[NYTr] Joseph Lieberman's Address to Christians United for Israel

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

Sorry if this is a dupe of something already distrubuted... -NYTr
Oy vey!

sent by Tim Murphy (activ-l)

[Remember, this guy was Al Gores vice presidential candidate in the 2000
election! -TM]

Joe Lieberman's senate website
http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=279110

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 16, 2007

Contact: Marshall Wittmann, 202-224-4041 

Lieberman Address to Christians United for Israel 

Washington, D.C. - Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) yesterday delivered the
following remarks to the Christians United for Israel Conference: 

"Thank you for that kind introduction and that warm welcome. May I in
turn greet you with the ancient words of welcome offered to pilgrims in
Jerusalem
- "Bruchim Habaim B'Shem Hashem" - blessed be those who come in the
name of the Lord. 

That greeting is especially fitting for you because you have come to
Washington not just as men or women, Republicans or Democrats,
conservatives or liberals. You are here as Christians United for
Israel. You represent a powerful force of people of faith in America
who have pledged to never forget thee, O Jerusalem. 

And I know, as a Christian friend likes to remind me, that there are a
lot more Christian Zionists in America than Jewish Zionists. And, I
know the support of Christian Zionists today is critical to Israel's
security and strength, and to America's security and strength. 

So I am honored by your invitation to speak tonight, to thank you for
what you are doing, to exhort you to continue to do more -- which is
God's work, and to pray with you that you are successful. 

I begin by thanking your founder, Pastor John Hagee. I would describe
Pastor Hagee with the words the Torah uses to describe Moses, he is an
"Eesh Elo Kim," a man of God because those words fit him; and, like
Moses he has become the leader of a mighty multitude in pursuit of and
defense of Israel.

You know his story - almost sixty years ago, a young John Hagee sat at
his family's kitchen table in Channelview, Texas, heard the news about
Israel's Declaration of Independence, and saw how moved his family was
by it. Since then, he has been devoted to the defense of Israel, and to
its vitality. He has done so because Israel's fight is his fight.
Israel's values are his values. And Israel's hopes and dreams are his
hopes and dreams. 

Pastor Hagee, I pray that God will bless you with all that you pray
for, and I do so with great confidence because I know what the Lord
said to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. If ever there was a man who will be
blessed because he has blessed Israel, Pastor Hagee, it is you. 

And the same is true of all of you here tonight. You are a family of
Americans who deeply believe that our nation and the nation of Israel
share common origins, values, and bonds. You are a family of Americans
who understand that today the same fanatics that shout death to
America, also shout death to Israel. And you are a family that will not
bend with the political winds because your support is rooted in your
faith, which is steadfast, unwavering, and eternal. 

You reject the temptation of moral relativism. You understand that
there is a difference between good and evil, between eternal and
temporal, between Israel and other nations. 

Your values are rooted in the same history, ideals, and dreams that bind
together Israel and America, and that form the foundation of these two
great nations - both "faith-based initiatives." 

In a literal sense, Christians United for Israel was founded a little
more than a year ago, in February 2006. But in a larger sense, it began
more than 4,000 years ago with the first words God spoke to Abraham in
Genesis 12:1: "Now get thee unto the land that I will show thee, and I
will make thee a great nation." 

That was the covenantal promise God repeated to Isaac and Jacob and
then to Moses, who, with God's help, delivered the children of Israel
out of bondage to Mount Sinai where they received the Ten Commandments
- their statement of national values and purpose - and then, 40 years
later, brought them to the land that was promised to them, to the land
of Israel. 

There, more than 3,000 years ago, King David entered Jerusalem and
declared it to be the capital of Israel. He brought the Ark of the
Covenant and the Ten Commandments to the City where his son, Solomon,
built the Holy Temple to house them and to honor God's creation and
God's law. Thus, in one place was established both the political
capital of a people and the religious center of that people's faith. 

Almost 2,600 years ago, on a dark day in history, the Temple was
destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The Jewish people went into a brief exile,
returning 48 years later to rebuild it. It was during that time that
Jesus of Nazareth preached, taught, and healed in Israel. But the
Temple was to be destroyed once more, a little more than 1,930 years
ago, by Titus. And again, most - though not all - Jews were forced to
flee Jerusalem and Israel. 

For nearly 1,900 years, Jews in the Diaspora prayed every day that they
be allowed to rejoin their brothers and sisters who had remained in the
Promised Land and to reestablish a Jewish nation there. And countless
Christians prayed those same prayers, particularly here in America. 

That collective yearning gave rise to a new political movement at the
end of the 19th century - the modern Zionist movement. It was led by
Theodor Herzl and a small band of allies - Christian and Jewish -
throughout the world, who recognized the threat from the pervasive
anti-Semitism that infected Europe and began the work to reestablish a
Jewish homeland in Israel. 

Many people said the Zionists were naove dreamers, but as Herzl
responded, "If you will it, it is no dream." And will it they did. And
work for it they did. In 1948, their dream was realized with the birth
of the modern State of Israel. 

This is the long odyssey that has brought us here tonight. By standing
with Israel today, each of you has joined that journey and taken up the
torch that was lit in God's promise to Abraham 4,000 years ago, and
carrying it forward to spread that light. 

I believe that Israel's rebirth in 1948 was divinely inspired by God,
but I know that it was realized by the men and women here on earth who
worked so hard to make it happen. Israel will be sustained by the work
of men and women like you here on Earth. And I know you know how truly
American is your support of Israel. 

Long before the miracle of 1948, the Nation of Israel was kept alive in
the hopes and prayers and hard work of Christian Americans. In fact,
from the very earliest days of our own nation's history, there has been
an inseparable link between the promise of America and the promise of
Zion. 

When William Bradford stepped off of the Mayflower onto Plymouth Rock in
1620, his first words were from Jeremiah, "Come let us declare in Zion
the word of God." The first American missionaries to the Middle East
sailed from Boston in the fall of 1819 with the goal of restoring
Palestine to Jewish sovereignty. These brave Christian Zionists and
their followers were not peripheral figures on the fringes of American
history. They were mainstream Christian Americans. 

In the first half of the 19th century, the proposition that the United
States should actively assist the Jews in returning to Palestine was
widely held. 

As you know, many of our nation's founding fathers were Christian
Zionists. The president of the Continental Congress, Elias Boudinot,
predicted that "the mighty power of God" would return the Jews "to
their beloved land of Palestine." 

John Adams wrote in 1819, "I really wish to see the Jews again in Judea
an independent nation." 

And in 1844, a distinguished Christian professor of Hebrew at New York
University became a national leader in the ingathering of Zionists.
Jewish statehood, he wrote, would benefit all of mankind, forming a
"link of communication" between humanity and God. 

That distinguished professor, as you may know, happened to share a name
with one of his distinguished descendants, who also happens to be a
great Christian Zionist today. The name: George Bush. And, when the
modern state of Israel declared its independence on May 15, 1948, it
was officially recognized eleven minutes later by another great
Christian Zionist, President Harry S. Truman for the United States of
America. 

These bonds for that purpose explain why America and Israel have stood
together and will continue to stand together. Americans and Israelis
are the children of freedom, freedom based on our shared faith in God,
as our Declaration of Independence makes clear. We share democratic
ideals, a culture of economic opportunity, and our political pluralism.
These are the values we cherish  the principles that define not just
who we are but who we hope to be. They are also, unfortunately, the
values that are under attack today. 

Israel and the United States now confront a common enemy in the forces
of radical Islam. For many years, Israelis have been on the front lines
as targets of this extremist and perverse theology that will brazenly
and unapologetically attack innocent humans, children of God. 

We say we are in a war against terrorism, but terrorism is only our
enemies' methods, not their end. Radical Islam is  a totalitarian
theology every bit as hateful, violent and expansionist as the fascism
and communism we fought and defeated in the last century. And we must
unite again as we did then as Americans, regardless of party, faith,
race, or nationality to defeat the evil that seeks to kill us and our
families and destroy the civilized ideals that we cherish. 

You have come to Washington at a critical time for the future of our
country. The war in Iraq is the defining issue for this Congress  but
the decisions we will make in the days, weeks, and months ahead about
Iraq will have consequences that reach far beyond the terms of anyone
now in office. 

It is my deeply held conviction those who crave for a hasty retreat from
Iraq are not only wrong, they are dangerously wrong  for the withdrawal
they demand would be a moral and security catastrophe for the United
States, for Iraq, and for the entire Middle East, including Israel. 

Let there be no doubt  an American defeat in Iraq would be a victory
for Al Qaeda and Iran... the two most threatening enemies America and
Israel face in the world today 

The fact of the matter is, you cannot claim to be tough on terrorism
while demanding that our military withdraw from Iraq, because it is the
terrorists Al Qaeda  that our military is fighting in Iraq. 

You cannot claim to be committed to defeating Al Qaeda, while demanding
that we abandon the heart of the Middle East to Al Qaeda. And you
cannot claim to be tough on Iran, while demanding the very thing that
the mullahs in Teheran want most of all and why they are engaged in the
cold blooded murder through proxies of our troops in Iraq  the retreat
of the American military from the Middle East in defeat, leaving a
vacuum that Iran will rush to fill, and asserting its dominance over
the entire region. 

My friends, as President Reagan once said, now is the time for
choosing. 

If we stand united through the months ahead, if we stand firm against
the terrorists who want to drive us to retreat, the war in Iraq can be
won and the lives of millions of people can be saved. But if we
surrender to the barbarism of suicide bombers and yield the Middle East
to fanatics and killers, to Al Qaeda and Iran, then all that our men
and women in uniform have fought, and died for, will be lost, we will
be left a much less secure and free nation, and our Middle East allies
including Israel  will be endangered. 

Fortunately, you here tonight know that evil will not prevail if good
people act. And I know you will not allow Iran and Al Qaeda to triumph
over America and Israel. 

I also know that you are familiar with the Book of Esther. I am
particularly fond of this story because its heroine is Esther, which in
Hebrew is Hadassah. And Hadassah is the name of my beloved, my wife  so
it is special to me. 

The Book of Esther tells us about the cruel Persian leader who sought to
exterminate the Jews. But, a Jewish woman named Queen Esther bravely
stepped forward and convinced the king to save her people. 

Remember, when she first expressed her reluctance to advocate the cause
of her people before the King, her uncle Mordechai said to her, "Think
not with thy self that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than
all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time,
then will relief arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy
father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether have not
been brought to the king's house for such a time as this?" 

Dear friends, brothers and sisters in faith, you have heard Mordechai's
call "for such a time as this." You are in this time like Joshua and
Caleb in their time. 

Let me explain how I mean that you are like Joshua and Caleb, which
grows out of this day in the Jewish religious calendar. This is the
first day of the Hebrew month of Av. The celebration of the new month
is usually festive, but this day begins a somber day period of
reflection and ever mourning concluding in the fast day of Tisha B'av,
the ninth day of Av, corresponding this year to July 24, which is the
day on which the first and second Temples were destroyed. 

Jewish tradition teaches that another event occurred on the ninth day
of Av that speaks to us today and instructs us how to avoid the
destruction that occurred on Av ninth, and that the story told in
chapter 13 of the Book of Numbers where Moses selects out leaders of
the Israelites  "men of distinction"  to explore The Promised Land and
report back, and all of them but Joshua, son of Nun and Caleb, son of
Yephunneh, bring back a report that is cowardly because it lacks faith. 

After they acknowledged that the land they had seen was indeed "flowing
with milk and honey," they described the land was populated by giants.
As they were quoted in Numbers 13:33, "We appeared as grasshoppers to
them, and that is how we appeared to ourselves." 

But Joshua and Caleb disagreed, "We can surely ascend and conquer the
land, we can surely do it," because they trusted in the promise God had
made to Israel. Of that group, only Joshua and Caleb made it to the
Promised Land of Israel. 

Dear friends, you Christians United for Israel clearly follow in the
footsteps of Joshua and Caleb. Your faith is strong, and so is your
confidence. And so great will be your effect. 

I thank you and pray that God will bless you and all that you do."