe it was a good strategy to help our ally pursue other agreements in the region. Maybe actually getting allies in the region would keep terrorist organizations at bay.
But Jordan, the approach that they've taken is exactly the opposite one. And I would just tell you from a political perspective, I think it's very clear, Jordan, that the soul of the Democrat Party is on the line here when it comes to this issue. I don't know who the White House is going to listen to, but clearly there are factions that are arguing from both perspectives. And Jordan, there will be a policy ramification.
Will Congress intervene and actually hold up these funds? There's also going to be a political one, though, because I still believe the vast majority of the American people stand with the nation of Israel. And Jordan, if the Democrat Party in Washington, D.C., walks away from Israel in an even more meaningful way than they already have, I believe they'll pay a very heavy political price for it.
All right, folks, we come back. Rick Grenell will be joining us, our senior counsel for foreign policy, national security. We're going to get into the bigger issue of what's happening with Israel, obviously, not just the politics of the United States, but those politics as well. Because, again, as someone who's been a senior diplomat before, which Rick has as ambassador to Germany, spent 10 years with the United Nations and, of course, as acting director of national intelligence, he understands the importance of both what you do publicly and what you do behind the scenes and how that works together.
You don't just take one of the strategies. Silence publicly is not a strategy. It is you're scared of your own party.
You're scared of the backlash of the left. So you have a silent President while a conflict rages in the Middle East. We know you stand with Israel. We know you support the state of Israel.
What I encourage you to do throughout this is to educate your friends and family on why so that they understand why do they support Israel. We've got great pieces up at ACLJ.org, great information to share. And as always, go to ACLJ.org and share that with your friends and family.
We'll be right back with Rick Grenell. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.
But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.
That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life changing work.
Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.
It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, playing parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift.
Welcome back to Secular. Rick Rinnell, our Senior Counsel for National Security and Foreign Policy is joining us. I want to play this sound from Jen Psaki. I want Rick to react. We just got it to him. She was asked this morning by reporters, I think, where they landed in Detroit. She was asked about the idea of the Biden administration.
Two questions. One was on quiet diplomacy. We'll get to that in a second. But the other was, you've acted so differently than the previous administration.
Why? Take a listen. I would say that we are not following the same tactics of the prior administration. The President has reinstated humanitarian assistance and security assistance to the Palestinians.
That's something that was stopped back in 2018, and we felt was not a constructive action by the prior administration. Aside from putting forward a peace proposal that was dead on arrival, we don't think they did anything constructive, really, to bring an end to the longstanding conflict in the Middle East. Okay, Rick, I will get to the Abraham Accords in just a second. But first, Rick, I want to get to, hey, we gave them aid and security assistance, and look what they've done. They've started a conflict. Let's be very clear, Jordan, we should start and remind and finish every single interview from here to eternity on the fact that Jen Psaki just admitted that they have a different policy, a fundamentally different policy, 180 degree difference than the Trump administration when it comes to the Middle East.
Now, what does that mean? I'm all for Presidents having new policies, trying new and different things, but we cannot have a Washington, D.C. that puts its head in the sand after they implement policies and not evaluate whether or not their new policy is working. Let's step back and see.
I agree with Jen. They did something dramatically different than the Trump administration. It isn't working.
Stop. This whole idea of quiet diplomacy isn't working. We don't have a U.S. ambassador to Israel. What are they thinking?
I know you tweeted that out, Rick. We have no ambassador to Israel, not nominated. No one nominated, so we have no one there as a top representative from the Biden administration. You know the importance of that as being the former ambassador to Germany. The idea, again, too, what are we getting out of this quiet diplomatic strategy? Basically, she says they'd like to see the conflict come to an end, but that they're going to do everything behind the scenes. I think, Rick, you've worked in diplomacy a long time and in negotiations, but also in the intelligence world.
You could do a lot of behind-the-scenes work, and that's important and that's great and it's necessary, but what you say publicly shapes that behind-the-scenes work, and right now this silence is deafening. Quiet diplomacy only works when the media aren't paying attention and you want to go and make progress outside of the glare of the media lights. By the way, the Trump administration did that a couple of times. I certainly know firsthand we did it in Venezuela.
We tried to do it in Venezuela. I think it's important to be able to have a State Department and a diplomatic corps that can do both quiet diplomacy and loud diplomacy. The fact of the matter is, Jordan, we have a crisis in the Middle East, we have a crisis on the border, and the Biden administration thinks somehow quiet diplomacy is working in both. I have news for them.
Neither one is working. They need to switch gears. They need to recognize that giving money to the Palestinians backfired.
It didn't work. The Middle East got worse. The Israeli-Arab conflict got worse because they are funding the Palestinians. I'm glad she admitted it. I'm glad that she's telling the world that we're giving them money because I've been very concerned.
Where did they get the money for the thousands and thousands of rockets that they're launching? Well, now we know. Jen Psaki just admitted the Biden administration. Americans have given the Palestinians the money.
Mr. Ambassador, let me ask you something. What kind of message is the fact that the Biden administration has not named a U.S. ambassador to Israel? What kind of message is that sending to the world, to Israel, to the Palestinians, to the Europeans, and so forth? I would also add to that the fact that Joe Biden refused to call the leader of Israel for a very long time. There were calls to say, call Benjamin Netanyahu.
Reach out to him. Coordinate with him. And the Biden team really refused. This is a strategy of Jake Sullivan. He wants to ice out the Israelis. It's clear. With the help of Susan Rice, they're trying to send a very strong message.
She did the same thing. Susan Rice did the same thing at the U.N. during the Obama years. They want to put the Israelis on ice, and this is a very dangerous game, because it sends the message to the Palestinians, to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to Iran, that we are not as close to Israel and won't have their back.
That's a dangerous, dangerous game. I will just say this. In the Trump administration, for all the criticism that we got for being unorganized, we had a U.S. ambassador to Israel named, nominated, through committee, a confirmation vote, and in place all by May 15th.
They, the Biden administration, haven't even named, they haven't nominated a single bilateral ambassador. Rick, you'll love this. So Jen Psaki's answered a lot of questions right now, I guess, on this flight. She couldn't run away from the questions. And she's been asked just by a reporter now about war crimes in a war crimes tribunal.
Take a listen, Rick, and get your comments by 48. Should there be a full accountability whenever this is over on both sides, looking into the question of war crimes? You said yesterday you'd make that assessment. So should there be, on both Israel and Hamas, an investigation and accountability held on whether there were war crimes committed? A decision for the international community to make together. I will say that our objective now is on bringing an end to the current conflict.
This is new, Rick. So now we're going to have the international community just decide which of our allies to bring war crimes charges against. Let's be very clear what she just did. She just allowed the UN Security Council to veto America's policy. We don't have an America policy. We certainly don't have an America First policy, because now what we have to do is go to the UN Security Council, put forward our idea, and then listen to 14 other countries water it down.
What will come out as the international community, the global community's position, will be the lowest common denominator of 15 countries on the UN Security Council. That's outrageous. It doesn't make Americans safer.
It makes America less safe and beholden to a whole bunch of other countries' priorities. This is something to get back to, Rick. You use that word a lot. Consensus. But throwing Israel under the UN bus is dangerous as well. This is all going on.
All these comments happening today. And Rick, it's happening at the same time where we've got the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, the Democrat Gregory Meeks. When this conflict started, he said Hamas are terrorists. This is a terrorist conflict. They must stop.
Now he's seven days into it. He wants a halt to the sale of weapons to Israel, a sale that was already approved even by the Biden administration of $700 million. So we're not giving it over. Taxpayers aren't giving this to Israel. Israel's buying it. Something is getting to these Democrat members of Congress who have been right on the issue of at least Israel in just the last seven, eight days. Look, Nancy Pelosi knows this problem all too well. It's the squat.
The squat has a lot of power. Our foreign policy is becoming woke policy. The far left Democratic Party has taken over domestic and foreign policy and created this progressive wokeism. And what that means is, is that while we lower our CO2, we have to pay for other countries to politically make the right decision on climate change. When it comes to the Middle East, we have to wait for other countries to decide where they are. When it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict, we don't come down on the side of Israel, which is the only democracy in that region. We instead are going to try to tie Israel's hands in protecting themselves. You know, Rick, last question for you is more of a comment. We just put together a mini documentary we're releasing today at MoreThanEver.com. It's MoreThanEver.com.
We've talked about this idea of ACLJ now more than ever. It's about the release. It's called Not Forgotten, the release of Pastor Brunson. Your feature in this documentary is while you were ambassador to Germany.
Just for a second here, describe people. That's why we say not forgotten to that moment on the tarmac late at night, early hours the next day in Germany when you presented Pastor Brunson with that American flag. It was about 3 a.m. in the morning and the lead up of the plane landing and the emotions of watching the plane taxi on American soil in Germany.
And we're watching as the plane opens up. The emotions were getting very big and I could feel that moment. I could feel that God was in control and was bringing this individual, Pastor Brunson, home. It was incredibly emotional and as he walked down the stairs of that plane and I was at the bottom of the stairs with an American flag.
I had to struggle to keep my emotions intact because I knew in that moment that the pastor, the great Pastor Brunson did not need to see a U.S. ambassador too emotional. And so when he got down we had our moment. I gave him the flag. He hugged the flag.
He kissed the flag and he was overcome with emotion just like me. It's a beautiful moment I think we're doing by God. We're putting the image up for people to see. It's up at, again, MoreThanEver.com and we'll start sharing this now more on social media. Rick, thanks for being with us. We will be right back on Secular. But if you want to check that documentary out now, MoreThanEver.com.
We'll be right back. It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases. How we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists. The ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later.
Play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry. And what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.
Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights. In courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.
But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.
That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org. Where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today.
ACLJ.org. I want you to all realize what happened while we were talking to Rick Renell. And that is that Jen Psaki has opened up the White House supporting, you know, just handing over the idea of Israel being prosecuted for war crimes. You know, the questioner, and you'll hear it, says, well, you know, should Hamas, and they look at both sides.
But let me tell you something. Hamas is never getting in trouble. We've got plenty of time we've spent at the International Criminal Court. They are seen as the party, the wronged party, if you will. And that Israel is the big bad bully. And that even if Hamas started the conflict, anything Israel did in response was wrong. And they didn't stop it soon enough, even though Hamas won't stop the rocket fire. But take a listen. Did Jen Psaki say, Israel's got a legal system, it can handle its own issues like has been the past positions by administrations in the past? No.
Take a listen by 48. Should there be a full accountability whenever this is over on both sides, looking into the question of war crimes? You said yesterday you'd make that assessment. So should there be on both Israel and Hamas an investigation and accountability held on whether there were war crimes committed? Should there be a decision for the international community to make together? I will say that our objective now is on bringing an end to the current conflict. I don't even see their objective doing anything of that either. Because of silent diplomacy, it's so behind the scenes, it's hard to find them. But we found Jen Psaki today and she had to answer questions then. And this idea, I don't know if it's because she was near Rashida Tlaib when this was happening. But suddenly the squad is becoming more, and you said in the chat, more and more mainstream inside the Democrat party. And I think to the actors, the non-elected actors like Jen Psaki, they align themselves with that more extreme ideology than would some publicly members of Congress who have to get elected. Yeah, and I don't care what the motivation was, Jordan.
I mean, this is so offensive. This is not a decision for the international community to make. This is a decision for the commander in chief for the United States to make.
Here's the situation. We have an ally who has a designated terrorist organization lobbing rockets over the border at them. And Jen Psaki says the President of the United States, the man responsible for setting the foreign policy of the United States, the man responsible for activating the defense of the United States, he is going to defer to the international community to decide whether or not we're going to stand by our ally or whether we're going to stand by the designated terrorist organization.
Jordan, that's not just a slip of the tongue. That is offensive and that is dangerous to the national security of the United States. Now, that said, your point about whether or not this is just being motivated by a minority view inside the Democrat party, Jordan, even a week ago, I would have told you that I thought that that was a fair statement.
That is not a fair statement now. You have the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the most powerful person on foreign affairs issues in the House of Representatives, asking the President of the United States to no longer help our ally Israel defend against these attacks. Jordan, after today, unless a moderate wing stands up and speaks out vocally against this, this is now mainstream inside the Democrat party in Washington, D.C. Let me go to John in Texas on Line 1. Hey, John, welcome to Sekulow.
You're on the air. Hey, listen, I feel like there's a lot of people that have lost part of their mind. Israel's survival depends upon their defense and on their offense. You take away these missiles from Israel, they're going to have to go on the offense against Gaza. They're going to have to take out those missiles either by airstrikes or go in militarily and occupy that country. I think, John, you bring out an interesting point is that they are defending themselves.
They are not the offensive actor here. They were responding and are responding to an attack by a, as they had said, recognized terrorist group. And anything we do, including arms sales, which were approved, sales. Unlike Jen Psaki bragging about how they gave security assistance for free to the Palestinians. And by the way, what the Palestinians do with it, they launched an attack on Israel.
Israel buys their weapons from the United States. They actually have an economy where they purchase $735 million. It's a big purchase, so it's not a weight on the taxpayers.
It's not a burden on the taxpayers. This is part of doing a business government to government, if you will, especially ally to ally. But I just want to go around because I do want to play some from our new documentary more than ever in a bit. But just to get people's thought, this idea that it just feels like, unfortunately, every day we will see a good comment from a Democrat. And then days later, it starts getting muddled. And then we hear from the White House press secretary.
I mean, I'll go to Andy West and Harry on this. Well, what's happening is that there is this steady erosion, in my view, sub silentio under the table of support for Israel. And I see that happening because what is occurring here, Jordan, is that there is this steady movement of the radical left taking precedence and speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party. What happened? I want to know what happened, Representative Meeks, in the week between May 10 and May 17 to change your mind about Hamas and the support that the United States has for Israel. Why do you want to delay so that lawmakers can review the sale?
Review what? What happened in that seven-day period? I want to know. Who got to you? What did they say to you?
You need to come out and tell us. Yeah, exactly. What we are witnessing in Israel today is a massive eight-day long, so far, terror attack. And Hamas started it. Israel did not start it. They have indicated that if Hamas will stop targeting the civilians in Israel, then they will stop retaliating. Hamas refuses to do it. And my question to Jen Psaki and some of the Democrats is, why can't you bring yourself to unequivocally condemn a terror group and unequivocally support your ally?
Why are you incapable of simply making a statement that does that? I agree with Andy that there has indeed been a steady erosion of Democratic Party support for Israel. But I think the problem is this erosion is beginning to approach flood stage. Consequently, betrayal, I believe, by the Biden administration is waiting in the wings, and so all strong supporters of Israel ought to take note of the Autoreact and they ought to bring pressure on Congress and the Biden administration. Thanh, let me play this by you first.
I'll get your thoughts. This is from our new documentary. It's available at MoreThanEver.com.
You'll start seeing it on our social media as well. It's called Not Forgotten, the release of Pastor Brunson. Here's just a trailer from it.
Guys? Oh, okay. It's not loading, so let me go to Thanh right away. I don't think we might have time to play it today.
We'll play it tomorrow for you. It's at MoreThanEver.com, but Thanh, I want you to talk about it too, that experience with Pastor Brunson, the experience with an administration who doesn't do things all quietly and behind the scenes. Yeah, one of the most significant memories of the past few years in my professional life, Jordan, I got to tell you, seeing Pastor Brunson come home, seeing the effort that took place behind the scenes. Maybe the most special thing to me was seeing the collaboration all the way from the highest level of the United States government all the way down to the members of the ACLJ. I'm not just talking about staff members, Jordan. I'm talking about regular members of the ACLJ who amplified this story, who made sure that U.S. senators, U.S. congressmen, and ultimately higher levels of the U.S. government, including the administration, knew about it.
I mean, there was a lot of visibility at the highest levels of advocacy, but it also went down to the grassroots level of our organization. Seeing Pastor Brunson come home was special, and Jordan, maybe one other memory I would remind you of. When Pastor Brunson and his family came to Washington, D.C. to say thanks to those who had advocated for him in this town, the impact here that that left in the halls of Congress, Jordan, that's going to last a long time as well.
Yeah, absolutely, folks. So you want to check out more-than-ever.com to see that new documentary, Not Forgotten, the release of Pastor Brunson. It includes, of course, Rick Rinnell, who's now an ACLJ team member, at the time was ambassador to Germany before serving as acting director of national intelligence. So we're all over this issue involving Israel. You know we have an office in Jerusalem, and we're all over these statements that have been coming out today.
I think we'll have further analysis later in the week, too, because this is coming one, two, three, which are statements which are truly troubling about where a major party is in the United States is when it comes to the support of our ally Israel. We will talk to you tomorrow. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-11-17 11:38:19 / 2023-11-17 12:01:18 / 23