With the Iran war reignited, a bipartisan group of legislators joined faith leaders on Wednesday on Capitol Hill to celebrate the U.S.-Israel relationship, as the Israel Allies Foundation held its annual Jerusalem Day celebration.
“We don’t just celebrate the importance of Jerusalem to the Jewish people but to all the faiths that call Jerusalem home,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said. “It is why when I travel to Israel and travel with somebody who isn’t Jewish, they leave as emotional and moved as someone who is Jewish.”
Gottheimer, who is Jewish, told attendees that the U.S. ideal of religious freedom “sometimes gets lost around here.”
“People say we need separation of this and that, and I respect that, but we are also a people of faith in our country, and I think that’s an important thing to not lose sight of,” or one loses a moral compass through which “hatred tends to find its way,” he said.
Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) said that he was praying for “discernment and wisdom and strength from our president,” who faces heavy decisions, “to not give in to a radical media that would make him or this cause of righteousness sound like it’s the opposite.”
“This truly is a cause of righteousness,” he said, of the war with Iran. “I think it is a moment that when the history books are finally written decades from now, that they will judge this president with a favorable image, because of what he has done and decisions he has made.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) made a similar comment. “Despite naysayers chirping in his ear,” the president has “stood with resolve, and he has drawn red lines,” he said.
When Cruz and Trump spoke a few days ago, the senator said that he told the president to “hold the line.”
“You are defending America,” he said that he told Trump. “Understand America does not stand with Israel because we’re engaged in charity or because we’re helping out a neighbor who needs help. America stands with Israel, because it is in the national security interest of the United States of America.”
The Israel Allies Foundation is an advocacy group that works with legislators on a global basis. The event marked the annual celebration of the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War of 1967 when Israel liberated the eastern part of the city, including the holy sites in the Old City, from Jordanian control.
“Jerusalem Day should remind us of the power of unity over division, regardless of our backgrounds, faith traditions or political differences,” said Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), who formed the Congressional Hellenic Israel Alliance Caucus.
Bilirakis, who helped shape the opening on Thursday of Houston’s East Med Center, an energy and technology cooperative between the United States, Israel, Greece and Cyprus, said that “we share responsibility to reject hatred and embrace mutual respect.”
“It’s as simple as that,” the congressman said. “We must build bridges of understanding, promote civil discourse and ensure that future generations enter a world where people are judged not by their faith or ethnicity, but by their character and contributions.”
Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), who is Jewish and one of Israel’s vocal supporters in Congress, said that he visited the Jewish state for the first time in 2019 upon the invitation of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for a bill signing.
Trip participants toured sites that carry significance to Christians in Israel, like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Sea of Galilee, and under Palestinian Authority control, like Bethlehem, believed to be where Jesus was born.
“I thought they were going to tell me it was spiritually moving. What all of them said is, ‘I wish Bethlehem was controlled by the Jews,’” Fine told attendees at the event. “They had been to so many places that were important for their own faith, for their own story, for their own religion, and they had seen how Israel had protected it for them.”
“Then they went to a place just across a wall from Israel that used to be 90% Christian, and they did not feel safe,” he said. “They said that it was dirty.”
Fine said that is why it’s important for Jews and non-Jews to care about Israel and Jerusalem. “Because it is not just our story. It’s not just our faith,” he said. “It is the entire fate of Western civilization.”
Leo Terrell, chair of the U.S. Justice Department’s task force on Jew-hatred, said that he traveled to Israel for the first time earlier this year to receive an award for his work. He met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and high-ranking officials.
“What left the deepest impression on me was not my meeting or a ceremony,” said Terrell, who is a Baptist. “It was Jerusalem itself.”
He recalled walking the streets of Jerusalem and seeing Jews, Christians and Muslims praying at their holy sites freely.
“I witnessed people of different religions openly expressing their fundamental right to worship God according to their conscience,” he said. “As an American, it reflects the very freedom we cherish.”
“Jerusalem is not merely a political issue,” he said. “It is a testament to what a free society looks like when it respects the rights of all believers.”
That hasn’t been the case in some parts of the United States, according to Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.).
“I’ve had more antisemitic insanity in the last six months than I’ve had in my previous 16 years of representing Scottsdale,” he said.
He cited an incident last weekend in which he said that a young man accosted him, with his young children in tow, “screaming at me, because apparently I’m a Jew-lover and I take money from Jews.”
Those types of incidents “are destroying our society,” Schweikert said.
Jewish groups in his district aren’t showing up for events like they used to, according to the congressman.
“Is it exhaustion from the horrible experiences over the last four years? Is it being tapped out from fundraising drive after fundraising drive?” Schweikert said.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), a longtime congressman who is Jewish, said that he’s been attacked verbally time and again for his support of Israel. He noted, though, that he defeated his anti-Israel primary opponent soundly this year.
“They say, ‘Sherman, you’ve been bought off by AIPAC,’ and I had to explain to them before I ever served in Congress, I was giving money to AIPAC,” Sherman said, of conversations with critics who say that he is beholden to the pro-Israel advocacy group.
“I’ve been pro-Israel since I listened to ABBA,” Sherman said. “Almost as long as we’ve had pro-Israel organizations in this country, and I look forward to being pro-Israel and a pro-Israel member of Congress for a long time to come.”
