• Sunday, May 6, 6:30 p.m.:  Night to Honor Israel with speakers Pastors Mac and Lynne Hammond with our keynote speaker Pastor John Hagee
• Saturday, May 5 - Wednesday, May 9: Holocaust Exhibit by the Simon Weisenthal Center
• Saturday, May 5 - Wednesday, May 9: Israel Marketplace with dozens of tables packed with Israeli products for purchase: jewelry, art, clothing, and religious artifacts, all from the holy land!
• Tuesday, May 8, 7 p.m.: A new movie "Israel Inside: How a Small Nation Makes a Big Difference," followed by Q&A with a board member of the producing organization
• Wednesday, May 9, 7 p.m.: Special service with a Holocaust survivor guest speaker hosted by JoAnn Magnuson
  
  
  For exact times and more information please click here .   

Prepared Remarks of Senator Chuck Grassley

“Why Israel Matters”

Meeting of Iowa Christians United For Israel

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Christian Life Center

Clive, Iowa

Thank you for your kind welcome.  It is an honor to be here with so many like-minded Christians and Jews in support of Israel.  I feel very comfortable here.

Thank you for coming.  And I especially want to thank Christians United for Israel for inviting me here tonight and for its strong support of Israel.

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to the Middle East, and I have been to Israel.   The land and the people of Israel have a special place in my heart and mind.  And I know you all feel the same.

For those who have traveled to the region, I am sure you'd agree that being there is an eye-opening experience.  There is no better place than Israel to learn about the history of Judaism and Christianity, world history, accounts and characters from the Torah and Bible, current events and the quest and outlook for peace in the region.

Clearly, the Middle East is a region that has seen a great deal of conflict for centuries.  Many issues hang in the balance:  security of nations, self-determination for people, allocation of scarce natural resources, and religious freedom.   And when it comes to the security of nations in the Middle East – Christians and Jews tend to think about the security of Israel foremost.

Differences between the State of Israel and the Palestinians have dominated the politics of the area since the founding of Israel.  But it’s more than just those differences.  There are groups, political leaders and countries that literally have tried and still want to wipe Israel and Jews off the face of the earth.

First there was Pharaoh in Egypt, then Herod and Hitler.   And now radical Islamists, such as Ahmadinajah and Iran’s proxies:  Hezbohlah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

But we can’t and we won’t let that happen to our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.  When it comes to the facts and choosing sides, there is a legal, as well as a divine, basis for the Jewish State of Israel.

It’s pretty simple – although many do not want to believe or support this fact – Israel does have a legal right to exist.  On May 14, 1948, she was established as the Jewish State of Israel by the United Nations and recognized by the community of nations around the world, except Arab nations.

Israel is our ally.  And she espouses many of the same principles and ideals of the United States.  Strategically, Israel matters.  Because what matters to Israel should matter to the United States.  Israel is a satellite of freedom and democracy in an area all too unfamiliar with those principles.

Historically, the United States has stood behind Israel while supporting the entire peace process.   And I believe we need to continue that route now more than ever.

Aside from the new and struggling democracy in Iraq, Israel is the only other democracy in a region of over 20 Muslim countries.   Israel is surrounded by nations rejecting the rule of law, human rights or religious freedom.  Furthermore, a number of these nations - including Iran and Syria - have purposefully pursued agendas risking the stability of the entire region. 

Since its founding, Israel has been a reliable, consistent ally and friend of the United States.  This friendship has served to advance U.S. strategic security interests.  This relationship has also helped Israel by keeping her strong and reducing threats to Israel's security. 

It's this kind of support that has led to peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan. 

And, it's this strong support that has denied hope to those seeking the destruction of Israel.

There have been some recent tensions between the Unites States and Israeli administrations.  But it’s important that real or perceived tensions between us do not derail the peace process and negotiations or harm U.S.-Israeli relations. 

We have an unbreakable bond with Israel and it should never be broken.

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by rogue regimes, state-sponsored terrorism, and the spread of Islamic radicalism place the entire Middle East - and the values of Israel and the United States - at risk. 

A democratic Israel in the Middle East is a strategic ally and strong diplomatic relations with Israel strengthens the U.S. presence in the region.  That’s why there should be no space between the United States and Israel.  We must stand side by side with Israel in defense of our mutual interest in restarting the peace process and stopping Iran's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.

Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have been stalled for over a year.  And now, Palestinian leaders are refusing to enter into direct negotiations with Israel.  Rather than sit down at the table and negotiate critical issues, the Palestinian leadership has instead offered unprecedented preconditions. 

If there is to be peace in the region, there must be direct negotiations.  However, lasting peace will only come when all sides reach agreement without pressure from the United States or any other country.

A national columnist wrote this earlier this month in The Washington Post:

“Binyamin Netanyahu, whose first name is that of a son of Jacob,

who lived perhaps 4,000 years ago ... whom no one has ever called cuddly, once said to a U.S. diplomat 10 words that should warn

U.S. policymakers who hope to make Netanyahu malleable:  “You

live in Chevy Chase.  Don’t play with our future.”

Only the Palestinians and the Israelis can determine the pace and scope of any negotiations. 

Our alliance with the people of Israel is both deep and wide.  It's important that we maintain and reinforce the relationship that has existed for more than six decades.

I pray someday that Israel and all others can rest together in peace.  When the Arab lion becomes a vegetarian, the Israel lamb will be a safe neighbor.

I do know that someday God’s mystery and purpose for us all will be revealed to us when we meet our maker.   But until then I do know this.  I do know that God loves Israel and I need to support her.  Israel occupies a pretty special place in the eyes of God.

Christians need to support Israel and tonight is a testament of the fact that we are obeying God’s desire.  Isaiah 62:1 begins – “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet…”

There’s been no silence or quietness tonight.  Tonight truly is a blessing.  Christians and Jews uniting in support of Israel is an answer to prayer.  It is God’s will.

How do we know what God’s will is?

To me - when it comes to Israel it is pretty clear.  God reveals His teachings and will for us in the Bible.  When I spend time in my devotions, prayer and the Word - I have complete understanding when God speaks to me about Israel.

He specifically and clearly commands me to pray for Jerusalem’s peace.  He teaches me in that I need to speak out for Zion’s sake and to pray blessings upon Israel.  This is clear to me and I take God’s words about Israel seriously.

Israel matters to me because Israel matters to God. 

But besides God’s directions for me to support Israel, in a practical sense it is simply the right thing to do.  It is true that America and Israel are bound by a common destiny!  I would have no Christian faith without Judaism being there first.

For Christians – our faith has stemmed from the rooted vine in Judaism.  To ignore the history and teachings of Judaism would leave my Christian faith incomplete.

Israel and Judaism matter because it helps give my faith meaning.

Judaism may be able to stand alone without Christianity.  But Christianity certainly cannot stand without Judaism.

Israel has stood and outlasted Pharaoh in Egypt.  She has outlasted Herod and the Roman Empire.  Israel has outlasted Hitler and the Nazis.  Let’s pray she outlasts the attacks from radical Islam and any and all other enemies.

I believe Israel will continue to survive – and thrive – because Israel matters to God.  She is the apple of God’s eye.

May God bless Israel and all who are here tonight. 

Thank you.

Jews should attend the Night to Honor Israel

     This year’s Night to Honor Israel (NTHI), on April 25, will both evoke praise as a demonstration of stalwart support of Israel and the Jewish people by Christian friends, and generate concern among others that the Jewish community — wittingly or unwittingly — is attaching itself to an agenda inimical to its interests.
I fall into the  first category and offer the reasons below for the NTHI becoming a salutary fixture on the calendar of the Jewish and greater community.
     To begin, the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the Jewish community’s relationship with evangelical Christian institutions, such as the Living Word Christian Center (LWCC) and Christians United for Israel (CUFI), is ever evolving. Indeed, in September 2008, a JCRC board agenda item to support the 2008 Night to Honor Israel sparked an emotional and at times heated debate. Thirteen months later, the JCRC board unanimously passed the same agenda item.
In the interim, on a wide variety of issues, from Iran divestment to Holocaust education, the JCRC has worked closely with LWCC and CUFI in greater confidence and friendship.
     Relations between Jews and evangelical Christians have been rife with stereotypes and misapprehensions. Jews should understand the roots of evangelical Christianity in the United States (a varied movement that defies easy generalizations) and its attitude towards Jews.
     The founders of evangelical Christianity in this land were dissidents from the Church of England. People, such as the Pilgrims, left the Old World for the New World in search of religious freedom. Their dissent from the Church of England included a love of the Bible and a belief that it remained a living, breathing testament to God’s love of the Jewish people.
Deep in our history, therefore, this significant and important stream of American Protestantism looked with great favor upon Judaism. (See Ambassador Michael Oren’s excellent book, Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present, which describes this philo-Semitism and its consequences towards American views of the Middle East.)
     At the time our founders were drafting the Declaration of  Independence and, a decade later, the Constitution, many American Protestants celebrated the Bible and Judaism as the milieu from which Jews and the Apostles emerged. Among our founders were “restorationists,” who advocated a return of the Jews to the Holy Land. In 1819, President John Adams wrote: “I really wish the Jews again in Judea as an independent nation.” During the Civil War, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln noted that “[r]estoring to the Jews their natural home in Palestine is a noble dream shared by many Americans,” as Oren notes in his book.
     These early pro-Zionist yearnings and aspirations preceded the first Zionist Congress by decades; they also reflected another critical philosophical tenet of evangelical Christianity: the rejection of supercessionism, which asserts that Christianity had inherited the covenant that had once existed between Jews and God.
     Much of Christianity’s first two millennia were infused with a theological anti-Semitism known as replacement theology, i.e., the resurrection of Jesus and his divinity heralded the end of the Jewish covenant, which had been “replaced” by the Christian covenant with God. The Jews, in their denial of the divinity of Jesus, were doomed to wander the planet as a forlorn (literally, a God-forsaken people) subject to anti-Semitism and worse. In fact, the Jewish covenant with God is held by evangelicals to be vital, viable and eternal. The bedrock of this belief anchored in the Torah (Genesis 12:3): “Those nations that bless Israel will be blessed, while nations that curse Israel will be cursed.”
     That said, many Jews are still uncomfortable with evangelicals when it is perceived that their support of Zionism is based on a need to gather Jews in Israel for an apocalyptic culmination preceding the return of Jesus.  
     Fortunately, our interlocutors in the local evangelical community do not harbor such views. Leaders such as Pastors Mac and Lynn Hammond and Tim Burt, and our local Christians United for Israel, love Israel for the redemptive power of Zionism — as exemplified by the Israeli field hospital that operated in Haiti — not for reasons related to the End of Days.
Attend the Night to Honor Israel and you will hear about the non-conversionary nature of the event, and of all the steps taken to make Jewish guests welcome. The LWCC’s ongoing commitment to our community can be seen in its efforts to educate about the dangers of anti-Semitism. Recently, the LWCC opened its Jewish-Christian Library and Education Center, with JoAnn Magnuson as its curator. The facility contains one of the finest libraries for Holocaust research in the Upper Midwest.
    The NTHI and Celebrate Israel Week events this year will include a Holocaust exhibit, a service with Holocaust survivors, a night with an Israeli soldier, and the showing of a documentary about the Jewish Brigade of World War II.
     I strongly support our community’s participation in the Night to Honor Israel and urge people to attend and draw their own conclusions.
***
Steve Hunegs is the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and
the Dakotas.

J STREET:  DEAD END FOR ISRAEL