Tag Archives: Israel

Why Mike Huckabee is the Right Man

Posted on May 8, 2025 | Comments Off on Why Mike Huckabee is the Right Man

(First published at Dailywire.com, on behalf of the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy)

United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee presented his credentials two weeks ago to Israel’s President, Yitzchak Herzog, and immediately demonstrated why he is the right person for this vital position at this critical time. It is true that Ambassador Huckabee has visited Israel more than 100 times, in his capacity as a Baptist preacher leading his congregation and as a politician accompanying his constituents, but even more importantly, he understands Israel, its uniqueness, its role in history, its abiding friendship with the United States, and its challenges.

Huckabee declared at the reception that he returns to Israel with “absolute joy and an overwhelming sense of awe that I am in a land where G-d Himself said, ‘This is mine, and these are My people.’” Such sentiments are not often expressed in Israel and not articulated often enough by Jews but they provide the foundation for defining the rightful place of the State of Israel, its reason for existence, and even the relentless antagonism of its enemies. The land of Israel was not only the land of the Bible in ancient times; it remains the land of the Bible and awaits the fulfillment of the prophetic vision of the future. Perceived through that prism, Israel’s struggles against implacable foes take on a new light that is visible only to someone who shares Ambassador Huckabee’s perspective.

Indeed, it is hard to imagine another ambassador having visited the country to which he was posted one hundred times before he assumes the role. It means that Huckabee’s commitment to Israel’s security stems from his correct understanding of America’s place in the world and its capacity to foster good and promote peace and prosperity. What should be on Ambassador Huckabee’s agenda, especially mindful that he is the US Ambassador who should advance American interests in the region?

The Ambassador has been outspoken in recent years as to the non-viability of a Palestinian state in the land of Israel, now rendered especially incongruous and perilous in light of the Hamas massacre of October 7, the ongoing war, and the Palestinian Authority’s reluctance to condemn that war. As ambassador, he can thwart the subtle encroachment towards a Palestinian state favored by Europe and some elements in the United States by reiterating a number of steps taken during the first Trump administration. He can again shutter the US Office of Palestinian Affairs (OPA), located on Agron Street in the western part of Jerusalem, which was revived by the Biden administration in violation of US and Israeli law and functioned as a quasi-diplomatic mission to the Palestinians. During the first Trump term, this office was closed, and its services provided out of the American embassy in Jerusalem to which it reported directly.

The OPA as currently constituted is an affront to Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. Ambassador Huckabee, together with Israel’s Foreign Ministry, can use his good offices to limit or halt the activities of the several European consulates that are located in Jerusalem and operate as missions to the Palestinian Authority in defiance of Israeli and international law. The ambassador can persuade – and certainly the US government can act to support Israel’s closure of these hostile outposts in the heart of Jerusalem.

The Ambassador can urge the State Department to finally designate “Jerusalem, Israel” as an official place of birth on American passports. State has long embraced the chimera that Jerusalem’s status as part of Israel – as Israel’s capital, no less – is somehow still subject to the outcome of negotiations. This policy should be repudiated and US citizens born in Jerusalem who so desire should have their place of birth recorded as “Jerusalem, Israel.”

Ambassador Huckabee should also encourage the Trump administration to follow through on its temporary suspension of funding to UNRWA and make that suspension permanent. UNRWA, although barred by Israeli law from operating in Jerusalem, still maneuvers behind the scenes, controlling schools and in some cases economic development while advancing the interests of Hamas, with which it was integrally linked during the Gaza War. Cutting aid and resigning from UNESCO, another UN organization that is antagonistic to Israel and the United States, is also an American interest.

Additionally, for many decades under Democratic administrations, any type of residential or commercial building in Jerusalem by Jews – not by Arabs – drew immediate condemnations from the State Department. This too much end, and the ambassador is well positioned, as is President Trump, a real estate maven, to take the lead in supporting Israel’s plans to construct new neighborhoods in Jerusalem and even to explore the expansion of Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries to encompass satellite towns on its periphery.

To his great credit, President Trump has appointed two distinguished emissaries to Israel – David Friedman in his first term and Mike Huckabee in his current term. A person of faith, such as Ambassador Huckabee, deeply understands the centrality of Israel in the narrative of world history. But this ambassador also deeply understands the Israel of the future, and the pivotal role played by the city of Jerusalem, and even more how a secure and prosperous Israel will strengthen the United States and bring the world closer to the vision of peace on earth.

Rabbi Pruzansky is Senior Research Associate at the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy (JCAP.ngo).

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Holy Fire, Unholy Lies

Posted on April 25, 2025 | Comments Off on Holy Fire, Unholy Lies

(First published at Israelnationalnews.com)

There is literally no respite from the lies of our enemies. 

This holiday season, as always, brought thousands of pilgrims, tourists, and worshippers to all parts of Jerusalem to share in the festivities of the holidays of Passover and Easter. And, as always, it elicited from Israel’s enemies a torrent of lies, provocations, and baseless accusations, all of which deserve to be refuted.

The three-day Easter celebration was marked by thousands of Christian pilgrims enjoying Good Friday services, Holy Fire observances, and Easter Sunday in Jerusalem’s Old City, with special concentration on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But a host of Arab provocateurs rushed to the media to complain about hundreds of people turned away by Israeli police, including the Papal Nuncio, from entry into the Church. Some of the protesters turned violent and claimed that Israel was defiantly interfering with Christian freedom of worship.

There is a kernel of truth to the accusation that entry to the Church was restricted by Israeli authorities – but not for the reasons ascribed to Israel by the provocateurs. By prior agreement, admission to the ancient church for the Holy Fire ceremony was limited to 2,200 people who had received prior authorization, with another 1300 allowed to access the outer courtyard and the roof. Such limitations are common throughout the world – museums, today, are a typical example – and prior authorization for entry is common at synagogues in Europe and the Americas. These restrictions are imposed for security reasons, and not only to defuse the threat of Arab terror, but rather to protect the worshippers from the potentially deadly effects of overcrowding.

Indeed, entry to the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca is barred to all non-Muslims, but even the number of Muslim visitors to Mecca and the Grand Mosque are severely restricted during the holiday seasons out of concern for the safety and security of pilgrims. This year, entry to the city of Mecca is forbidden beginning on April 25 and through the month-long Hajj season, to any Muslim who does not possess a valid work permit, a Mecca residency ID, or a valid Hajj permit. But enemies of Israel only perceive tourist restrictions in Israel of any sort as problematic and offensive.

As is known, the interior of the Church is a very confined space, and subdivided – to the inch – between some half-dozen Christian sects. The Holy Fire ceremony involves the kindling of a candle, with the fire then shared with the various groups until hundreds of candles are lit in this small area. In 1834 – unfortunately for our enemies, long before the State of Israel could be blamed – hundreds of Christian pilgrims died in a stampede caused after fire spread throughout the Church at a Holy Fire observance. The restrictions are designed to avoid the recurrence of such a tragedy.

Israel is especially mindful of the dangers inherent in mass crowds assembling in ancient structures. In 2021, forty-five Jewish men and boys were crushed to death, and more than one hundred injured, when celebrants fell on slippery steps at Rabbi Shimon’s tomb in Meron causing a stampede. That is why limitations are imposed at such locations. Imagine if there were no regulation of entry at the Church, and tragedy ensued, how these same critics would be lambasting Israel for its indifference to Christian life.

The enemies of Israel have it backwards. Rather than these restrictions indicating Israel’s interference with Christian worship, they instead testify to the concern for the life and well being of all tourists, pilgrims, and visitors to the Holy Land. 

Israel should be lauded for its conduct here, not castigated.

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Defining Pesach

Posted on April 7, 2025 | 1 comment

(First published in the Jewish Link of New Jersey)

Generations of Jews, living under the most trying circumstances, surely asked themselves this probing question: how can we celebrate Pesach, the season of our freedom, when we are no longer free? We may no longer be slaves to Pharaoh but we were enslaved to Romans, Christians, Muslims, and Crusaders, to Inquisitors, Fascists, Nazis, and Communists. We were still tormented by evildoers such as Pope Urban II, Ferdinand and Isabella, Bogdan Chmielnicki, Al-Mahdi Ahmad (17th century Imam who banished the Jews from most of Yemen), Empress Maria Teresa, Czar Nicholas I, Hitler, Stalin, and too many others. What sort of freedom could their Jewish subjects celebrate on Pesach night? Why celebrate that we were once liberated?

Conversely, many wonder today how we recite in the Hagadah “now we are slaves; next year, we will be free.” With all our travails and even the looming threats, we are blessed from Above with living in a golden age of Jewish life. There are few Jews who are persecuted today, Jews live in the exile by choice, many Jews across the world are remarkably successful, and our reborn Jewish state is flourishing despite the evil designs of our enemies. How are we slaves? And how is the average Israeli supposed to relate to “we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt”? That condition is so far removed from his or her daily life as to be irrelevant.

In the exile, we were not free, and when we uttered “next year we will be free,” it was with hope tinged with resignation. Today, we are free, so with what sincerity can we state that “now we are slaves”? Either way, the night of Pesach requires a relatable definition. How is this night different from all other nights? What change did the Exodus introduce into Jewish life?

Pesach night is the moment in history when we were designated G-d’s Chosen People. It is why the kiddush at the seder is one of the required four cups and not just a regular kiddush for Yom Tov; after all, it begins blessing G-d “who chose us from all nations, exalted us above all cultures, and sanctified us through His commandments.” It is why we read Shir Hashirim on Pesach, that sublime and esoteric account of the eternal love between Hashem and His people. It is why “this day shall be a remembrance for you, and you shall keep it as a feast to G-d, throughout your generations… forever” (Shemot 12:14).

In the opening words of Kiddush – “who chose us from all the nations” – we proclaim the fundamental theme of the night and the purpose of the Exodus: that the Jewish people were chosen by G-d as His representatives on earth. Thus, on Pesach, we do not commemorate the past but revel in the chosenness of the moment. That chosenness is still extant and transcends any political situation. Jews who lived with appalling persecution found comfort (sometimes even wry humor) in our status as the Chosen People. Jews who live today under the most benign and prosperous conditions need to be reminded that the objective of our national life is not the accumulation of toys but the realization of the divine purpose for which we were designated.

As the Hagadah states, if G-d had not liberated us from Egypt, “we would still be slaves to Pharaoh.” Really? Yes, because even if the tyrant would not be Pharaoh himself, it would be someone or something else. There would be nothing special, unique, or chosen about us. We would be enslaved in Mitzrayim, the land of limits, in the degradation inherent in a vapid and godless life. We might have been free but we would not have been chosen. On Pesach night, we were chosen, and history was never the same.

Certainly, many Jews recoil from the notion of “chosenness,” preferring to dilute the concept by referring to our increased obligations or responsibilities. That is true, but G-d did not label us His “obligated people” or “responsible people” but His chosen people.

Chosenness means that we are intrinsically bound to G-d and to no human being. Rav Soloveitchick pointed out that the Hagadah underscores that “we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt,” rather than the simpler locution “we were Pharaoh’s slaves.” To be a “slave to” a tyrant is what you do; it is not who you are. A chosen people can never truly be slaves to any human being.

What does it mean to be chosen? Rav Ovadiah Sforno (commentary to Shemot 19:5-6) suggested that all nations are precious, but we are the most precious when we are the kingdom of priests that teaches all of mankind to turn to G-d and worship Him together. Our chosenness is inherently connected to our loyalty to Hashem. We are mandated to use our talents and culture to spread G-d’s word, to be an original source of light to the nations rather than a pale reflection of their progressive values and decadent behavior.

And because we are chosen, we will always have a unique history that defies human comprehension. Only we returned to our homeland after an exile of nearly two millennia. Only we are subjected to relentless hatred from across the globe – from left, right, and center, from the “religious” and the atheist. Only we can be brutalized, massacred, and kidnapped, and hear sundry voices find large audiences when saying, “well, maybe they deserved it.” No other group on earth is victimized and is forced to hear those rationalizations. It is because we are chosen – and need to find our voice, resolute and proud, defiant and strong, to articulate this to others.

On Pesach we were chosen by G-d as His people – and every Pesach must be the catalyst to embrace our chosenness and use it to redeem the world. Chag Kasher v’sameach!

You can purchase my book on Pesach entitled “Road to Redemption” and also receive a free downloadable overview to the Hagada from Kodesh Press. Do it today and have it in time for Pesach or ask for it at fine stores everywhere. Check out this link.

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Needed: Vision and Leadership

Posted on February 24, 2025 | 2 comments

(First published at Israelnationalnews.com)


Life in Israel is an emotional roller coaster. Not long ago I wrote that, aside from the hostages and their immediate families, we should feel not joy but relief at their liberation, and be mindful of the price paid in the lives of our soldiers who pressured Hamas to this point, as well as the lives of our soldiers lost capturing the terrorists who are now being freed. Our emotions range from relief to rage. Nevertheless, those enraged at the sight of coffins of Jewish victims now being returned alongside the jubilation seen in the Arab world at the release of their murderers should internalize that this is what “at any price” look like. What did we expect? This is their plan.

As if to add to our degradation, Hamas is so unbowed and undeterred that it has resumed blowing up our buses. Of course, only fools would release thousands of Arab Nazi genocidal terrorists from prison and not expect a resumption of terror. How did we lose our way? How did defeat take the place of victory – and so suddenly?

Abba Eban famously said that Arabs “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” That is no longer true. Arabs exploit every opportunity they get – to weaken us, terrorize us, murder us, and demoralize us. They know how to manipulate our society, they know that we will pay any price to liberate the hostages, and they know that this winning strategy can and will be repeatedly employed in the future to achieve whatever aims they want. We have rendered ourselves incapable of victory. For all the blather about learning from and not repeating the mistakes of the past, that is precisely what Netanyahu seems to be doing.

Do you know who “never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity”? We Israelis, who time and again, especially recently, have been given opportunities to deal decisive blows to our enemies, and do not.

Hamas was on the brink of destruction and we saved them. In truth, the war was lost when Israel began providing humanitarian aid to our enemies and adopted the fiction that Gazans are innocent civilians, not an integral part of the Hamas terror network. The war was lost when we began (again) the lopsided terrorist for hostages deals in November 2023, validating that strategy.  The war was lost when Hamas was so on the verge of extinction in January 2023 that it was willing to barter hostages for cans of oil until Netanyahu succumbed to more Biden pressure and provided fuel in exchange for literally nothing. The war was lost when Netanyahu first rejected the notion of freedom for our hostages “at any price,” and then began paying that price.

With Donald Trump’s return to office, new opportunities present themselves that we are again disregarding. Trump recently said that “all the hostages must be released or else,” but Netanyahu, listening to the voices calling for hostage deals, failed to capitalize on that free hand, preferring the release of a few hostages here, some coffins there, and a plethora of freed terrorists. Trump is giving Netanyahu carte blanche to eradicate Iran’s nuclear program, which has been met so far with our silence and inaction. At this point it is more likely that Iran will develop a nuclear weapon than that Israel will demolish its capability (I do hope I am wrong).

The problem seems deeper than the recurrent accusations that Netanyahu talks tough and rarely acts. For sure, he is the finest communicator we have ever had as prime minister, and no Israeli politician has ever been unfairly vilified to the extent that he has. It is something else entirely.

All the evidence to date suggests that PM Netanyahu perceives himself (perhaps unconsciously) as a “conflict manager,” not as a “conflict solver.” He seems to recoil from solutions, preferring to nibble at the margins of a conflict rather than ending or resolving it.

Recall that Netanyahu was first elected in 1996 running against the implementation of the disastrous Oslo Accords. Yet, as soon as he was elected, he did not renounce this catastrophic agreement but implemented it, albeit more slowly, but implementing it nonetheless, even withdrawing from the holy city of Hevron. He boasted that “if they give, they get; if they don’t give, they don’t get,” but what they were “giving” was ephemeral and what they were “getting” endangered our lives. Instead of ending Oslo, he tried to manage it, and was voted out of office. Similarly, his vacillations on the calamitous Gaza expulsion – he was for it before he was against it – are part of the same pattern – management, not resolution.

Fast forward to Netanyahu’s tenure of almost 15 years and we see, unfortunately, not much has changed. The PM has been warning about Iran for decades but Iran is closer than ever to nuclear capability. His threats have been eloquent and ominous but nothing much has changed. To be sure, there have been attacks around the margins – delaying the program through the untimely deaths of Iranian nuclear scientists and detonation of some of its facilities – but these resolved nothing, The Mossad operation in 2018 that pilfered Iran’s nuclear archives was extraordinary, but long-term, accomplished what, exactly? Trump in his first term then withdrew from the Iran deal (which he had promised to do anyway) but Biden returned to it, so what was the long-term effect? Proving to the world that Iran has a nuclear program? Everyone knew that already but most nations don’t care. That is management, not resolution.

The Shalit deal was an example of conflict management, not resolution, emboldening the enemy that terror pays. The various Gaza skirmishes throughout the Netanyahu tenure – the “mowing the lawn” operations – are examples of conflict management, not resolution. Netanyahu seems to lack a killer instinct, never goes for the jugular, never strikes a deathblow against our enemies. That he is mocked today in Gaza, not feared, should be worrisome for all of us.

Hezbollah was near destruction, and most of south Lebanon was under Israeli control, until Netanyahu again decided to abandon territory won in a defensive war and again allow Hezbollah to rearm, rebuild, and return.The beeper caper was stupendous, but not a game changer. We let Hezbollah survive. It will bide its time. We will absorb its attacks without fully responding because that is what we do. That is management, not resolution.

Hamas was near destruction, and most of Gaza under Israeli control, until again Netanyahu decided to resuscitate them, and withdraw from territory saturated with Jewish blood, all to fight another day. That is management, not resolution. Our soldiers are killed, and nothing changes.

Most recently, President Trump proposed that Gazans be relocated to a place where they can live in peace (that is conflict resolution, not management), and what has been our response? To laud the proposal as bold – and then send caravans and building materials to Gaza. Why would caravans and housing materials be sent to Gaza if resolution entails resettlement? It is because we have a leader who manages conflicts but cannot end them, who repeatedly caves under pressure (Clinton, Obama, Biden, and to a lesser extent, Trump), and never accepts any responsibility for failure.

Hamas is solely to blame for kidnapping and murdering our hostages – but we should not need to be reminded of the pathological evil of our enemies. We need to know what our leaders are doing about it. The answer seems to be, again, declaring victory and pulling out, surrendering and calling it a “strategic retreat,” and kicking the can down the road. On October 7, we ran out of road, and still, spin and more spin, the old and failed ways have returned, we grieve and the enemy rejoices, nothing changes, and we are again promised that “just wait, victory is around the corner.” 

Count me a skeptic. If Hamas’ goals were to murder Jews and free their terrorists from our prisons, it has already won. And it is truly inexplicable why Israel has not yet enacted the death penalty for terrorists; at the very least, it would preclude the wild scenes of euphoria among the “innocent” Arab civilians who dwell in the land of Israel.

For better or worse, Trump is a conflict solver, not a manager. His Gaza logic – “why would you keep doing the same thing over and over, when it does not work?” – is impeccable, but such logic has always evaded our leaders. Rightly or wrongly, he has tired of Zelensky who has no realistic vision of an end to his conflict, and probably justifiably so, and he will soon tire of Netanyahu as well and his indecisiveness, his irresoluteness, and his failure of leadership and vision. Trump is a problem solver and if he determines that a problem cannot be solved he will walk away. He is almost daring Netanyahu to act, boldly, without inhibitions, against Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen. Yet, as if preternaturally, Netanyahu cannot or will not act. There is always some enigmatic reason for him to remain passive and let the problems fester.

A conflict manager allows unfettered illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem – in Israel’s own capital city – as well as in Area C of Judea and Samaria. A conflict manager allows foreign consulates in Jerusalem to host events in praise of terror and view themselves as embassies and ambassadors in Palestine.  No self-respecting country would indulge such effrontery. A conflict manager talks of judicial reform and does little about it. A conflict manager wins elections not by presenting resolutions but by depicting every opponent as far worse, people who will “divide Jerusalem!” or “establish a Palestinian state!” or “expel settlers from their homes!” A conflict manager talks and talks and talks about annexing the Jordan Valley, or annexing Judea and Samaria, but does nothing about it.

A leader with vision would accept the Trump proposal for Gaza with a smothering, enthusiastic embrace. Such a leader would not be furnishing homes and allowing the Gaza ruins to be rebuilt but would maintain it as a demolition site to encourage emigration and as an eternal deterrence to our enemies. He would settle Jews in areas conquered from our enemy. He would actively work to implement the Trump plan for Gaza and then apply it to any Arab in Judea and Samaria from the river to the sea who rejects Jewish sovereignty.

If past is prologue, today’s pain and rage will dissipate, we will bind our wounds, find joy in our personal lives, and revert to supporting our political teams even if that demands a suspension of reason and a continuation of the failed policies of many decades. Our glib leaders will persist in exclaiming that “together we will win!” even if they are bereft of any plan for victory. The irony is that our most rabid enemies today are the enemies of most of the Arab countries in the Middle East, and so decisively defeating these enemies – ending that part of the conflict – will promote peace generally. And yet we do not.

Is failed leadership our inescapable reality before the coming of Messiah? Perhaps, but we need not make it more difficult on ourselves by acting irrationally and repeating awful mistakes. But for G-d’s grace, we would be utterly lost, and we thus pray for His compassionate hand that consoles us in our time of distress. May He send our leaders with strength, and integrity, leaders who rise to the challenges of this fateful moment in the history of our eternal people.

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