Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Tucker, Iran, and Israel at War

I before introducing the ambassador as I said needs no introduction. I do want to acknowledge David Milstein as well. David is a good friend to all of us [applause] familiar with David from Florida from Boca Raton and he's always there for our community and advocating for America and Israel and so we're so glad he was able to join us here tonight as well. Um, you're all following the ambassador long before he was in this position as governor and earlier than that is not only a proud patriot of America, but an incredible support of the USIsrael relationship in a time that we need. We need people who speak, vocal leaders, strong leaders, people of courage, clarity, conviction, which the ambassador always has been, and perhaps never more in a public setting than his recent interview, uh, I would say in Israel, but really at the airport, not even far beyond that. Um, and and Mr. [clears throat] Ambassador, um, you know, there were those who were concerned not because of you, but because of the person interviewing you is real snake and and and and tricky and unfair and manipulative. And to say that you held your own is an understatement. You really not only put him in his place, you spoke the truth, defended the truth. You made us all incredibly proud. Much more than that, you made us incredibly grateful for representing the truth. Uh and and standing up in that incredible way. And for that and so much more, from the bottom of our hearts, we're endlessly grateful to you. [applause] [cheering] Uh told the ambassador, I'm a little disappointed he didn't bring his guitar for tonight. Well, [laughter] I don't know if you saw last night the clips of of he and Ambassador Freeman were playing together. Ambassador Friedman, I mentioned, was on our flight over is a resident of Boca Raton and and a friend of ours. And to say that following him would be difficult in this role. Um, but not only not only are you filling those shoes in your own way, surpassing them uh in a very meaningful way. And I'll say in the comfort and safety I think of this room, Ambassador Freriedman, it's not surprising at all his background and his Jewish identity. All that he's done and in many ways even more so because of your identity and your religious conviction as a non-Jew to stand up for the Jewish people means even more to us. So you're in our prayers every day. >> Thank you. um sincerely in our prayers every day that God not only protect you but continue to give you that strength and those words to do that what you do and to represent this critical relationship and to stand up as a patriotic American and to support this relationship with Israel. So from the bottom of our hearts, we're incredibly grateful to you. So thank you and thank you for giving us this time. [applause] When I reached out to David and I asked if possibly we wanted to come to you, we'd never asked you to come to us. And from the moment that your office said that you agreed, I was waiting for the email to say, between that interview and the impending potential attack with Iran, I was sure it would be cancelled. So, here we are. Is really a dream tonight. So, thank you for making the time. >> Thank you, Rabbi. Thank you very much. And uh what a delight to be with you. It is uh an absolute joy to have you in Israel right now. And I'm grateful for the kind things that Rabbi Goldberg said, especially related to the uh I would say interview, but it was more like a uh [laughter] courtroom interrogation. I've given depositions to hostile attorneys that weren't any close to that. Uh it was really bizarre because I've known Tucker Carlson since 1993. He was working at the newspaper in Little Rock at the time and uh then he and I worked together at Fox for six and a half years in New York. The person that I visited with last week is a very different person than the person that I have known and I don't know what it is. Um it's hard to say. I know that when he had people like uh the little Nazi Nick Fuentes on uh he gave Fuentes like 65% of the time. When I was owned, he gave me 35% of the time and he took the other 65%. And it was pretty evident that he had an agenda that he really was not interested in an exchange. And when he would ask a question, if you saw any of it, he immediately interrupted me within 16 seconds. Now, I didn't keep up with all that, but there were people who did. and they posted, you know, an analysis of the interview with me versus an interview with Vuentes or with Daryl Cooper, the crazy person who said that uh Winston Churchill really was the villain of World War II and Hitler was the misunderstood good guy. And Tucker didn't even push back on that. When you can't push back on a ridiculous statement like that, you've lost your way. So, if you look at several of the interviews that he's had, I think the only people that he really challenged and took on and and didn't want to have us talk were Ted Cruz and me. So, I'm really proud to be in that small club of people. [laughter] Um, the worst part, I think, was that I guess the day after he was at the airport and he never left the airport. You know, we say Delta, the airline, stands for didn't even leave the airport. [laughter] Uh if you've ever been stranded in Atlanta, you understand why that means that it was a weird thing. His whole even coming to Israel became bizarre. He was uh insistent that we contact the IDF and let them know what his flight was so that they didn't shoot him down. And I didn't want to say to him, Tucker, you're just not that big a deal to me. [laughter] You know, planes come and go and Bengurian every day and I don't hear of anybody getting shot down. And um there were so many things about just getting there. And then he said things like that his passport was confiscated. He was sitting in the most luxurious private lounge that I've ever been in in the world, and I've been in quite a few. And he didn't get his passport confiscated. They took it so that they could go and do the processing while he could sit and have a nice snack in a lazy boy recliner. He should have said, "Thank you." And if you saw the video, he was yucking it up with the airport employees and hugging on them and taking photos, but then somehow when it was all over, um he made it sound like he was mugged. I told one of the interviewers, I think on uh maybe Newsmax last week, I said, I don't know if he'd know the difference between a massage and a mugging if he went through this. It was really bizarre. But anyway, right after he left there, I think a day or two later, he went to Saudi Arabia and did a two and a half hour interview. It's very revealing because he uh he pushed real hard this clip uh particularly quoting Genesis 15 and he he went on this tear which I was trying to figure out where are you going with this? There were several of those and it became obvious he had an agenda and he took a portion of what I said and at one point he had pressed and pressed and pressed and I I finally just said really tongue and cheek yeah they can have the whole thing after which I immediately five times said Israel doesn't want from the Euphrates to the Nile what they only want is what they have which is essentially the ancient land of Canaan And that's what they're asking for is peace, security in the land God gave them. Now, he left that out when he sent that clip out all over the place and when he sent it to Saudi Arabia. So, by Sunday, every Arab nation in the world had absolutely condemned me, taken it up in their legislators and their houses of of [clears throat] ruling and uh it became this bizarre life of its own. My point is that saying that that's what I said without the context, without the fullness of the statement is like saying that you watched the hockey game the other night between Canada and the US, but you missed the last 30 seconds. And I would suggest if you did, you missed the whole game. I mean, that was the point. Anyway, all that to say, uh, we're living in a really crazy time. Um, I want to say how grateful I am to President Trump for sending me here. And uh, [applause] I really I tell people he didn't ask me to come, he told me I was coming. And if you know President Trump, he doesn't ask you, he tells you. And that's kind of how this went. Of course, now I look at his Twitter account first thing every morning to see if I've been fired or not. [laughter] As you know, he's famous for uh releasing people on his social media account at sometime around 2 or 3 in the morning. So far so good. I think I'm [laughter] still there. Um couple [clears throat] of quick things and then I just want to open it up for a time that you can ask questions or make comments, whatever. We'll just have an open discussion. Um I'm assuming most of you have been to Israel before. Is anyone here for the first time? Everybody's been here before. Okay. Um, my own experience coming here started, it'll soon to be 53 years ago in 1973 just out of high school. I came here that summer just before the Yam Kipar war. I didn't know that was about to happen. There may be another one soon, but I don't know if that's about to happen either. Um, >> this time we're not sure we believe you. [laughter] >> I am not Tucker Carlson. I don't I may not know, but I'm not going to lie about this guy. Um, I fell in love with the place. And I got to tell you, many of you perhaps, although everyone here looks too young to have been here in 1973, >> 68. >> 70. >> Wow. >> You guys are older than me. [laughter] >> Well, probably not, but maybe you came when you were small children. But you will attest to the fact that Israel was not this beautiful startup nation that was alive, vibrant, economically on fire. It [clears throat] was a struggling country and most people were living on kibutim not because they really thought it was a great way to go but that was the way people had to survive. I remember in the old city on Fridays the betterawins would be moving their livestock through the old city and it was not a tourist uh attraction. It was market time and they were bringing goats and sheep and all the animals through the old city at that time. You leave the city limits of Jerusalem and it was nothing but barrenness, rocks, just dirt. There was nothing green. I go to the same places now for miles all down the Judean uh what used to be the Judean desert and now it's lush with forest and groves and orchards. Uh it's a very different country, dramatically different from what it was. And people who act like that God is not involved in this country, I think are missing something that is quite obvious. And I tell people, I think it takes more faith to not believe in God living in Israel than it would just to look around and say, "I see a miracle every day." I mean, the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy that the dry bones will live again and the desert will bloom, you see it. You see it with your own eyes. And over these years, I'd been here over a hundred times before I came last year to become ambassador. And one of the most remarkable things is the physical transformation of the country. The second most remarkable thing is the uh economic transformation of the country. Israel had a GDP growth of over 3% last year with four wars. I want you to stop and just process that. Nobody does that. Uh, no country ever is at war as intensely as Israel was in 2025 and would have a GDP growth. That's unheard of. Since October 7 of 23, the stock market in Israel has grown by 100%. It's doubled. Now, again, that's not supposed to happen when you're in the middle of a war for your very soul and your existence. How do you explain it? Well, I like to explain it this way. There was a farmer who bought a piece of property down in the NGV and it was nothing to look at. In fact, it was just dirt and rock just as I described a little bit ago. And uh he utilized the drip irrigation that is an Israeli innovation. And he worked hard. He cleared the rocks and he irrigated the land and he grew crops. And after five years, he had a magnificent, beautiful farm with fruits and vegetables. And his rabbi came out to see him. And he was looking around at this wonderful farm that had been created. May have been Rabbi Goldberg, I don't know. And he was looking around and he said, "Oh, my son, what you and God have done with this place." And the farmer wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "Yeah, Rabbi, you should have seen it when God had it all by himself." [laughter] It's a great reminder that yes, you cannot separate this incredible story of what's happened in Israel apart from God's hand. You just can't. And I tell people all the time, look, maybe ambassadors aren't supposed to say these kind of things, but I can't see it and not say it. It would be disingenuous of me to separate the incredible hand of providence on this land and not be able to articulate that that is a part of the story that we see every day here. Yes, I could make the case just from a geopolitical standpoint that the existence of Israel historically as uh a people who have indigenous connection to this land going back 3,800 years with a constant presence with a language with a uh tradition with a connection to the very land itself. You you could make that case. But if you add to that the biblical record and you layer that on top, you cannot come away with anything other than that we are living in truly what is a land promised to the Jewish people from the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Anything less than that really discounts this extraordinary story that is a story of God involved in our world, which gives me an enormous sense of comfort. I'm not Jewish, but I'm very happy that there is a God who created the heavens and the earth, who made man and woman, and who put in motion a history, not a disjointed history, but a linear history of his actions in this world. He chose the Jewish people through which to do it. I'm not Jewish, but I wouldn't have my own faith if it weren't for the trunk of the tree from which my faith comes. there. Many years ago, there were people who really didn't understand why particularly evangelical Christians were so supportive of the Jewish people and of Israel. And so [clears throat] I was having a conversation with a a friend of mine from New York who's a medical doctor and we'd known each other for several years. We'd been to Israel together several times. And he said to me very sincerely, "Help me understand. I know you have a love for Israel. I know you have a love for the Jewish people, but sometimes I I just wonder why. And I just looked at him and said, "You can be Jewish and you don't have have anything to do with me. You don't need me. I cannot be a Christian and have my faith without you. I owe you. There's a debt of obligation here." And I said, "I believe in the word. I believe in God's uh holy Bible." For me, it's pretty simple. God made a promise to the people of Israel. He made a covenant. And God never breaks that covenant. We're living in a time, one of the most dangerous heresies that's going on these days is this heresy that, well, yeah, he had a covenant with the Jewish people, but you know, that's no longer operative. And to that I would say, well, that's saying that the immutable God can change after all. Well, that's to me a almost a statement from which I'd want to get away from the windows. If God can break his covenant with you, he certainly could break it with me. If God is a covenant breaker, a promise breaker, then his promises are not. No, God is not capable of breaking a covenant because that's the whole idea of a covenant with God. Can I break it? Can and do. Can he? Absolutely not. else he would no longer be that immutable unchangeable god the same yesterday today and forever. So I shouldn't be giving theological lessons to a room of rabbis. [laughter] That's probably a foolish thing for me to do. And uh I'll just say one more thing and then I will open it up for any discussion that we would like to have. and that is that uh it is so important that you're here because I think sometimes people maybe don't fully appreciate the extraordinary continuity of the state of Israel and the Jewish people unless they are physically here to see it with their own eyes. You can read a book, you can see a film, um you can see a documentary or listen to lectures, but there is nothing like walking through the land and touching the very stones and having an understanding that this really is the holy land. And with that, I say thank you for letting me come. And uh [applause] Mr. Ambassador, maybe I'll I'm sure others will ask about Iran and whether our schedule to return Thursday night is going to happen or not. Um I'll ask a different question. Okay. >> Which is [laughter] >> good. >> I I'll let you remember them for that. I'll ask a different question. >> Um you went right into the lion's den in this conversation that you had with Tucker. >> Yeah. >> You know, we as a people are facing these growing voices. We were concerned with the far left and now we have concerns within the far right. and Candace and Tucker and I hesitate to even say their names or give them any attention. And that's that's sort of the debate is do we confront them? Do we speak about them? Do we bring truth to them? Or do we say that's only adding fuel to their fire? That's giving a spotlight that they seek. Sometimes we think the only people who want to speak about anti-semitism are anti-semites >> because they like that attention. >> Yeah. >> Whereas we should talk about ourselves and the messages, Mr. Ambassador, you just spoke about the beauty of the land, the beauty of our people, our history. Do you have advice for us of do we give them attention? Do we confront them? Or do we ignore them? Can you ignore them? Their their platforms and their audiences are so large it's hard to know. Are they bots? Are they real? Are they people who agree or they disagree? It's hard to know whether the life online is really representative of life offline. So, do we confront them or do we ignore them and turn our attention to other things? >> It's a great question. I'm going to say that and I reserve the right to be wrong. I think you confront them. You cannot let it go unanswered. Letting it go unanswered is essentially agreeing with it. What happened in the runup before World War II? People just said this is not real. Nobody will believe this nonsense. And by the time people realized it was real, it was too late. I fear that ignoring it is to essentially accept it and even allow it to go unchallenged. I I often quote my high school speech teacher. That was a long time ago, okay, that I was in high school. But sometimes teachers put [clears throat] an indelible impression on you. And I'll never forget what he drilled into us. Silence is agreement. And that stuck with me that when you're silent that you have agreed with whatever was just said. That if you do not challenge that which is untrue, that which is offensive, that which is hurtful, then you in essence have agreed with it. And if there's someone in a room who is bullying someone and nobody speaks up to stand up for the person who's being bullied, whether it's in the third grade or whether it's in a political conversation, then everyone in the room assumes that that must be okay, that it's all right to do that and that what was said was true. The reason I think we have to confront some of this because number one, it's evil. It's not just wrong. It would be one thing if it was just people who were misunderstood or who who didn't get all their homework done, but this is intentional. These are not people who are doing this only to make money, although I'm convinced they're making a lot of money. Um the sad reality is there is a there's a risk and that risk is that by calling attention giving them even that much uh credibility if you will uh we'll probably draw eyeballs to them and uh it may cause people to to say oh you know yeah that guy's why I like his message. It's the risk we have to take because speaking against something that we know is [clears throat] evil and is factually wrong, demonstrabably wrong, if we don't do it, then the narrative of the lie becomes in essence the only narrative that's being out there. And if if a person and and people like Tucker are real good about speaking halftruths and I I remember years ago hearing from one of my professors, if you speak a halftruth as if it is the whole truth, it becomes an untruth. And I'll give you a couple of examples from the interview. He would say things like um you know, Israel is a very very unfriendly place for Christians. That was one of his big things. It's not fundamentally untrue. There were 34,000 Christians in Israel in 1948. There's 185,000 today. My own experience. I've been here a hundred times. I've lived here for a year. Um I've never been spat on. Nobody's ever heckled me. I know it happens occasionally in the old city with people who do that. It's terrible. Nobody's going to approve it. In fact, everybody I know in Israel that I personally know find it repulsive. Uh the prime minister has spoken out strongly against it as has the president and the foreign minister. I don't know of anybody who said that's a wonderful thing. Um but it's a very limited thing. It's isolated and you can't assume that everybody's going to have the same methods of good behavior and manners that we would expect of our own selves or our children. But he made it sound like that a Christian is just persecuted here. And I'm thinking that's just not the case. He he made many comments about how that President Trump is being bullied around by uh the prime minister here and that the president is really weak. And I'm thinking, you know, first of all, it insults me and it insults the president for you to say something like that to to pretend that Donald Trump is not strong enough to make his own decisions. And if you've ever been around him, and probably most of you here have, you know that a lot of things you can say about President Trump, weakness ain't one of them. Uh I I just find that really repulsive when he says stuff like that. And I could go through other things that he said just in our conversation, but you have to push back on this. You know, he made this uh he platformed this guy. He just he said he wasn't platforming. He was just interviewing this Tony Agrialar guy when he was mentioning how he said that the IDF had murdered this young boy. Well, he picked the wrong illustration on that one because I was heavily involved in the extrication of that kid out of Gaza and uh knew the details way better than he did. And you know, he let that guy go on his show a few months back and make up this crazy story and tell it. And he never pushed back. He never asked for any proof of it. He just told it. It was utterly untrue. So, uh, you know, we've got to challenge things like that. Otherwise, people would think the IDF was just murdering children in the street for sport. And the truth is the kid is very much alive. He's in a safe place. And uh he was never even so much as bothered, but he would have been had he stayed there because Hamas would have made sure they killed him to help that narrative about the IDF killing him become reality. >> First of all, thank you. Thank you so much. I imagine that most if not all of us are very grateful for the administration and hope that Republicans will always be in power or at least this side of the Republican party, not the tougher part. >> Agreed. inevitably um Democrats will get back into power because that's history. It seems over the last few years we've been seeing a tilting much more that is becoming the Republicans are the party that are the o Israel who love Israel. What ways can we continue to ensure that the Democratic party as well can be friends of Israel too? That's a great question. And I can remember that it wasn't that many years ago that the Democrats were the more reliable party of support for Israel than the Republicans were. So, let's be real honest and fair about that. It's not always been that the Republicans were the pro-Israel party. I'm happy they are. I'm much more at home in a party that is, cuz I'm going to be in that camp one way or the other. Um, but I don't think it's a hopeless situation. I I want to believe that there are people within the Democrat party that are beginning to wake up to how the extreme has taken them to a dead end and they're going to have to they're going to have to change course. Uh no matter what you think of Bill Clinton, and I know him very well because we're from the same home state, uh Bill Clinton really was a driving force in helping the Democrats come back to the center after they were moving so far left that they were losing every major national election from 1980 to 84 to 88 and uh you know then in '92 um Clinton came back. He was like the third way and what everyone thinks. I mean, you know, look at his record. He actually did pretty well as a president. And I say that as a Republican who never voted for him. Um, but there were many things that he did. The most important thing he did, he recognized that he needed to work with Republicans on things like balancing the budget and uh, you know, making some reforms and welfare reform. That he was a Democrat president, but he led with that. He led with immigration reform, things that people don't give him credit for. He tried to bring together even peace in the Middle East. He had Arafat and uh Houd Barack at the same table. Barack almost gave away everything in Judea and Samaria. I'm, you know, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I'm so glad that Arafad was such an arrogant uh crazy person that he walked away from taking 97% of everything that um that they wanted, which proved they didn't really want it after all. They just didn't want Israel to have it. I mean, that became the ultimate. And Bill Clinton, there's a great YouTube video of him when he talks about that very thing. And I think it's very powerful because it is not some right-wing Republican, it's Bill Clinton. And he says, "That's [clears throat] when I knew," and he was talking about when Arafat walked away in 2000 in those uh conversations. And he said, "That's when I realized that the Palestinians don't want a two-state solution. They don't want a solution. They just don't want Israel to have anything." Um, we need to replay that a lot. Let people see it. Going back to the point though that I think Democrats, they need a little encouragement. We need to build relationships with the ones that haven't lost their minds. So it means you don't have to find too many people because there are not many left that haven't [clears throat] lost their minds. That's a very partisan statement. But >> and I know I'm going to surprise you with what I'm about to say. I want there to be a strong Democrat party. I don't want him to be a majority, but I want him to be a strong enough party for the check and the balance. There's there's something healthy about that. And it's unhealthy if one party has unrestricted power because it always leads to a level of corruption. Doesn't matter left or right. It just does. And anyone who thinks differently hadn't swam in political waters very much. Um so I'm hoping that each one of you will build relationships with [clears throat] what I would say thoughtful, reasonable, responsible Democrats, particularly people in the Jewish community who ought to be natural allies aren't necessarily. Uh, I met with a group last week. David begged me not to, but I did. The J Street people were here. And, uh, you know, I [clears throat] did it because I I don't have a fear of going into the lion's den, obviously, and sometimes it's because I'm stupid. But, you know, it was helpful for me to to just sit down and listen to them and realize, wow, where do you come up with this view of, you know, of really your own people? I don't get this. But it was instructive and I'm glad I did it. And I think I presented to them that, you know, I'm I'm willing to sit down, look you square in the eye and talk to you and answer your questions, but when it really gets down to it, you know, I I don't expect them to have a big change of heart. Um, but that's okay, too. We keep we keep plugging, but keep speaking it. >> Just one thing you want to tell them about your your meeting on the Hill. Your first meeting was with John and how that went >> with John Federman. >> Yeah. >> Oh, you know, John Federman is a great example of a Democrat who I think may be the most rational, sane Democrat. And the first thing I did when I sat down with him, I apologized to him face to face and I said, "Senator, I owe you an apology because when I was hosting a television show and you were running for Senate, um, you know, I was not very nice to you because I saw you as kind of a strange bird and uh, you know, I was campaigning for the other side and I said, "But once you got elected, I I've been watching you and the statements you make and the fact that you're such a strong supporter of Israel. I owe you an apology. He was the only Democrat who voted for my confirmation, by the way. >> And there were several Democrats that I really thought would because we had been governors during the same era. We were friends and you know, I thought maybe for old times sake, but it was also like that scene in The Godfather. Come on, could you get me off the hook for old times sake? And uh Robert Duval says to Sie, "Can't do it, Sally." And that's how I felt with these Democrats. you know, when he really got down to it, they weren't going to vote for me. John Federman did, and I appreciate it. So, there there's hope. >> There are those who will. >> Um, first, thank you for your historical perspective. I actually do think it was better than some of the rabbis put it. So, thank you very much. Um, I I I think I can speak for every [snorts] person in this room that we are the most loyal Americans that you can find. We love the United States of America with every single fiber of our being. So much so that it hurts me when there's political [clears throat] disagreements and some on the specifically on the Democratic side will be angry and say we're going to leave this country. Like I couldn't even imagine the worst president in the world. I'm never going to say I'm leaving this. I love America. Yeah. >> But we are also loyal to Israel and they claim that we are we have dual loyalty and that we're not real Americans because we say that Israel is our homeland. I think Israel is the homeland for us because it's where our grandparents came from and our and the forefathers which you believe also and I'm trying to get a a clearer perspective from your point of view because I I don't feel that we're doing anything wrong. I think we love Israel as the land of our people but we love America with every fiber of our being and wouldn't change anything. >> Do you pay taxes in America? >> Oh yeah. [laughter] >> Then America loves you back. It's as simple as that. It's a very fair question because it's one of the things that is thrown toward Jewish people all the time. But by the way, uh, one of the things Tucker says about me repeatedly is that, you know, I am not the US ambassador to Israel. I'm Israel's ambassador to the US. He thinks that offends me. It doesn't. Half of my role is the obvious one, which is representing the US and the president's policies to the government of Israel. But part of my job is to represent the value of our partnership with Israel to the US, to its people, and to its government to help them understand how this partnership is mutually beneficial. And if I failed to do that, I would be failing at half the job that I have, which is to uh not only bring the message of America to Israel, but also then return the message back to the US. It is not a divided loyalty. Nobody is, you know, more proud to wear this flag. I [clears throat] pass by it every day at the embassy and I'm mindful that that's who I work for. That's who I serve. Um, but it doesn't mean that I cannot have a a real sense of appreciation and a an understanding that when I walk in this land, I'm walking not so much in um, you know, a place where I have citizenship as a member of a political body, but I have spiritual citizenship here. It means something to me. So, and I'm not going to be ashamed of that. I'm not going to apologize for it. By the way, it's apparently pretty popular place for Americans to be. You may not know this, but there are 700,000 Americans living in Israel. Let me put that in perspective. That's more than anywhere else on the planet except Mexico, which is obviously appropriate to have a lot of Americans living in Mexico because of the border states. It's so close. But you would think that number two would be Canada or the UK or some other country. It's Israel. 700,000. And that's a number out of a tiny population of 10 million in the entire country. It's pretty significant. I tell people when they come on congressional visits, welcome to the 436th congressional district because a a congressional district is between 7 and 750,000 people. So this is like a congressional district. >> Yes, sir. Go ahead, Barry. You're amazing and we love you. >> I'm going to quote you on [applause] that. Thank you. >> You you made an a I can't even call brilliance. It's a uber brilliant presentation here tonight and in uh the discussion of some of the views, the fake views of what Christianity says about the covenant and the Jews being in Israel. It was so good that I wrote a piece actually providing the footnotes. >> But it's interesting that the theme of God keeps his promises resonates with young people. In fact, a friend of mine has done a real extensive study and found that 25% of Gen Z react positively to that statement. >> It's harder, I think, among our generation. How how do you feel when you say that statement? Does it resonate with people? >> Well, I think it does. I never thought about it from a generational standpoint. To me, it would resonate >> not because of a an age, but it would represent something that says there are a few things in the world I can trust. And there aren't many. I mean, who do you trust? Do you trust politicians? Nobody does. >> Uh, do you trust the weatherman? Absolutely not. Uh, there there just aren't many institutions that you can put your faith in. If you can put your faith in a in your in your case Jewish heritage or in my case, you know, in my Christian faith and I believe that it's solid and it proves day after day to be solid and reliable, trustworthy. It is the one anchor in my life that I can go to. Everything else may go topsyturvy, but what is it that can take me from birth to the grave with a sense of purpose and duty and honor and and expectancy? It's the only thing that to me is 100% reliable. Even the parts of it when at times I don't understand the journey. It's like when Joseph was taken on his journey, sold off into slavery by his brothers, left for dead, goes through these horrible accusations, ends up in prison, abandoned by the people who promised that it would help him. I mean, if you ever see a story in which a person ought to be bitter and angry and say, "God, this is unfair," it would be the story of Joseph. It's one of my favorite stories in the Bible. And yet there comes that moment when his brothers trying to be self-preservationist. And they say, "Please don't kill us." Because they assumed that he would get revenge. And to me, one of the most powerful moments in the Bible is when he says, "What you intended for harm, God used for good." And it was through all of those things that looked so horrible that God saved the entire nation of Israel. [clears throat] Because if he had not been in that place, second to Pharaoh, capable of delivering them from famine, they would have all died. It was the suffering of Joseph that saved the nation. So this constantly reminds me that my suffering, however insignificant it may be, I may not understand it at the moment, but ultimately when the plane lands, we're going to pull up to the gate and all get off safely. And that's what I feel like sometimes we need to say to younger people because their world is filled with uncertainty and doubt, confusion, disillusionment, hurt, getting dumped by a girlfriend or uh failing in a business or flunking a test, whatever their momentary goals are. And all of us have been there. They get shattered sometimes. Everything goes sideways on us. So [clears throat] what is it that gives us the hope to stand up? And I I quote Victor Frankl um who survived Awitz and I read that book when I was in high school. What an impact it had on me to remember that he said the difference between the people who made it and the ones who didn't were those who had a purpose for living. Those who had a reason to live. Something that has been very amazing to me is meeting Holocaust survivors, many of whom lived mid to late 90s and even went over the century mark. And I would have thought that the trauma physically and emotionally of the Holocaust would have taken years off of their lives. You would have thought these people will die in their 40s if they were children in the time of the Holocaust. Why did they live so long? because the lessons they learned from not giving up in the worst circumstances in history gave them a strength and a resilience that now we see in their grandchildren living in Israel today. And I often say the two words that I use to describe Israelis, resolve and resilience. These are the two characteristics that are stunning. Where did that come from? It is in the DNA of the Jewish people that goes all the way back to the beginning but throughout history but those who have focused on that spiritual quality of that it's not just a ethnic quality it goes to the bone it is that I have a bigger purpose in life than what these evil people are doing to me and you look at those people they live longer than anybody why they have hopeifa that makes perfect sense. >> Mr. Ambassador, I want to follow up on a question about the Democrats because >> I won't use any names and wouldn't expect you to comment on them. >> Oh, I will. >> But we'll see. [laughter] But the the concern concern I have is your commitment to the US and US Israel relationship undeniable. If only we could duplicate and replicate and expand on it. The president has demonstrated it over and over again in historic ways for which we're incredibly grateful. Our synagogue last week just hosted two of the hostages. We previously had another and Ellie Sharabi is coming in a couple weeks. And each time we take that moment to thank the president, the administration so grateful they're home. There are elements even in the current administration and potentially who might succeed this administration from it, who don't seem to have the same love and support for Israel, who might even be more aligned with with Tucker's view. Should we be concerned about him? And what do we do now to ensure that within the administration and what will succeed it from the Republican party will be more along the lines of you Mr. Ambassador and the president and not other people again I won't mention names elements within it who seem to have that relationship and don't seem to be so demonstrabably supportive. >> No I think it's uh it's a legitimate concern that you should uh articulate. Um I I think it's very important that we say to people within the party and we say it to the president when we have the opportunity uh not in a angry hostile way but just in a very honest and [clears throat] forthright way that if if Republicans in general and if the president specifically or any presidential candidate in the Republican party if they lose the evangelicals and lose the Jewish vote they will lose the election. You cannot win. It's just not possible. The numbers are simply not there. There are 80 million evangelical Christians in America. 80 million. The problem is it's not just getting them to vote. It's getting them to vote with fervor. If you lose their enthusiasm, you'll still lose the election because if they stay home, vote someone else. Um, President Trump had record Jewish vote for a Republican. it was a part of his uh huge victory in 2024. And I think we just have to continually make it clear that you don't have to like evangelicals or Jews, but if you want to win, you better find a way to like them because uh you can't win without them. Now, you know, there's there's certain things that you'd like to have because people really genuinely love you. But in politics, I I'll put it this way. People used to say, uh, what is the difference between raising money, uh, for a church and raising it in politics? Because I've done a lot of both in my life. And I said, it's really not complicated. It's quite simple. Uh, in church, you always say God loves a cheerful giver. In politics, you'll take from a grouch. So, what I mean by that is it, you know, in in our spiritual world, we want people to have the right motivations and to be pure in heart. But in the political realm, it's a simple game of math. And the math is not complicated. It's not trigonometry. It's not uh algebra. It is simple math. 50% plus one wins. Anything else loses. It's that's just the blunt reality. So if uh you know, we can communicate to the people that ask for our votes and ask for our money. Um look, here's here's the deal. There's some issues that are non-negotiable. Um, let me relate a conversation I had with President Trump. He was Donald Trump. This he was a candidate. This was 2015 in June of that year. Um, and Ben Carson and I introduced him to 1,200 evangelical leaders at the Marriott Marquee Hotel in New York. Flown in from all over the country. These were the most significant evangelical voices that represented millions across the country with the largest ministries, the largest churches. And a lot of them had real misgivings about Donald Trump. And um Ben and I were early and strong endorses even though both of us had run against him and got obliterated, but you know, he was our choice when we got out. So we hosted this meeting and you know I I'll never forget I had a conversation with him before and I said you know Mr. president, there are two issues that are critical and non-negotiable for the evangelicals. And I said, the first one is sanctity of life. For us, that is just something we it's not a political issue for us. It's it's a moral issue. So on that, we're absolutely dead set. And I said, the other one is Israel. And he did kind of like, what? And I said, yes, sir, it's Israel. And I could tell that that was sort of a surprise because he was not expecting that that that was the other non-negotiable for evangelicals. But I said, "Yes, sir, it is." I said, "We are people of the book. We believe the book." And because of that, we believe that the promise that God has given to the Jewish people is sacred. It is unbreakable. And therefore, we follow it. We believe it. And it is for us a non-negotiable. >> [clears throat] >> Uh I'm not saying that that was the reason that he has been such a strong president. It isn't. If you look at the way he grew up, his father was so supportive in creating the land for the synagogue in Queens. Um he had extraordinary relationships. I think he came by it naturally. But it was it was helpful for him to understand that from a purely political standpoint, this important constituency necessary to win believed that the support for the Jewish people and the support for Israel was absolutely essential to winning the Republican nomination and ultimately the presidency. >> You know, one of the greatest compliments we could play in our people is that somebody's a mench. >> And Mr. Ambassador, you're a quintessential mench. And I think that was exhibited also in that interview. Could you speak to us about how you were able to maintain your calm? To me, as inspiring as anything you said was the posture and demeanor in which you said it >> and [clears throat] you'd think you would rise to the to the volume and the level of the person interviewing, particularly when they're spewing outright lies and and one would be outraged. And it seems like with great intention and mindfulness, you just kept your cool and you were really mindful in in being a mench even in facing him. Was that something that you thought about in advance? And how critical is that in these conversations that we have? >> I do think it's critical. I I quote uh Proverbs 15:1 that says that uh grievious words stir up anger uh but a soft answer turns away wrath. And I think sometimes we play the game of the people who are using fury and anger and hostility and on that field we lose every time because now it's all about who's the loudest, who's the meanest. I I really believe contrast wins in those moments. And so if somebody's animated and is moving and screaming and interrupting and you can maintain a level of equilibrium, you show a contrast that people can say, "Yeah, I kind of like the guy that's, you know, not losing his cool." I do think it's important. It's kind of who I am. I don't I don't hate anyone, so there's no reason for me to yell and scream at him. Um, but I also think it was a matter of don't let him have the home field advantage. Why would I play on his terms because those are not my terms and I'd rather just stick to the facts and calmly try to push back as often as I could as often as he would let me because he interrupted me most of the time. We we spent two days here now and almost everyone we've met with across the spectrum within the Jewish community, that's where we've been meeting. None of them have expressed any fear about going into bomb shelters or ballistic missiles from Iran. Every one of them universally has said to us, >> "You must be excited to be here. You're going to have a front row seat to the miracles that are about to happen." And you speak about the resilience of the Israeli people and what they've been through for two years. They're not in fear. at least those who we've met with across the spectrum have all expressed this faith and almost I don't want to describe excitement but they've had a front row seat to miracles for two years and they feel like they're about to see the next chapter of it and they ask you aren't you excited to be here for it? You must feel so grateful you're going to see the redemption come before you. Is is that your experience too with the way that Israelis are approaching this potential of having to be in bomb even as we sit here right now? You know, we don't I'm sure you would have canceled if there were greater concern. That gives us a little a little uh comfort in the moment at least. But in this country, you have to know your whereabouts all the time. Where is the closest shelter? When might a siren go off? Is that part of the consciousness your experience even as you're approaching these coming hours or days or whatever might happen next? >> It's always amazing to me that Israelis don't have this fear of what could happen. They don't curl up in a fetal position and crawl up under their bed and refuse to get out and go anywhere each day. They live their lives. They live it to the fullest. Uh I was here September of 204. I was here to tape some television uh footage for my television show. And I was having lunch in Tel Aviv with a friend of mine. And all of a sudden, the Iron Dome, the siren goes off of the Iron Dome intercepts a rocket from Gaza right above our heads. You can hear it and see it. Everybody goes to the shelter. I was amazed. Nobody was rushing. Nobody was pushing or shoving, but everyone methodically, no one ignored it, but everyone went down, got in the shelter, which was in the basement of the restaurant, stood there, chatted. When the all clear came, everybody just methodically got up and went back and finished their now cold lunch. Uh and it was [snorts] almost and I was just thinking had this happened in America. I mean people would have been screaming and yelling and you know calling I don't think I'm going to make it and all of these moments it would have been totally different. It is amazing to see again that goes to the resilience of the of the people here. Um I won't say that I'm excited about the whole process. I told the president when I was back uh with he and the prime minister for the meetings two weeks ago. I said uh you know Mr. President, I I hope that some peace agreement can be made. I'm not optimistic that it can or will, but I would love to see that happen simply because you're going to be 6,000 miles from this and I'll be in the bullseye. So, uh, Abraham Lincoln once said when he was run out of town on a rail, if it weren't for the honor of it, I'd just soon pass. And I think to a large degree um you know it's not something I would welcome look forward to but if it happens we're here for the you know for the duration and I'm not worried about it. I don't have this anxiety or fear in part because you know uh I believe as Isaiah said that no weapon formed against me will prosper. I believe that. But if it does, I've also told my friends because we've had so many. Last year when the war was going on, all of our friends back home and our family were calling every day. Are you okay? Are you okay? Are you going to make it? And I said, 'I think so. You know, we pay attention to the shelters. We don't do stupid things. And I said, but you know, if the worst thing that could possibly happen, should it happen, and it happens here, I said, the good move is that um you know, from here our next move would be local. So, uh, you can look at it that way. >> Yes. >> Thank you for coming, Mr. Ambassador. So, there's a lot of people who live here, a lot of people in the United States who actually have something called lone soldiers that actually fight in the Israeli army. I have two kids. One of them is active. He's going back in in six weeks. And [applause] another one is following. What words of inspiration can you give the soldiers here, both lone soldiers and soldiers here and even the troops that are in harm's way um with this upcoming hopefully not but upcoming conflict? >> Uh Israelis have skin in the game like few other nations in the world. Less than 1% of US families have someone in the military. Less than 1% will ever have anyone in the military. I don't know the exact numbers but it's probably north of 80% maybe quite higher than that because here it is a matter the males go for three and the females two but beyond that it's that people really sense that duty and responsibility that their country is really up to them to save and it provides an extraordinary sense of duty that is admirable. You know, I I never cease to be amazed. I want to tell you one thing that I heard during a lot of the height of the war in Gaza. There were people who would say that the prime minister, he really didn't care and that he wanted the war to go on for his own political uh calculations. And I heard that I said, "Look, you can dislike the prime minister. You don't have to like him. And this is a nation that is a democracy like America. You vote your people in and the moment they get in, you spend every day of their term beating up on them. And that's that's fine. It's the sign of a healthy democracy. But I said, "Please don't tell me that he wants the war to continue." I said, "Because I have meetings in his office usually several times a week." And as I'm sitting on one side of the table, on the other side of the table, he has his top people from his staff who are there. And I said, 'Of those eight or 10 people, half of them have sons or daughters who aren't just in the IDF. They are in combat in Gaza. They're fighting. I mean, they got guns in their hands and they may not come home. So to say that he could sit there with these people and his own staff and be utterly insensitive to their children being in combat. I I said, "That's absurd. So say whatever you want to about him. He he certainly can handle it. He's been criticized before. But be fair and be honest. And that's neither. You cannot say that he wants this war to continue because somehow that'll help him politically because honestly he could not say that or think that or act that way and keep that staff sitting in his side because they really have skin in the game. >> Mr. Ambassador, you given us close to an hour. I don't know how much more time uh permits. >> I better probably wrap it up for your sake. You just got here. You're probably wanting to go to bed and get over your jet lag. So, >> do you have a favorite place in Israel to visit? >> Oh, I got a lot of favorite places. Um, I love the area up near the Galilee because it's serene and quiet and peaceful. I mean, that's that's one of my favorite places here in Jerusalem. I love the city of David because they just keep finding more and more to validate the scripture. And I love the statement that I heard years ago that there has never been an archaeological discovery that controverted a single verse of the Bible. I think that's powerful. And if uh if our voices didn't speak, the stones would cry out. And I I see that from the city of David. What a remarkable place. Uh I'm not a I don't mean to say I don't like Tel Aviv, but to me Tel Aviv is like any other city in the Mediterranean or in Europe for that matter that's on a coast. It's you know it's modern. It's only 100 years old. So it's not that unique >> [clears throat] >> um vibrant and I admire it for that. But I love Jerusalem. To me this is most unique city in the world and it's it's very vibrant as well. Uh the traffic's horrible. I wish. [laughter] Um but you know, there's something about Jerusalem that is magnetic. I just don't know how a person can come here and not be overwhelmed with this sense of I'm in a place that God chose. You know, you you think about Mount Mariah, Abraham taking Isaac up there, um you know, King David putting his throne in the city, the temple being there. All the things that you know have happened here. And it's just hard not to be a little bit overwhelmed with that sense of connection to uh to history, to the land that has been here. So, uh hard to find one or two places. There's a bunch of them. And uh sometimes it's like a top. You just spin it. Wherever it stops, you're going to land in a good place when you're here. >> To be a peaceime ambassador is a historic role. To be a wartime ambassador is really special. And there couldn't be anyone better in this position for us. We're endlessly grateful. I hope we can take a group picture. And we'd like to present the ambassador with a small gift and token for giving us this time. So, uh, once again, thank you so much. [applause] Thank you.