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Rep. Duncan Hunter: 'I Will Never Abandon Israel' Dave Eberhart ALEXANDRIA, VA -- "I can pledge this to you: If I should be elected president of the United States, I will never, never, never abandon Israel," emphatically announced Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., before enthused attendees of "A Night to Honor Israel" at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall at Northern Virginia Community College, Sunday night.
Hunter, an announced presidential candidate, immediately followed an impassioned plea from Rev. Jan Willem Van Der Hoven, who in his "Greetings from Israel" address declared that an American pull-out in Iraq would be tantamount to an abandonment of Israel, a nation surrounded by enemies in the Middle East. "Let's not trade oil for Jews!" he exclaimed.
For his part, Hunter did nothing to distance himself from the inflamed rhetoric, adding some of his own: "As a member of the United States Congress, I never supported giving up one inch of the state of Israel and that will always be my position!"
Hunter has been a Republican member of the House of Representatives since 1981 from California's 52nd congressional district in northern and eastern San Diego. A Vietnam veteran, he served in the 173rd Airborne and 75th Army Rangers. His son, Duncan D. Hunter, an Iraq war veteran, is currently a candidate for his congressional seat in 2008. The senior Hunter became chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in 2002. He formally announced his presidential candidacy in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Jan. 25, 2007.
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Hunter zeroed in on a theme of a common threat faced by both the U.S. and Israel incoming missiles tipped with engines of mass destruction, either nuclear or chemical.
"I can tell you we will see offensive ballistic missiles aimed at the United States of America that will not fall harmlessly into the Sea of Japan or in the Pacific Ocean. They will have to be taken down," Hunter warned.
Citing rogue nations "charging down the path of nuclear weapons," being aided and abetted by those nations willing to sell military hardware, Hunter advised: "That means at some point the United States and Israel are going to have to stand together and defend against the incoming ballistic missiles."
Hunter recounted the clandestine attack by Israel in 1981 on the light-water nuclear materials testing reactor in Osirak, Iraq. It was crippled by Israeli aircraft in "Operation Opera" a pre-emptive attack to prevent Saddam Hussein from using the reactor for the creation of nuclear weapons.
After the attack by the eight F-16 aircrafts, Hunter recalled, many world leaders publicly chastised the action as a terrible thing. "Then, they all walked into their offices, and I can tell you this, they closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief . . . because Israel had the courage that none of them had."
Last week, Hunter spearheaded a measure aimed at creating closer U.S. and Israeli defenses against ballistic missiles of the type that could be fired by Iran.
Part of a $504 billion defense spending bill passed last Thursday, the measure would redirect $205 million in DoD funds toward projects already underway in Israel providing $25 million more for Arrow missile co-production and integration, $45 million for a U.S.-Israeli short-range missile defense system called "David's Sling" and $135 million to buy a Theater High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, fire unit.
All three projects involve interceptors designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of their flight paths.
In his Sunday night address, Hunter likened the current situation in the world with the challenged faced by America in the 1920s, when Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell "went to visit with a Republican Administration and said we have to spend a lot of money on air power . . .'"
Today, Hunter said, we face a similar crisis in the form of terrorists with technology.
"We are going to have to meet that technology with American technology and with Israeli technology - we are going to do it, and just as Winston Churchill said never, never, never give up.'"
The "Night to Honor Israel" was sponsored by Christians United for Israel (C.U.F.I.), which advises that its purpose is "to provide a national association through which every pro-Israel church, para-church organization, ministry or individual in America can speak and act with one voice in support of Israel in matters related to biblical issues."
Behind C.U.F.I. is Pastor John Hagee, a broadcast evangelist from San Antonio, Texas, whose Christian Zionist movement has hosted "Nights to Honor Israel" in cities around the country with help from a dedicated all-volunteer staff of 13 regional directors, 46 state directors and more than 85 city directors.
In a video address to the Alexandria audience, Hagee referenced the number of cities that have already had a "Night to Honor Israel."
"Fifty-two major cities of America have celebrated the right of Christians and the responsibility of Christians to step up and speak up for Israel . . . I want you to know that support is exploding across this Nation from Maine to California," Hagee said.
Some critics, however, decry that Hagee's biblically-based views on Israel do not serve the Jewish state.
Hagee's book, "Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World," for instance, features Iran and a coalition of Islamic countries, led by Russia, unloading a nuclear attack on Israel, the kick-off to the real mother of all battles Armageddon.
According to Hagee, this war between "Islamofascists" and the Christians and Jews has already begun and will over its course consume countless Israeli lives.
Not exactly a happy prospect for the Jewish state, but there's even more unsettling stuff beneath the surface.
Hagee's strict interpretation of the Bible includes the belief that all of Israel and the Palestinian territories were promised by God to the Jews. This, of course, leaves very little room to negotiate for peace by, perhaps, withdrawing from the West Bank in exchange for a peace accord.
"I don't like that they would not like to see Israel trade land for peace, because in my view that's a very important formula," said Rabbi Jonathan Biatch of Temple Beth El in Madison, Wis. "The real bottom line is the fact that this organization would like to exacerbate tensions in the Middle East so it will lead to Armageddon."
There was only one collateral reference to Hagee's intractable doctrine and that came when the master of ceremonies, Dr. James M. Hutchins, introduced Rabbi Jack Moline who gave the invocation. Hutchins noted that Moline, although thrilled with the aid and support from Christian Zionists was yet "ambivalent."
Moline perhaps subtlety expressed that ambivalence in recounting the famous Biblical story of Ruth and Naomi returning to Bethlehem where the community was not welcoming.
"Where you go, I shall go, your people will be my people, your land will be my land, and your God will be my God." In this most famous of statements, Ruth confirmed her complete identification with the Jewish people.
"I know many of you identify strongly with Ruth," said Moline.
While profusely thanking C.U.F.I., Rabbi Martin Peled-Flax of the Embassy of Israel gave tribute to the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. "[H]e had a very, very clear political agenda. From our point of view, the most interesting element of that clear political agenda was Israel . . ."
"Rev. Falwell . . . criss-crossed the county for many, many years," making sure that the defense of Israel was high up on the Evangelical agenda and the political agenda.
"For that we are eternally grateful," Peled-Flax said.
Expressing no chagrin with some of the draconian aspects of Hagee's vision, Peled-Flax called C.U.F.I. "something that is necessary. It is something that is needed at this time."
© NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved.
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