Host: Welcome back to this Thursday edition of Today's Issues. Fred Jackson here. Tim and Ed are away today, but I've got lots of company in the studio.
Host: We've got Tony sitting in for his dad, pinch-hitting for him.
Tony: Right. The bench is always warm, right?
Host: The bench is always warm.
Tony: Call me up from the minors, call me up to the majors.
Host: Wesley Wyman is with us. Good morning.
Wesley: Yes. Who's going to have a busy weekend doing chores?
Tony: I'll knock out my chores.
Host: You know, we like to joke about this, and I joke about it. Of course, I'll do my little bit of complaining, but it is good to have something to do. Keep your hands busy, get the kids involved. You don't want to become a couch potato just sitting around and watching football.
Tony: I will do a good bit of that.
Host: Let me help all the husbands out here who want to relax on Saturday and watch some football. Here's what you need to do. If you've got a date in mind when you want to do something, like a hobby, fill in the blank, start weeks in advance.
Host: You go, "Hey, there's a date. Here's a date. Is there anything I can do for the next three weeks to help you out around here? Because I will be more than happy to do that." Then, after I get back, I'll be more than happy to do it. But you've got to start early.
Tony: That's why I didn't exchange rate three weeks for one week.
Host: That's it. You know what? I'm not going to give out all my tips. You're going to have to pay for these. I'm starting a website.
Host: Also joining us is Steve Jordan. Steve, good to have you with us.
Steve: Thank you. This is far more organized than I could ever be. I don't know what I would do three weeks in advance, but I have a feeling for you it's, "I have a date with a buck."
Host: That's right.
Steve: That's my hobby.
Host: This program is all about what's going on in our country and around the world. One of the big stories that we keep covering is the deteriorating relationship between the world and the nation of Israel. It is shocking.
Host: I go back to what I've said a couple of times now, even this week. If you weren't aware of the rising antisemitism in this country, look at what happened just days after the Hamas terrorists attacked and killed more than 1,200 Israeli men, women, and children. Within days, on our campuses in this country, we had pro-Hamas demonstrations. People were shocked by that. How did this happen?
Host: It has been going on for a long time. I think what has happened is that it has now spilled out in the open. I heard a demonstration of what I'm talking about this week. Senator John Fetterman is a Democrat from Pennsylvania. He is Jewish, he is not ashamed of that, and he is one of the few Democrats right now defending the nation of Israel.
Host: He was confronted the other day by a representative of a very radical group called Code Pink. You may have heard of them before. They're left-wing feminists, but they're out there. He was confronted, and John Fetterman is not afraid. He's not a coward at all. He bantered right back about his firm defense of Israel and the Jewish people.
John Fetterman: Senator Fetterman, the people voted for and against the court. They voted against the relationship with Israel. You are so out of touch with the American people. Did the election teach you anything? Can you explain why you love Hamas so much?
John Fetterman: The American people said, "And I also think it's fantastic the way they keep killing the Hamas leadership right now, too. They keep picking off Israel's enemies." I know that breaks a lot of hearts.
Code Pink Representative: It's a genocide, and you supported genocide.
John Fetterman: Senator, you'll be out in two years, and I can't wait to see you go.
Host: So there you have it. If it was any other group, there would be mainstream media attention given to this, but they don't care because the mainstream media is all in on the Democratic Party agenda when it comes to Israel.
Host: Also troubling right now is that there are people within the Republican Party questioning the relationship with Israel. Perhaps that had an impact on the Republican vote in this recent election.
Host: On our staff is a guy by the name of John Riley. If you've been listening to American Family Radio for the last 30 years or more, you know that name. John and J.J. are in the morning on our music network, but John also hosts the Middle East Report here on American Family Radio on Saturday mornings at 5:30 Central.
Host: John joins us in the studio. John, good to have you with us. You're just back from Israel.
John Riley: I am.
Host: We wanted to have you come in, and the first question is, how are the Israeli people dealing with all of this? They've got political tension in their country, but now even among some Republicans. Vice President J.D. Vance was asked the other day why he thought the Republicans didn't do well, and one of the reasons he mentioned was our relationship with Israel. You just spent a week or 10 days in Israel. How are they dealing with the open hatred of Israel and the Jewish people?
John Riley: The first thing I would say is that the country is definitely on edge. They're just worn out from more than three years of war. Everybody there is a soldier. You have to join the IDF when you're 18 years old, so they've lost loved ones. They're really going through a lot right now, as you can imagine.
John Riley: There's also a lot of anger over the political process that's going on in Israel right now, which we could spend two hours talking about. But when it comes to the support of the United States toward the Jewish people, I talked to probably more than a dozen people who were concerned about this. We're very concerned that support in the United States for Israel is diminishing.
John Riley: I would say there is definitely a lot of concern among people there.
Host: John, I'm assuming you also keep a lot of contacts with people there. What is the mood or the impression you get about the current situation with Iran? What do the Israeli people, or the ones you have contact with, feel about the current state of that conflict? Do they want to keep supporting further action, or are they saying, "We need to wait and see"? What do you get from their perception of it?
John Riley: Everybody I spoke to knows that Iran is a threat to the country. It has been demonstrated over and over. There is virtually nobody in Israel who doesn't understand that Iran is a threat.
John Riley: In the midst of all of that threat, they've had hundreds and hundreds of missiles shot at them. They were in bomb shelters and out of bomb shelters when the war was hot. Yet a lot of them would tell me, "Okay, we've got to get to the bomb shelter. All right, it's over. Let's go shopping."
John Riley: It's just the resilience of the people there. I've heard that over and over again. They're absolutely concerned about what's going on because we know what Iran wants to do.
Host: We here at AFA believe, and I believe, that Israel has a special place in the end times. We also believe that they've been a wonderful ally. I'll say this for those who want to split that up: in comparison to everyone else in the Middle East, that's nonnegotiable.
Host: We believe in it so much that a couple of years ago we asked John to do a radio program exclusively about Israel, the Middle East, and what's going on over there. It is one of the most important radio programs we have. It's called The Middle East Report with John Riley, and it airs on the weekends. Can you tell us a little bit about that program and what's coming up next?
John Riley: Thank you so much for your kind words. Several years ago, the leadership team came to me and said, "John, we know your love for the Jewish people. We know your love for the land of Israel, and we want you to start this radio show." My heart was so touched by that.
John Riley: I've been doing it for many years now, and the program covers a lot of different topics. It's not just security issues. I connect with ministries in Israel, archaeology, and current events. It covers a whole lot of things.
John Riley: People can get the archives at AFR.net in the podcast area. You can also search for The Middle East Report on any of the podcast platforms. God's Covenant, the most recent episode, is about God's covenant promise to Israel. You're going to want to listen to that one.
Host: Absolutely. There is a reciprocal aspect to what you were just talking about, Wesley. John, you were telling me this morning that you talked to somebody in Israel during the last 10 days who talked about the impact of American Family Radio and the American Family Association. Tell us a little bit about that.
John Riley: I would love to. I met with a very high government official in the Ministry of Tourism. He's the director-general of the Ministry of Tourism, so he was appointed by the government. He's over all the tourism around the world, including here in the United States.
John Riley: I had a chance to interview him, which was awesome. But before we even started the interview, I walked into his office and he said this two or three times: "I know the impact that you guys have had."
Host: He was referring to American Family Radio?
John Riley: Yes, the support that we've given to Israel through the programs and the things we do as a network, not just The Middle East Report, but through what we do as a network.
Host: We take it up to the highest government levels. We take upwards of 200 of our listeners and supporters there every year.
Host: It has been quite up and down since COVID, then October 7, and then Iran. But prior to that, AFA had been going over there for more than 25 years. In fact, let me back up. My grandfather, Don Wildmon, was going there for 15 years before that. We've been going over there and supporting Israel's tourism for 50 years.
Host: Israel had its own elections recently as well. I'm reading in the news reports today that the relationship between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump may be fraying a little bit. There may even be a distancing in the relationship between the United States and Israel. What's the situation politically right now in Israel? Who's the next prime minister, and what kind of relationship do you expect that person to have with Trump? How would you grade our relationship with that country right now?
John Riley: I guess I would start with the current political situation. It's complicated. Like everything in Israel, it's so complicated. They really have not formed a government yet.
John Riley: You don't vote for a person; you vote for a block. You've got Mr. Eisenhower, who has a certain number of people in his block, and then you've got Netanyahu. They have to have 61 seats in the parliament. It's really, really complicated.
Host: It is what he said. It's very complicated.
Guest: They're trying to work it all out.
John Riley: They really haven't formed the government. They've given Eisenhower, who is the former general there in Israel, the chance to form the government, so he's working on all of this.
John Riley: Whoever becomes prime minister, I really believe that our president will work with that individual. There's a lot of political stuff going on here with the election and everything else. I don't see Trump backing off totally on support for Israel. We're hearing him say that.
Host: In one statement that he received the most criticism for recently, he did say that we would support Israel if they needed it.
Host: John, one of the things that I'm delighted with right now, and kudos to President Trump for this, is that when he came back into office, one of the first things he did was appoint Mike Huckabee as our ambassador there.
Guest: It's true.
Host: In his first term in office, he moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Guest: That's right.
Host: So kudos to our president for that. Mike Huckabee is a Baptist preacher and former governor of Arkansas. He loves the Jewish people and loves the nation of Israel. You got to talk to him on this visit. Tell us a little bit about that conversation. We want to play a little bit of it, too, and hear what he had to say about the bottom line in all of this. The hatred for Israel and the Jewish people is spiritual. Tell us about it.
John Riley: It was the honor of a lifetime to walk into our United States Embassy in Jerusalem. I had worked on this interview for about three months, and then I got a call from his spokesperson saying, "Okay, we've got you all arranged." I put everything on hold, came to the U.S. Embassy there, and met with Ambassador Mike Huckabee.
John Riley: It was amazing just to meet with him. He's so genuine and such a great supporter of Israel. I asked him a lot of different questions about the election, and he said that Israel is the most reliable partner to the United States. He talked about a lot of different things there.
John Riley: Then you mentioned Jewish hatred. I asked him about that. The hatred of this tiny little nation is not rational. Israel has compromised to try to make peace with its Arab neighbors, but they still want to wipe it off the face of the earth.
Host: We're going to play a clip, a portion of your interview. It's cut number 15, where he talks about why there is hatred for the Jewish people and Israel.
Mike Huckabee: I don't think that this is so much a geopolitical issue as it is a spiritual one. Why is it that people would have this irrational hatred toward Jews? They represent 0.02 percent of the world's population. On the entire planet, there are 16 million Jews. Are they really a threat to everything holy, special, and divine? I don't think so.
Mike Huckabee: If there is a culture that has developed that says, "I want to be my own god. I don't want some god telling me what to do. If I want to believe there are 127 genders, I don't want a god telling me there are only two. I don't want a god telling me that it's wrong to lie, to steal, or to kill."
Mike Huckabee: If I'm going to live a life that embraces that which is completely self-centered, then I have to reject not just the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but I have to reject the people who keep saying to me that there is only one God, that He is the creator of the universe, and that He believes every individual soul has intrinsic worth and value and a divine purpose.
Mike Huckabee: If I don't want to believe that, let me blame the people who keep telling me that. Who would that be? It would be the Jews and, ultimately, the Christians as well. It is a Judeo-Christian foundation that is the essence of Western civilization. That's what people are rejecting.
Host: Tony, that is such a critical point. It is the overall hatred for the Jewish people and Israel. As Mike Huckabee just did, he extended that to evangelical Christians who support Israel. This is spiritual, and it's driven by people's rebellion against the God of the Bible.
Tony: Absolutely. It is irrational, and the only explanation to me for its being irrational is that it is deeply rooted in the spiritual. It's an ongoing battle, an ongoing war that the devil has against the people of God.
Tony: I don't understand why people can't recognize that. I think the reason they can't recognize it is because they're blinded. We have to continue to pray for the nation of Israel and pray for the Jewish people. We should pray that those who don't yet know Jesus Christ come to a knowledge, understanding, and revelation that He is the Messiah they've been waiting for and that they will come to know Him.
Tony: We should continue to pray that God will preserve them, as He has through insurmountable odds. The fact that that nation has been able to withstand as much as it has since its inception in the last century has no other explanation than the divine hand of God protecting them.
Host: John, we're going to let you go in just a few minutes, but one other part of your visit that you were telling me about this morning is that there are Jewish believers in the Messiah.
John Riley: That's right.
Host: You happened to come across a service being held by Messianic Jews. Tell us a little bit about that experience.
John Riley: About 25 miles south of Jerusalem, there's a ministry called Solu. They produce music in both English and Hebrew, and they have this beautiful center.
John Riley: I happened to get an interview with the leader of the organization and was in a service with about 40 individuals from Arizona who were there in the land touring, along with the staff of the ministry. For an hour and a half, we sat there and worshiped the Lord.
John Riley: The presence of the Lord was so thick in that space. These individuals are Jewish, but they love Jesus. They're Jewish believers in Jesus, and this is happening all over Israel. There is a lot going on with the body of Messiah in Israel, so that should encourage us.
Guests: Amen.
Host: John, thank you so much for sharing the highlights of your trip. We're so glad you went. Once again, tell us a little bit about your program on the weekend.
John Riley: It's called The Middle East Report. You can get the podcast at AFR.net or wherever you get your podcasts. There's a lot of variety and a lot of things in the archive. I hope you'll tune in and follow the show on the podcast.
Host: That would be great.
John Riley: Thanks to the AFA leadership team for allowing me to do this. I'm so blessed to be able to do it. I can't believe I get to do it.
Host: Amen. Thanks so much, John Riley.
Host: Steve, we've got a few minutes left. What other news of the day do you have?
Steve: I brought an example of the license that the liberal intelligentsia seems to think they can take with our media. In other words, nobody is going to hold them to account if they say something wrong.
Steve: There was a lady named Ashley Allison, a political strategist, who was a guest on one of the CNN programs. They were talking about whether Democrats should continue to vote en masse for Democrats. It hasn't worked very well for them.
Steve: You're going to hear her throw out a statistic or a fact that is nowhere near true, as she just pulls it out of thin air. They called her on it, so listen to this.
Ashley Allison: I don't think this is a race thing. I've listed off the top 10 states where the cost of living is absolutely the worst. Nine of them are Democratic states, right? I don't think that voting in supermajorities for the Black community has really worked out well for them. They're in real big trouble.
Ashley Allison: The fatherlessness rate is way too high.
Interviewer: Black fathers are in the household at a disproportionately higher rate than other fathers.
Ashley Allison: I think that's what you're talking about. You're saying the fatherlessness rate in the Black community is the worst out of all the Democrats in this country.
Interviewer: Unfortunately, that's a stereotype.
Ashley Allison: You can continue. I'd love to see your facts and figures.
Interviewer: I will, because I had a father in my own home.
Ashley Allison: That's anecdotal, and that's okay.
Steve: Things are not going great in this country for the Black community. We can all admit that. It needs to be doing better. But putting all of your chips in one basket when the Democratic Party has not worked out is not the answer.
Host: Wesley, there are a couple of things there. I'm glad that person called them out on this. We've dealt with the problem that so many Black households do not have a dad present, and the Democratic Party has not done much for the Black community when it comes to that very sad fact.
Wesley: That's right. I've worked for two decades, 20 years now, all on my own time and in ministry, working with young men without fathers. Ninety percent of the young men that I've worked with, ministered to, discipled, and been a part of their lives through organized ministry and privately have been young Black men.
Wesley: Most of them have moms with kids from multiple different dads who aren't around. This is an outright problem. It has been a problem in America for 50 years.
Wesley: The overwhelming majority, 70 percent, of incarcerated Black men did not have dads in the home. It doesn't help to lie about it. Lying about it on national television doesn't help fix the issue or resolve the problem.
Host: We have to get going. Wesley, thank you so much.
Wesley: I enjoyed it.
Host: Tony, thank you for being here. Steve, thank you so much. I like your Christmas button there.
Steve: Absolutely.
Host: Tomorrow is Trivia Friday, and then we'll be back on Monday for more of Today's Issues. We'll see you then.
Host: Welcome back to this Thursday edition of Today's Issues. Fred Jackson here. Tim and Ed are away today, but I've got lots of company in the studio.
Host: We've got Tony sitting in for his dad, pinch-hitting for him.
Tony: Right. The bench is always warm, right?
Host: The bench is always warm.
Tony: Call me up from the minors, call me up to the majors.
Host: Wesley Wyman is with us. Good morning.
Wesley: Yes. Who's going to have a busy weekend doing chores?
Tony: I'll knock out my chores.
Host: You know, we like to joke about this, and I joke about it. Of course, I'll do my little bit of complaining, but it is good to have something to do. Keep your hands busy, get the kids involved. You don't want to become a couch potato just sitting around and watching football.
Tony: I will do a good bit of that.
Host: Let me help all the husbands out here who want to relax on Saturday and watch some football. Here's what you need to do. If you've got a date in mind when you want to do something, like a hobby, fill in the blank, start weeks in advance.
Host: You go, "Hey, there's a date. Here's a date. Is there anything I can do for the next three weeks to help you out around here? Because I will be more than happy to do that." Then, after I get back, I'll be more than happy to do it. But you've got to start early.
Tony: That's why I didn't exchange rate three weeks for one week.
Host: That's it. You know what? I'm not going to give out all my tips. You're going to have to pay for these. I'm starting a website.
Host: Also joining us is Steve Jordan. Steve, good to have you with us.
Steve: Thank you. This is far more organized than I could ever be. I don't know what I would do three weeks in advance, but I have a feeling for you it's, "I have a date with a buck."
Host: That's right.
Steve: That's my hobby.
Host: This program is all about what's going on in our country and around the world. One of the big stories that we keep covering is the deteriorating relationship between the world and the nation of Israel. It is shocking.
Host: I go back to what I've said a couple of times now, even this week. If you weren't aware of the rising antisemitism in this country, look at what happened just days after the Hamas terrorists attacked and killed more than 1,200 Israeli men, women, and children. Within days, on our campuses in this country, we had pro-Hamas demonstrations. People were shocked by that. How did this happen?
Host: It has been going on for a long time. I think what has happened is that it has now spilled out in the open. I heard a demonstration of what I'm talking about this week. Senator John Fetterman is a Democrat from Pennsylvania. He is Jewish, he is not ashamed of that, and he is one of the few Democrats right now defending the nation of Israel.
Host: He was confronted the other day by a representative of a very radical group called Code Pink. You may have heard of them before. They're left-wing feminists, but they're out there. He was confronted, and John Fetterman is not afraid. He's not a coward at all. He bantered right back about his firm defense of Israel and the Jewish people.
John Fetterman: Senator Fetterman, the people voted for and against the court. They voted against the relationship with Israel. You are so out of touch with the American people. Did the election teach you anything? Can you explain why you love Hamas so much?
John Fetterman: The American people said, "And I also think it's fantastic the way they keep killing the Hamas leadership right now, too. They keep picking off Israel's enemies." I know that breaks a lot of hearts.
Code Pink Representative: It's a genocide, and you supported genocide.
John Fetterman: Senator, you'll be out in two years, and I can't wait to see you go.
Host: So there you have it. If it was any other group, there would be mainstream media attention given to this, but they don't care because the mainstream media is all in on the Democratic Party agenda when it comes to Israel.
Host: Also troubling right now is that there are people within the Republican Party questioning the relationship with Israel. Perhaps that had an impact on the Republican vote in this recent election.
Host: On our staff is a guy by the name of John Riley. If you've been listening to American Family Radio for the last 30 years or more, you know that name. John and J.J. are in the morning on our music network, but John also hosts the Middle East Report here on American Family Radio on Saturday mornings at 5:30 Central.
Host: John joins us in the studio. John, good to have you with us. You're just back from Israel.
John Riley: I am.
Host: We wanted to have you come in, and the first question is, how are the Israeli people dealing with all of this? They've got political tension in their country, but now even among some Republicans. Vice President J.D. Vance was asked the other day why he thought the Republicans didn't do well, and one of the reasons he mentioned was our relationship with Israel. You just spent a week or 10 days in Israel. How are they dealing with the open hatred of Israel and the Jewish people?
John Riley: The first thing I would say is that the country is definitely on edge. They're just worn out from more than three years of war. Everybody there is a soldier. You have to join the IDF when you're 18 years old, so they've lost loved ones. They're really going through a lot right now, as you can imagine.
John Riley: There's also a lot of anger over the political process that's going on in Israel right now, which we could spend two hours talking about. But when it comes to the support of the United States toward the Jewish people, I talked to probably more than a dozen people who were concerned about this. We're very concerned that support in the United States for Israel is diminishing.
John Riley: I would say there is definitely a lot of concern among people there.
Host: John, I'm assuming you also keep a lot of contacts with people there. What is the mood or the impression you get about the current situation with Iran? What do the Israeli people, or the ones you have contact with, feel about the current state of that conflict? Do they want to keep supporting further action, or are they saying, "We need to wait and see"? What do you get from their perception of it?
John Riley: Everybody I spoke to knows that Iran is a threat to the country. It has been demonstrated over and over. There is virtually nobody in Israel who doesn't understand that Iran is a threat.
John Riley: In the midst of all of that threat, they've had hundreds and hundreds of missiles shot at them. They were in bomb shelters and out of bomb shelters when the war was hot. Yet a lot of them would tell me, "Okay, we've got to get to the bomb shelter. All right, it's over. Let's go shopping."
John Riley: It's just the resilience of the people there. I've heard that over and over again. They're absolutely concerned about what's going on because we know what Iran wants to do.
Host: We here at AFA believe, and I believe, that Israel has a special place in the end times. We also believe that they've been a wonderful ally. I'll say this for those who want to split that up: in comparison to everyone else in the Middle East, that's nonnegotiable.
Host: We believe in it so much that a couple of years ago we asked John to do a radio program exclusively about Israel, the Middle East, and what's going on over there. It is one of the most important radio programs we have. It's called The Middle East Report with John Riley, and it airs on the weekends. Can you tell us a little bit about that program and what's coming up next?
John Riley: Thank you so much for your kind words. Several years ago, the leadership team came to me and said, "John, we know your love for the Jewish people. We know your love for the land of Israel, and we want you to start this radio show." My heart was so touched by that.
John Riley: I've been doing it for many years now, and the program covers a lot of different topics. It's not just security issues. I connect with ministries in Israel, archaeology, and current events. It covers a whole lot of things.
John Riley: People can get the archives at AFR.net in the podcast area. You can also search for The Middle East Report on any of the podcast platforms. God's Covenant, the most recent episode, is about God's covenant promise to Israel. You're going to want to listen to that one.
Host: Absolutely. There is a reciprocal aspect to what you were just talking about, Wesley. John, you were telling me this morning that you talked to somebody in Israel during the last 10 days who talked about the impact of American Family Radio and the American Family Association. Tell us a little bit about that.
John Riley: I would love to. I met with a very high government official in the Ministry of Tourism. He's the director-general of the Ministry of Tourism, so he was appointed by the government. He's over all the tourism around the world, including here in the United States.
John Riley: I had a chance to interview him, which was awesome. But before we even started the interview, I walked into his office and he said this two or three times: "I know the impact that you guys have had."
Host: He was referring to American Family Radio?
John Riley: Yes, the support that we've given to Israel through the programs and the things we do as a network, not just The Middle East Report, but through what we do as a network.
Host: We take it up to the highest government levels. We take upwards of 200 of our listeners and supporters there every year.
Host: It has been quite up and down since COVID, then October 7, and then Iran. But prior to that, AFA had been going over there for more than 25 years. In fact, let me back up. My grandfather, Don Wildmon, was going there for 15 years before that. We've been going over there and supporting Israel's tourism for 50 years.
Host: Israel had its own elections recently as well. I'm reading in the news reports today that the relationship between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump may be fraying a little bit. There may even be a distancing in the relationship between the United States and Israel. What's the situation politically right now in Israel? Who's the next prime minister, and what kind of relationship do you expect that person to have with Trump? How would you grade our relationship with that country right now?
John Riley: I guess I would start with the current political situation. It's complicated. Like everything in Israel, it's so complicated. They really have not formed a government yet.
John Riley: You don't vote for a person; you vote for a block. You've got Mr. Eisenhower, who has a certain number of people in his block, and then you've got Netanyahu. They have to have 61 seats in the parliament. It's really, really complicated.
Host: It is what he said. It's very complicated.
Guest: They're trying to work it all out.
John Riley: They really haven't formed the government. They've given Eisenhower, who is the former general there in Israel, the chance to form the government, so he's working on all of this.
John Riley: Whoever becomes prime minister, I really believe that our president will work with that individual. There's a lot of political stuff going on here with the election and everything else. I don't see Trump backing off totally on support for Israel. We're hearing him say that.
Host: In one statement that he received the most criticism for recently, he did say that we would support Israel if they needed it.
Host: John, one of the things that I'm delighted with right now, and kudos to President Trump for this, is that when he came back into office, one of the first things he did was appoint Mike Huckabee as our ambassador there.
Guest: It's true.
Host: In his first term in office, he moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Guest: That's right.
Host: So kudos to our president for that. Mike Huckabee is a Baptist preacher and former governor of Arkansas. He loves the Jewish people and loves the nation of Israel. You got to talk to him on this visit. Tell us a little bit about that conversation. We want to play a little bit of it, too, and hear what he had to say about the bottom line in all of this. The hatred for Israel and the Jewish people is spiritual. Tell us about it.
John Riley: It was the honor of a lifetime to walk into our United States Embassy in Jerusalem. I had worked on this interview for about three months, and then I got a call from his spokesperson saying, "Okay, we've got you all arranged." I put everything on hold, came to the U.S. Embassy there, and met with Ambassador Mike Huckabee.
John Riley: It was amazing just to meet with him. He's so genuine and such a great supporter of Israel. I asked him a lot of different questions about the election, and he said that Israel is the most reliable partner to the United States. He talked about a lot of different things there.
John Riley: Then you mentioned Jewish hatred. I asked him about that. The hatred of this tiny little nation is not rational. Israel has compromised to try to make peace with its Arab neighbors, but they still want to wipe it off the face of the earth.
Host: We're going to play a clip, a portion of your interview. It's cut number 15, where he talks about why there is hatred for the Jewish people and Israel.
Mike Huckabee: I don't think that this is so much a geopolitical issue as it is a spiritual one. Why is it that people would have this irrational hatred toward Jews? They represent 0.02 percent of the world's population. On the entire planet, there are 16 million Jews. Are they really a threat to everything holy, special, and divine? I don't think so.
Mike Huckabee: If there is a culture that has developed that says, "I want to be my own god. I don't want some god telling me what to do. If I want to believe there are 127 genders, I don't want a god telling me there are only two. I don't want a god telling me that it's wrong to lie, to steal, or to kill."
Mike Huckabee: If I'm going to live a life that embraces that which is completely self-centered, then I have to reject not just the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but I have to reject the people who keep saying to me that there is only one God, that He is the creator of the universe, and that He believes every individual soul has intrinsic worth and value and a divine purpose.
Mike Huckabee: If I don't want to believe that, let me blame the people who keep telling me that. Who would that be? It would be the Jews and, ultimately, the Christians as well. It is a Judeo-Christian foundation that is the essence of Western civilization. That's what people are rejecting.
Host: Tony, that is such a critical point. It is the overall hatred for the Jewish people and Israel. As Mike Huckabee just did, he extended that to evangelical Christians who support Israel. This is spiritual, and it's driven by people's rebellion against the God of the Bible.
Tony: Absolutely. It is irrational, and the only explanation to me for its being irrational is that it is deeply rooted in the spiritual. It's an ongoing battle, an ongoing war that the devil has against the people of God.
Tony: I don't understand why people can't recognize that. I think the reason they can't recognize it is because they're blinded. We have to continue to pray for the nation of Israel and pray for the Jewish people. We should pray that those who don't yet know Jesus Christ come to a knowledge, understanding, and revelation that He is the Messiah they've been waiting for and that they will come to know Him.
Tony: We should continue to pray that God will preserve them, as He has through insurmountable odds. The fact that that nation has been able to withstand as much as it has since its inception in the last century has no other explanation than the divine hand of God protecting them.
Host: John, we're going to let you go in just a few minutes, but one other part of your visit that you were telling me about this morning is that there are Jewish believers in the Messiah.
John Riley: That's right.
Host: You happened to come across a service being held by Messianic Jews. Tell us a little bit about that experience.
John Riley: About 25 miles south of Jerusalem, there's a ministry called Solu. They produce music in both English and Hebrew, and they have this beautiful center.
John Riley: I happened to get an interview with the leader of the organization and was in a service with about 40 individuals from Arizona who were there in the land touring, along with the staff of the ministry. For an hour and a half, we sat there and worshiped the Lord.
John Riley: The presence of the Lord was so thick in that space. These individuals are Jewish, but they love Jesus. They're Jewish believers in Jesus, and this is happening all over Israel. There is a lot going on with the body of Messiah in Israel, so that should encourage us.
Guests: Amen.
Host: John, thank you so much for sharing the highlights of your trip. We're so glad you went. Once again, tell us a little bit about your program on the weekend.
John Riley: It's called The Middle East Report. You can get the podcast at AFR.net or wherever you get your podcasts. There's a lot of variety and a lot of things in the archive. I hope you'll tune in and follow the show on the podcast.
Host: That would be great.
John Riley: Thanks to the AFA leadership team for allowing me to do this. I'm so blessed to be able to do it. I can't believe I get to do it.
Host: Amen. Thanks so much, John Riley.
Host: Steve, we've got a few minutes left. What other news of the day do you have?
Steve: I brought an example of the license that the liberal intelligentsia seems to think they can take with our media. In other words, nobody is going to hold them to account if they say something wrong.
Steve: There was a lady named Ashley Allison, a political strategist, who was a guest on one of the CNN programs. They were talking about whether Democrats should continue to vote en masse for Democrats. It hasn't worked very well for them.
Steve: You're going to hear her throw out a statistic or a fact that is nowhere near true, as she just pulls it out of thin air. They called her on it, so listen to this.
Ashley Allison: I don't think this is a race thing. I've listed off the top 10 states where the cost of living is absolutely the worst. Nine of them are Democratic states, right? I don't think that voting in supermajorities for the Black community has really worked out well for them. They're in real big trouble.
Ashley Allison: The fatherlessness rate is way too high.
Interviewer: Black fathers are in the household at a disproportionately higher rate than other fathers.
Ashley Allison: I think that's what you're talking about. You're saying the fatherlessness rate in the Black community is the worst out of all the Democrats in this country.
Interviewer: Unfortunately, that's a stereotype.
Ashley Allison: You can continue. I'd love to see your facts and figures.
Interviewer: I will, because I had a father in my own home.
Ashley Allison: That's anecdotal, and that's okay.
Steve: Things are not going great in this country for the Black community. We can all admit that. It needs to be doing better. But putting all of your chips in one basket when the Democratic Party has not worked out is not the answer.
Host: Wesley, there are a couple of things there. I'm glad that person called them out on this. We've dealt with the problem that so many Black households do not have a dad present, and the Democratic Party has not done much for the Black community when it comes to that very sad fact.
Wesley: That's right. I've worked for two decades, 20 years now, all on my own time and in ministry, working with young men without fathers. Ninety percent of the young men that I've worked with, ministered to, discipled, and been a part of their lives through organized ministry and privately have been young Black men.
Wesley: Most of them have moms with kids from multiple different dads who aren't around. This is an outright problem. It has been a problem in America for 50 years.
Wesley: The overwhelming majority, 70 percent, of incarcerated Black men did not have dads in the home. It doesn't help to lie about it. Lying about it on national television doesn't help fix the issue or resolve the problem.
Host: We have to get going. Wesley, thank you so much.
Wesley: I enjoyed it.
Host: Tony, thank you for being here. Steve, thank you so much. I like your Christmas button there.
Steve: Absolutely.
Host: Tomorrow is Trivia Friday, and then we'll be back on Monday for more of Today's Issues. We'll see you then.
Fred Jackson hosts a discussion about rising anti-Semitism, weakening support for Israel and the threat posed by Iran. A recent report from Israel examines the resilience of the Israeli people, the country’s unsettled political process and concerns about American support.
The program features excerpts from Mike Huckabee discussing the spiritual roots of hatred toward Jews and Israel, along with the importance of the Judeo-Christian foundation. The discussion also highlights Messianic Jewish believers and ministry work in Israel.
The closing segment examines media claims about fatherlessness in the black community and the consequences of absent fathers, with a focus on the need for honesty and stronger families.
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