The Five No’s

Dennis Prager here. Thanks for listening to the Daily Dennis Prager Podcast. To hear the entire 3 hours of my radio show commercial-free every single day, become a member of Prager Utopia. You'll also get access to 15 years' worth of archives as well as the daily show prep. Subscribe at pragertopia.com. Hello everybody, and a good Monday to you. I hope you had a good weekend. I really do. If you're concerned with the world, you have to balance the darkness in the world with your own life. And I, I do it because I've made such an effort all of my life. I fight and I take in the bad stuff, but I I do in fact luckily have the ability to lead a happy life personally. You have to, you have to work that through because things should affect you. What's happening to this country, what's happening to the West, the horrors that occurred in Israel. You know, I read more and more stories about what has happened and the things that come out. People burned alive, women, soldiers who were already picked out to be raped. And then there are all these demonstrations. The demonstrations are actually more depressing, that there are so many people who support pure evil. There were no pro-Nazi demonstrations in the West. But there were pro-Hamas demonstrations, and the police— did you see? Where was it? Was it in— was it in New York? There were police who barricaded themselves in a room while pro-Hamas demonstrators were smashing doors. In England and the United States, the police do nothing. They simply do nothing, and the media don't report what, what is being done. I'll tell you, the importing of millions of people from the Middle East, thanks to the European Union, thanks to the fools who think that they, that they can work on the basis of compassion. All you need to have is compassion, and you know the right thing to do. I had compassion, and I mean it, I did. I had compassion. What Syria did, what Arab did to Arab. But as I warned at the time, people who emigrate to other places, there's one thing they bring. They may not even bring their money. They may not bring any of their property other than a suitcase. They certainly don't bring their home, but they do bring their values. And the Middle East is saturated with exterminationist Jew hatred, truly analogous to that of the Nazis. I've never used the parallel to the Nazis in my life. We have one. Did you see the Blinken comments in Tokyo? Yeah, yeah, I want to put that up. It's, uh, it's an astonishing, astonishing thing what, uh, what Antony Blinken said. It needs to be brought to people's attention. Because it's a scary thing, this US government that we have under the Democrats. I want to bring that to you and read to you the 5. Well, I'll look up— are you looking that one up?

Yeah, I am.

Oh yeah, yeah, the Five Nose Blinken. See if that comes up. Okay, good. Here it comes. The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal has this. It's titled The Day After Israeli Victory: The Palestinian Israeli peace process can't return to regularly scheduled programming. While Israel focuses on winning the war against Hamas, the U.S. has been pressing for commitments on what will come next. Speaking in Tokyo last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken laid out 5 nos. Are you ready? 1, no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. What does that even mean? No, I'm not being cute. What does it mean? No forcible displacement. So, well, nobody's moving them out of Gaza. So I don't know. Oh, you don't know what he's talking about either? Okay, okay, fine. Number 2, no use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks. By the way, Do you understand? I actually, I hate to say this because I try to avoid ad hominems. So how shall I put it gently? I don't know how he got the job. Okay, that's as gently as I could put it. Not a deep man. Wow, that's going to, you know what, that is going to really affect Hamas, that the Secretary of the United States, Antony Blinken, said no use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks. Wow, that's going to shake them up. Number 4, no reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends. Really? So how is Israel going to prevent another slaughter of its citizens and hundreds captured as— I don't even know if they're hostages. They just may be killed. No reoccupation of Gaza? Wow. How long did we occupy Japan and Germany? Was that wrong? Was it wrong? You know what we did in Germany? We had a program called denazification, one of the reasons Germany became a thriving democracy. Why was that okay? We occupied Germany. We still have troops there. We occupied Japan. We defascized Japan, became a thriving democracy. It's astonishing. Number 5, no— well, like, why does it say 5? See, no forcible displacements, no use of Gaza for terrorism, no reoccupation. That's 3. Okay, so I was counting wrong. 4, no attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza. Well, what's Israel supposed to do? Okay, you slaughtered the equivalent in American terms of 30,000 to 40,000 people in one day, but we won't put you under a siege. No reduction in the territory of Gaza. With, excepting for the terror one, this could have been put out by Iran. Iran could have put these, the other 4 nos out. If only the Biden administration had that many red lines for Iran. Well, good point. The Secretary of State might also recall that the post-war reoccupations of Japan and Germany continued into to the 1950s and included territorial adjustments. The ignorance of history. I'm not sure Blinken even knows that. Mr. Blinken followed his 5 nos with 3 musts. The way forward to peace, quote, one, must include the Palestinian people's voices and aspirations at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza What does that mean? This is truly— this could have been issued by Jordan. I knew it wouldn't take long for the Biden administration to cave in. That's why I did compliment President Biden for his first statements about how evil it was. But I, I knew he will fade. He will cave in to the left as soon as possible. What's the next must? Must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority. How's Israel going to do that? I'll give you the fifth bust in a moment. You are listening to The Dennis Prager Show. The Dennis Prager Show. America is at a tipping point. Dennis Prager here to tell you about a new movie you should see. Dinesh D'Souza's movie Police State exposes the government's relentless persecution of the conservative movement. The America we know and love is becoming more and more like a police state every day. The FBI has turned its eyes away from the real dangers in the world to target what they call domestic terrorists. With a totalitarian agenda that's treating conservative Americans like criminals. They're targeting their political opponents using mass surveillance and censorship, indoctrinating our children, and threatening people who speak their minds and stand up for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and God-given American liberties. Directed by Dinesh D'Souza, Debbie D'Souza, and Bruce Schooley, Police State sounds the alarm. You have to see this movie, Police State. Buy it or stream it now at policestatefilm.net. That's policestatefilm.net. Listen, listen, listen. Oh my God, it's, uh, the stuff that I'm reading to you. This Anthony Blinken, 5 nos, now the, the 3 musts. It must include— the way forward to peace must include Palestinian people's voices and aspirations at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza. What, what does it mean? Do you know, do you know what the Palestinian people's voices are? Kill the Jews. That's the dominant Palestinian voice. Leftists do massive amounts of evil, and liberals are naive to the point that it is not even excusable. Palestinian voices are, "Destroy Israel!" Get it? "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!" Did you see there was a video of an American protester screaming that? And so the guy asked, what river are you referring to? She didn't know. What sea are you referring to? She didn't know. It was priceless. What difference does it make? To her, it didn't make a difference. Pro-Palestine means anti-West. Of course it means anti-Israel. Anthony Blinken is a fool. It's a staggering fool. But anyway, he's doing what his president is telling him to do. We have a bad man in the presidency, I'm sorry to say. Brings me no joy. Yeah, so what else? What else must it must include? A pathway to Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in states of their own with equal measures of security, freedom, opportunity, and dignity. Okay, the Palestinians were offered a state side by side with Israel on 5 different occasions. Watch our 5-minute video at PragerU on exactly that, the Palestinians rejecting a state every time. The Palestinians are not interested in making a state. They're interested in destroying Israel. Because most in the West are not dominated by such eradication hatred, They, they don't understand those who are. They just don't understand. They must think like we do. That's why the Europeans brought millions of people from the Middle East in. They think like we do. The tragedy is, by bringing so many in, the Europeans are starting to think like they do. Demonstrations in England. The police stand by. It was done on their combination of Memorial and Veterans Day. They sat on statues to the fallen with Palestinian flags. Did you see those pictures? Basically, the anti-Israel Muslim population of Britain has as high regard for Britain as it does for Israel, and the children of the first immigrant class are worse. They speak evil with a British accent. It is sensible to think ahead, but premature to give marching orders for the harmonious future, writes the Wall Street Journal. Israel still has intense urban fighting ahead. What happens after Hamas's command center underneath Al-Shifa Hospital falls? Will a terrorist insurgency persist in northern Gaza? How will Israel root out Hamas from Gaza's south, to which most civilians have fled? The answers can't help but affect how Gaza will be governed. The reality, Mr. Blinken acknowledged on questioning, is that there may be a need for some transition period at the end of the conflict, unquote, in which Israel keeps some control. This is essentially what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said earlier. I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, have the overall security responsibility because we've seen what happens when we don't have it. If Israel isn't taking on the terrorists, who will? The rush to empower the "Palestinian people's voices" after Israel left Gaza in 2005 saw Gazans elect Hamas. Yes, so Antony Blinken wants Palestinian voices heard. They were heard. They elected Hamas. This distinction, or have to make a distinction between Gazans and Hamas. Really, how many? I'm sure there are Gazans who hate Hamas. It is, after all, a police state and they torture opponents, which is of no interest to the world. No interest whatsoever. But by and large, If you— I'll bet if there was an honest secret poll, would you rather build Gaza into a flourishing city like Singapore, or would you rather destroy Israel and keep it at its current level of poverty? What do you think would win, my dear listener? People can't understand that, that it's better to destroy than to build. But that's why the left is aligned with Hamas and Hezbollah and the others who wish to destroy Israel, because they too are much more interested in destroying than building. For those of us who do not have such a mentality, it is almost impossible— no, it's probably impossible to enter that mentality. However, it's not impossible to acknowledge that it exists. That's the point. Killing Jews is more important and feels much better than building a Palestine. We'll be back. My friends, I want to tell you about one of the most influential books of my life. In fact, it's on my list of the 10 books that most influenced me. And it's just been re-released. George Gilder's Men and Marriage. George Gilder has been clear about the stakes for the family since 1974. 50 years later, the need of the hour remains. Men who take responsibility for themselves. Men who love their wives. Men who raise their own children. Men who tackle the workforce motivated by their family and the needs of others. Without fathers, our civilization will simply sink back into the Stone Age. We need to bring dads back, or else. Get your copy of George Gilder's classic book, Men and Marriage, today at dadsareback.com. .com. Civilization is built by men with families to feed. Yep, without the dads, we're toast. Get George Gilder's book at dadsareback.com. And here, here's a note for you, uh, that will mean little if you don't live in Los Angeles, but it doesn't matter. The point should be well taken. The— if there is a main artery running through LA, and there are many arteries that do, but if there is a main one, it is the 10, which is, by the way, it's transcontinental. It goes from West Coast, I think. Does it go all the way to the East Coast? I think so. No, it's, it's, it's a major, major east-west artery, and it's certainly major in Los Angeles. Fire under freeway. What is this from? Los Angeles Times. Fire under 10 freeway in downtown LA upends traffic with no reopening in sight. Guess what's under freeways. Let you know what, it's time for multiple choice quiz. What is under a freeway that might have caused this fire? 1, uh, Mormons having a temple service. 2, Jews studying the Torah. 3, a homeless encampment. Sean, what do you think? He's going with the Mormons. You're wrong. You're just wrong. It's a homeless encampment. Yes, you should have gotten that right. That's really distressing. Well, what— you're an LDS phobe. Yeah. The, the destruction of our beautiful major cities in the United States by the Democrats. It— the most important thing to note about that is that they pay no electoral price. People watch them destroy their cities and reelect them. The 10 freeway in downtown LA will remain closed indefinitely. How is that possible? Why aren't they having 24/7 crews fixing it? After the earthquake— when was the Northridge earthquake? Do you remember the year? Anyway, the, the mayor of, of Los Angeles was a Republican. And everybody marveled at the speed. I mean, there were freeways that cracked, and LA was up and running, I don't know, within a week. '94. 1994. Everyone marveled at the speed because Republicans ran it. The 10 Freeway will remain closed indefinitely As the California Department of Transportation moves to repair an overpass badly damaged by an intense fire early Saturday at two storage yards in an area with multiple homeless encampments. It's got to be coincidental. I don't even know why the Times acknowledged that there were homeless encampments there. The incident with closed westbound and eastbound lanes of the busy freeway will significantly affect traffic in the area. No timetable for reopening. Is that embarrassing? You have asked— one of the brightest people I've ever known is Alan Estrin, and he asked a non-bright question. You asked, is it embarrassing? Isn't it embarrassing? Have you ever encountered an embarrassed Democrat, an embarrassed liberal, an embarrassed leftist. Do they feel that they have nothing to be embarrassed about? There's no reason to think that this is going to be over in a couple of days, LA Mayor Karen Bass said. We will need to come together and all cooperate. What does that even mean? These platitudes crack me up. We're all coming together. Yes, what are you good— yes, or you— what about Sean? What is Sean going to do to help rebuild the 10 Freeway? We will all come together. What a beautiful— it's a beautiful sentiment. To see these cities, Portland, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, it's an amazing accomplishment of the left. So in this article, whatever your city you have a similar issue. But in LA, the major downtown freeway, one of the two major, if you will, but really major because it goes such— it goes 1,000 miles. It's a major artery, the number 10 freeway. Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristen Crowley said that, quote, as for any of the encampments in that area, we do not have any direct correlation at this point As to if that's where it did start or didn't, we are going to have to stand by and wait for the active investigation to be completed, she said. But then the LA Times, a fan of the homeless— a fan, let's put it this way, a fan for allowing the homeless to sleep in public spaces. Homeless encampments have been the source of fires under and around freeways up and down the West Coast in recent years. In July 2022, a major blaze struck an encampment underneath the 880 freeway in Oakland, destroying vehicles, snarling traffic, and requiring the work of 60 firefighters to extinguish it. And in March, a fire in Tacoma, Washington, broke out in a tent beneath the 5 freeway leaving one person dead. So yeah, so we don't know, we haven't proven it yet, but the odds are that that is the case. In 1992, Pete Wilson was the governor of California. And who was— what was the mayor's name? Because I actually— Richard Riordan. Yes, I was at his home. 2 Republicans, and the earthquake damage to freeways was repaired in an incredibly short period of time. When you grew up, if you are over 40 years old, maybe over 30, but certainly over 40, when you grew up, why weren't there massive number of homeless in the streets of your city. Where is it my wife and I were walking this weekend? I don't recall exactly where. And she pointed out to me, oh yeah, near, uh, in Beverly Hills actually. It was in Beverly Hills because of the PragerU gala, which I'll mention in a moment. So this is Beverly Hills. She says, look over there, and there was a body under a white sheet. So a homeless person had just decided to make himself or herself at home in the street of a street in Beverly Hills, California. This was not allowed in American history. You were not allowed to sleep in public spaces. There were signs often when I was a kid, no loitering. And then the liberal mentality, which is governed entirely by emotion and therefore bereft of wisdom, but very many of these are very sweet people, and I'm not being cute. They are. Wisdom and sweetness are not related, unfortunately. They decided, no, no, no, we're going to allow people to live in the street. Poor things, they don't have a home. The question is, is it good for society, is not a liberal or leftist question. Is it— is it nurturing of the individual? Is the dominant question. The feminization of liberalism. Women are by nature nurturing, which is terrific in the micro and awful in the macro. The purpose of government is not to nurture. So that's how we have the homeless who don't want to leave the streets. They don't, they don't want— in most cases. My wife and I interviewed a guy, interviewed, it wasn't for publication, one cold night. And it does get cold in the winter in LA at night. One cold night We interviewed someone and we said, why don't you go indoors? Is there no way? You have no relatives even? So, sure I do, but he didn't want to. I don't get it, but he didn't want to. So they're cleaning up the homeless right now in San Francisco. Did you know that? Because she The dictator of China is visiting. Who's he going to meet with?

Xi.

Biden's going to San Francisco. Wow, you are so lucky in San Francisco to have Joe Biden and Chairman Xi, two giants of our time in one city. So they cleaned up the homeless. How come they were able to do that for the summit meeting? We were in Beverly Hills Saturday night for the Prager U Gala. We have a few of them around the country, really formal affairs. And I'm telling you, everyone who was there got a shot in the arm of encouragement and strength for society. They came from all over the country, as they do for any PragerU Gala. I have a dialogue with a selected guest each time. This time it was Victor Davis Hanson. Are we going to put that up? Yeah, that's really worth people seeing. The people had a really positive reaction to that interview. And then I gave a speech. Zilla. And I was— we were not the only ones. I mean, people heard from a number of people and just got to meet terrific people. Ryan Walters was there, the Superintendent of Education of Oklahoma, whom I got to know this weekend. We had him for Shabbat dinner Friday night, first one in his life. And he is welcoming PragerU into the schools of Oklahoma. Back in a moment. Mike Lindell has a passion to help you get the best sleep of your life. He didn't stop at the pillow. Mike also created the Giza Dream bedsheets. These sheets look and feel great, which means an even better night's sleep, which is crucial for overall health. Mike found the world's best cotton called Giza. It's ultra soft and breathable but extremely durable. Mike's latest deal is the sale of the year for a limited time. You'll receive 50% off the Giza Dream Sheets, marking prices down as low as $29.98 depending on the size. Go to mypillow.com, click on the radio podcast square, and use the promo code Prager. There you'll find not only this amazing offer but also deep discounts on all MyPillow products, including the MyPillow 2.0 mattress topper, MyPillow kitchen towel sets, and so much more. Call 800-761-6302 or go Go to mypillow.com and use the promo code Prager. Hello everybody, Dennis Prager here. Hope you had a good weekend. I'm off to Tampa, by the way. Those of you in Tampa, I will be with Seb Gorka and Mike Gallagher at a big event in Tampa tomorrow night. Check with the station. For details, I believe there are still tickets, and I don't know how an evening with the three of us could not be enjoyable and fascinating for you. Again, Tampa tomorrow night. It is, after all, another week, so I therefore should be entering an airplane. That's my life. It's not— I'm not complaining, by the way. I'm blessed. I can't get this out of my mind that I was reading to you at the end of the last segment of the show, the first hour of the show, in a city in Wisconsin, one of the administrators sent out a message. As the holiday season approaches, Mr. Archambeau and I— this is whatever her title is— ask that you take some time to reflect on our commitment to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all residents and visitors to our buildings. As well as to all our co-workers at City Hall. In particular, December is our busiest month of the year. We strive to ensure that every visitor to our building feels valued and respected regardless of their individual beliefs and traditions. This is all gobbledygook drivel. If you don't feel valued and respected because there are red and green colors— that's what it was about. It wasn't even— it was not about anything even about Jesus. No crosses, no crèche, nothing. Just red and green. If you feel devalued or disrespected because of that, You are a narcissist. You are a fool. We will not bend to your sickness. Become a mature individual. Wake up to reality. Christmas is a national holiday in the United States. Its colors are red and green. But no, oh, I feel disrespected. You feel disrespected? Do you realize how few problems you must have in life? If you think that you are disrespected because red and green are at City Hall, do you understand who we're talking about here? Pathetic narcissists. Leftism enshrines narcissism. You think you're a woman, or you say you're a woman, sure, you can compete with women in women's sports. You are all that matters. Women's sports mean nothing. You are everything. That's what leftism is about. You and your idiosyncratic needs or desires are everything. Screw society. That is one of the mottos of the left. How come this Jew, Dennis Prager, doesn't feel disrespected if City Hall has red and green? How come? Am I— I'm just curious. Why don't I? Why doesn't any Jew that I know, and I know many, Not one feels disrespected if there's red and green. What type of human being feels disrespected if there's red and green in Christmas season? A narcissistic, sick human being. That's it. And I hereby announce you are sick, and our City Hall will not bend to your narcissism. Have a nice day, schmuck. Currently, Christmas decorations are prevalent throughout public counters at City Hall and perhaps other buildings as well. While we understand the significance of this holiday for many, it is important to recognize that not all Wauwatosa employees, residents, or business owners celebrate Christmas. I, I, I don't, but my society does. Get it? There's a big difference. The fact that I, Dennis, happen not to celebrate the religious aspects of Christmas doesn't mean a thing. I love my society and the fact that it does. You crap on society because you're a liberal fool who went to graduate school. To that end, we kindly ask that departments refrain from using religious decorations or solely associated with Christmas, such as red and green colors. Colors now, you get that? I'm offended because of colors. What about the people who are offended by LGBT colors, by pride flag colors? Why is that inclusive of those who are not LGBTQIA+? I would say that red and green represent more people than in society, a greater percentage of people than the pride colors. We encourage you to opt for more neutral and inclusive decorations that celebrate the season without favoring any particular faith belief system. Christmas is a national holiday. I keep reminding these people. Here are a few suggestions: winter wonderland, snowflakes, snow people. Oh, snow people. Let's build a snow person. And other non-religious symbols associated with— by the way, why are red and green religious? What is red— what, what is religious about red and green? Lights and greenery. Festive lighting and greenery can create a warm and welcoming atmosphere without specific religious connotations. Northern Lights. Now I want to read to you one other thing from this example of the radical secularization of America. By the way, that is at the core of most of our problems. The death of Judeo-Christian values is the core problem in the United States of America, and the carrier of those values has by and large in America been Christianity. And I say that as a committed Jew. You know why? Because I prefer truth to anything else. So here was another thing written in this regard. This is really— it's priceless if I can find it, and I'm not sure I can. It was a letter written by a Christian in reaction to this. Here we go. Yes, I found it. Look at that. It's not coming. This is from, let's see, Wauwatosa's mayor has now sent out an email to the Common Council. Here is the statement. This is from Dennis McBride. You may have heard that certain media outlets, especially Wisconsin Right Now and the Daily Mail, are stoking controversy over an email that our Deputy City Administrator Melissa Weiss sent a few days ago in which she urged city staff to avoid overtly religious messages in their City Hall displays. First of all, it's a little dishonest not specifying red and green is the issue. This morning I received a score of emails from people, most not from Wauwatosa, who have expressed outrage. Here is how I responded. This is the mayor of Wauwatosa. And for those of you who wonder, with all that is going on, why am I talking about this? Because this is the heart of the problem in the West, the death of Judeo-Christian religions. Okay? That's why. This is a microcosm of the problem. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who I will read to you later, one of the giants of our time, this black Somali woman raised in a Muslim family in Somalia who was the victim of clitoridectomy. And who ran away and went to Holland. And incredibly, a Somali woman became a member of the Dutch Parliament. Then she came to the United States where she is one of the most widely booked lecturers to speak on society. She's extraordinary. She's fighting for the rights of women, especially women in Muslim countries. And she writes exactly what I have been warning my whole life: the collapse of the West because of the collapse of Christianity. So I'm going to read to you that— that's why I'm choosing this. As I said earlier in the show, when Christians went to church Jews were doing better. Jews, because they're so well educated, thought that secularism would make them safer. I'm reading to you the mayor of Wauwatosa. He's a Christian, and I want to respond to his comments because people have, uh, city in Wisconsin has decided No red and green colors at Christmas time in City Hall. I wasn't able to respond to your message earlier because I was singing in my church choir this morning. This policy you mentioned was not imposed by the Common Council or me. So who's imposing it? The city administrator? Why does he say that it wasn't imposed? Why does he say that? To duck responsibility? It's not a bizarre thing to say. Hey, don't look at me, I'm just the mayor. Courage is a liberal quality, isn't it? That being said, after the message was sent out by our deputy city administrator, I inquired and learned that in years past Some people who have come to City Hall in November and December have complained about religious displays. Wow, really? Screw them. That's what you say to the immature and the narcissistic. Get out of here. The notion that all narcissistic, selfish, self-centered, foolish complaints must be honored. What if somebody said, I don't like your LGBTQ flag? They would be called a hater. Why isn't somebody who is against red and green a hater? If you are against these colors, you're a hater. If you're against these colors, we honor your complaint. Why? My understanding is that our administrators are trying to minimize the discomfort— this is the America today— minimize discomfort of the narcissistic that some people feel when they come to a government building for a governmental non-religious function. Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's." Our job as a city government is to provide municipal services. There is no Republican way to plow the snow nor a Democratic way to pick up the garbage. Likewise, there is no Christian way to mow the grass and no Jewish or Muslim way to pave our roads. So sweet. And so completely irrelevant. Oh God, you just touch the thing here and you lose it. Sorry folks, trying to find his statement which literally disappeared from my screen. It was a precious statement. I may— we'll give it another chance. Oh my Lord, my Lord, how did this happen? He goes on to speak about the fact that he has Jewish grandchildren, I believe. So I would raise my Jewish grandchildren to understand. Oh, he said, oh yes, how would we feel? He went on to say, how would people feel If they saw Muslim displays, right, might they feel a bit odd if they went to City Hall and saw Muslim displays? So here's the answer: if the City Hall is in Rabat, Morocco, I would expect to see Muslim displays. I wouldn't ask them to tear it down. Because Morocco is an overwhelmingly Muslim country. I wouldn't expect Hanukkah displays to be removed from Tel Aviv City Hall. Would any Jews who support the removal of red and green from City Hall support the removal of a menorah from Tel Aviv's City Hall or Jerusalem's City Hall? Yes or no? So you see, it's— this is an example of someone who's Christian. He said he was at the church choir singing, but it doesn't matter. Leftist, leftist sick thought has infiltrated everywhere, and this was, uh, this was just one of those examples. Iyanhirsi Ali. Has written a piece, Why I Am Now a Christian. It's ironic because Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a few years ago, was the guest speaker, really person with whom I had a dialogue at a PragerU gala. And she spoke about being an atheist. And I said, is this the one arena where you and I differ? We are doomed without Judeo-Christian religions. And sure enough, I mean, I knew I was right. It wasn't the matter of debate, but I so, so understand the Islam that she grew up with, why she would become anti-religious. Iran has probably produced more atheists than Harvard. Why I am now a Christian Atheism can't equip— can't equip us for civilizational war. That's right. In 2002, I discovered a 1927 lecture by Bertrand Russell titled Why I Am Not a Christian. That's right. I would be compelled to write an essay with precisely the opposite title. That's correct. So she goes on to say, to understand why I became an atheist 20 years ago, you first need to understand the kind of Muslim I had been. I was a teenager when the Muslim Brotherhood penetrated my community in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985. I don't think I had even understood religious practice before the coming of the Brotherhood. The preachers of the Muslim Brotherhood changed this. They articulated direction, the straight path. I'll read to you more. The evolution of this brilliant, courageous woman to take God and religion and the Bible seriously is a major moment. Back in a moment. Hi everybody, Dennis Prager here. A book that just came out and obviously came out before October 7th, the worst day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. And it is titled The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World. Dan Senor and Saul Singer have written it. Dan Senor has a piece in the New York Post which makes you cry if you're an American. I mean that sincerely. Here's an example of a line from his piece, and I have him on the line. In most meritocracies, the criterion to reach the pinnacle of merit is individual academic excellence. In Israel, the most meritorious are those who seek and are chosen for the most challenging military service. This changes everything. It means merit is determined by something that is not about you, but about how you can contribute to your society and country. It is a communal value that builds solidarity rather than an individualistic value that contributes to moving up the ladder. Can you imagine if we had that in the US? The best go into the military. That, uh, that would change this country in a nanosecond. Dan Senor, welcome to the Dennis Prager Show.

Thanks, Dennis. Thanks for having me. It's great to be with you.

You're in New York City?

I am.

I am. I know this will sound awful, but I want to say I don't envy you. Is that a fair reaction?

I will tell you, you'll appreciate this. I, I, as I'm sure you have too, I've been speaking to a lot of my Israeli friends in Israel since October 7th, and there's been like an arc to those conversations which began with me on October 7th, 8th, 9th, checking in with them. How you doing? Trying to be supportive, you know, trying to comfort them as they go through this trauma. That, that was like the first few days. And then in recent weeks, it's migrated to something completely different. When I say, when I check in with them and say, how are you doing? They say, we'll be okay. Don't worry about us. We'll be okay. We, we, we have a war. This is awful. This is horrific. But we know how to fight wars. We'll fight this war. We'll be okay. We're worried about you. We're worried about you guys. We're worried about American Jews. We're worried about what we're seeing in New York City. We're worried about what's happening on college campuses. What on earth is going on in your corner of the world? Don't worry about us. We can handle this. But what we're witnessing over happening in the United States, that's what's shaking their confidence. They're confident in their own society. They're confident in their own young men and women who are on the front lines. What's shaking their confidence is watching what's happening over here.

That is one powerful response. You wrote this for the New York Post. The New York Post today has a piece about Hundreds of kids let out in Brooklyn from school to march against Israel, against Zionism, and among their chants was F the Jews. Hundreds of kids, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, one of the left-wing districts.

It's everywhere, Dennis. It's everywhere here. I mean, I can give you story after story.

Yeah, yeah.

So I think my kids, my kids go to a Jewish day school. I mean, I never thought I'd see the day that I watch my kids go to a Jewish day school with NYPD cars outside the day school. Every Jewish day school, every Jewish institute in the city is in some form or another a target or a prospective target. I'm not saying there's actual intelligence of a target, but just that sense of there's Jew hunting going on. That's what it is. There's Jew hunting going on in the West. And when I use that term, people say, oh, you're being demagogic. Oh, you're being histrionic. Oh, really? I mean, last week was the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Now, there was a campaign in certain corners to go out and start vandalizing the property of Jewish-owned businesses last week, in some cases on the exact day, that anniversary of Kristallnacht's beginning.

Let me just tell everybody, Kristallnacht is the night of the broken glass. Kristall is glass, Nacht is night. So the night of the glass, when they, when throughout Germany they shattered Jewish stores, beat Jews up, and looted their property. Go ahead.

In 1938, so this was an early sign of what was to come, right? And so the bookstore chain, the largest bookstore chain in Canada, owned, or the CEO of which is Jewish, they go and they vandalize the bookstores, they splash blood all over the place, they put photos of the Jews.

By the way, who is the they usually?

It's a great question. There are these mobs of— it's a mix of things. It's a mix of young, I don't know, call them students, I don't know, young activists who don't seem particularly involved with or identified with causes involving the Middle East. So somehow they're people who I normally don't associate with these issues who get swept up in it, or or activists that are involved with the Students for Justice in Palestine or other organizations that are affiliated. And so they, in Toronto, they went and they splattered blood all over these stores and they put up signs of photos of the CEO. And instead of calling her CEO, they called her CGO, as in Chief Genocide Officer. And I don't quite see how she's the Chief Genocide Officer of anything. She runs a bookstore chain. They did it at stores here in New York. Obviously, I'm sure you've seen what's happened at MIT in Boston.

No, I didn't. What happened at MIT?

They basically made it impossible for Jewish students to go to class and study to the point that the administration had to all but tell Jewish students, you know, maybe today's not a good day to go to class. And so my only point is it used to be that there was ugly criticism of Israel and the critics, those critics of Israel who I would, in my, by my standards, they will have crossed the line, would say, no, no, it's not antisemitism. It's just criticism of Israel. And they were very sensitive about being stigmatized with a blurring between anti-Zionism and antisemitism or criticism of Israel and antisemitism. Now they're not worried about the stigma. To the contrary, they embrace it. That the stigma is the point. That Kristallnacht is the point. That the association and the anniversary of Kristallnacht is the point. And so I just— that's what, when my Israeli friends look at what's going on here, that's what they're struck by. From the river to the sea. They know what that means. And it's, and it's, it's, so that's what's so unnerving, I think, for us. And it's so unnerving for our Israeli friends and family who are watching this from Israel because they think that America, this kind of stuff doesn't happen in the United States of America and the enlightened, modern, affluent, highly educated democracy of the United States of America. So I, Look, after October 7th, Dennis, I was floored that the outrage against Israel began before Israel even responded to October 7th. The outrage began before that. And then once Israel made it clear it was going to do something to respond, as any country on the planet would do if there was a genocidal attack from an enemy on your border. Israel hadn't even really responded. They just made it clear they were going to respond. Then the outrage cranked up even higher with these protests and everything. And it was like as though people were outraged that the Jews objected to being slaughtered. That you object to being slaughtered. How dare you? And then Israel said, well, as a matter of self-defense, we have to take out Hamas. And then some leaders said, okay, that's fine, you can take out Hamas, but don't hit any hospitals or civilian areas. Israel said, okay, but you do know that the hospitals and the civilian areas are deliberately co-located with the enemy we have to take out, deliberately co-located by the enemy, by Hamas, if not just co-located, like literally in the same, like underneath these facilities. Well, you can't, you can't. So what you're basically saying is we can't hit Hamas. So now you're—

Keep that thought. I got to break. The book is The Genius of Israel. And it explains America in many ways. Dan Senor and Saul Singer have written another bestseller, The Genius of Israel, came out right before 10/7, and it is so relevant to us. I read, Dan, from your piece, terrific piece in the New York Post, which is a terrific newspaper. I just want to read it one more time, then I'll read some other parts. In most meritocracies, the criterion to reach the pinnacle of merit is individual academic excellence. In Israel, the most meritorious are those who seek and are chosen for the most challenging military service. This changes everything. A society that selects for service changes everything. And he tells an interesting story. When we spoke to Nadav Zafrier, a successful Israeli entrepreneur and the commander of an elite tech unit in the IDF, he was in the process of moving his family back to Israel after spending a few years in the United States building his business. A major reason for returning to Israel— listen to this, folks— was so that his children could go into the Israeli Army rather than to an American university. I looked at my kids and I said, this is what I want for them, not because I'm a Spartan, but because I honestly think it's a better education. Imagine if the best and brightest in America went into the military. That's what I had said before you came on. I go back to Dan Senor's book, The Genius of Israel, is up at DennisPrager.com. You're, uh, I, I, as you noted, or you may have noticed, I didn't interrupt you once because it was so fascinating. Your Israeli friends, that is in Israel at wartime, are more worried about you, an American Jew. And for the first time in my life, I understand that the combination of the left and Islamism is bad for the West and bad for the Jews. So when I said to you, who are they, that's who they are— the woke and the fundamentalist Muslim, especially from The Middle East, 700 kids going out, whatever the number 100 was, in Brooklyn to demonstrate against Israel and scream, "F the Zionists and F the Jews." Your children having a police escort to a Jewish day school in Manhattan. It's a different world. So what's the thesis of your book about the genius of Israel? It's society that believes in itself?

Yeah, it's a few things. It's a, we try to understand why, and this is before October 7th, we feel even more strongly about it after October 7th. It's why on just about every metric, Israel is moving in one direction and Western affluent democracies are moving in the other direction. So. Most of the West right now is in the process of, or about to have, a demographic catastrophe. Shrinking populations, shrinking and aging populations. People are having fewer and fewer children. In many parts of the world, they're well below the replacement rate necessary for a population to grow. So populations will shrink. We're already seeing it in certain parts of the world. We have for years, like Japan, which is— population is shrinking. They're closing schools in Japan because there aren't enough children. In Japan, we cite in our book, the market for adult diapers is larger than the market for baby diapers. Just to give you a sense.

That is mind-blowing.

Yeah.

Without getting too raunchy, or I would say not even raunchy, sick. The— is the adult diaper just for adults who are incontinent, or is it a sexual matter?

No, I think it's, I think it's the former.

Okay, so that really, that is a one of the most depressing statistics I have encountered. Yeah, there are more adult diapers than— the reason I asked, by the way, I want to explain to people who might have thought that's weird, the question I asked was not weird. Someone, a family member who was single, a middle-aged woman, went on a dating site and one of the guys she encountered sent her a picture of himself in a diaper. And that has stayed with me, I have to say. Okay.

Well, that— yeah.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. I just wanted to explain where that question came from. So, yes. So we— There's demographic suicide.

So basically, the populations are shrinking. People aren't having enough children. I was in Japan last spring, and every person I met with, including government officials, said it's the biggest threat to Japan, that people are just not having children. Families are smaller, if not nonexistent. Population ages. No one's there to support them, younger generations. And there's no innovation in the society or the economy because It's a graying population. You see the same in some parts of Europe. And other— if you just look at the forecast, the US is not far behind. So, that's demography. Then you look at life expectancy. Life expectancy in most parts of the world is plateauing. Israel's life expectancy is higher than Europe. It's higher than the United States. It's higher than its wealthy peers in the Sunni Gulf states in the region that have gobs of money and access to the best healthcare money can buy. So Israelis are living longer, and I should add to the earlier point, they're having more babies. Israel's right now way above the replacement rate. Israel's the only wealthy democracy that is both getting wealthier and having more and more children. So it's an iron law of demography that the more economically productive a population becomes, the less reproductive it becomes. That's pretty consistent everywhere except for one place, which is Israel. In Israel, they're building a stronger and stronger economy, they're getting wealthier and wealthier as a country, and they're having more and more children. And it's not just the ultra-Orthodox. When I say this, people say, ah, it's just the Haredi Jews, it's just the ultra-Orthodox Jews that are having a lot of kids. It's true, they are. They also represent a small part of the population, where the real growth is coming from, are from secular Israelis who are also having 3, 4, 5 children in some cases. So the demography contrast. Deaths of despair. Over the last couple decades, there's been this crisis in the United States of people dying from alcohol abuse.

These are powerful. They're all in the genius of Israel. You want to understand Israel? This is a terrific way to do it. Dan Senor and Alex and Saul Singer. That's funny.

Alex's late brother, who I knew, knew well, who, who, who fell, uh, that's right, the IDF.

I know, in Lebanon. I know the family well. They were students of mine. They were most— one of some of the most spectacular I've ever known. The Genius of Israel, Dan Senor and Saul Singer. And it is so, it is so applicable to what we don't have in America. There you have a great quote. Your article is, is his article up on Dennis Prager? We should put it up. Your article in the New York Post is as important about America, to be honest, as it is about Israel. And let me see here if I can find it because I just had it. But you cite, which is of course so true, purpose, that people need a purpose and there's a purpose-driven population in Israel. And with the death of Judeo-Christian values, that's not the way you put it, I'm putting it. I don't want to I don't want to put any words in your mouth. And an American patriotism, we have substituted climate change. I'm amplifying on what you wrote. But it—

Have at it.

Thank you.

Preaching, preaching to the choir.

I would suspect so. So, by the way, in light of all of this, how are your children reacting? When they see cop cars guarding them, how do they assimilate this?

It's a fascinating question, Dennis. We have many friends who, uh, who send their kids to secular private schools. Jewish families who send their kids to secular elite prep schools, right? They're the ones having a hard time. It's almost a version, actually. Now, I haven't thought about it this way till you asked it. The way my Israeli friends say to us, how are you? We're worried about you. In the United States, you can transfer that from me to my friends whose kids are in secular private schools. Because I say to them, how are you? Because they're sending their kids to schools where at best, there's been no public acknowledgement by the school of what happened on October 7th. And at worst, there are these ham-handed statements issued by the faculty that engage in the grossest forms of moral equivalence and whataboutism and even-handedness that could make your head explode. Now, at our children's school, big population is Israeli, big part of the faculty is Israeli. The events of October 7th are very much in the water If you will, of our community here in New York. So our kids are enveloped in it and don't— I mean, it's upsetting, obviously upsetting. Also, they have cousins who have been called up in the reserves in Israel. You mentioned, you know, Saul's daughter has been called up in the reserves. We have other family who have been called up, some in combat roles. So it's all around them. But I'd rather it be all around them. In other words, there's burden and sacrifice and tragedy that they're aware of when it's all around them. And there's also pride and knowing, a kid knowing at a young age there are things that are worth fighting for. And there's a cause and there's a mission and a story that we care about, the story of our people. And this is another chapter in the story of our people. And we take great pride in that, and we take great burden in that. And I think it's a healthier way to raise a kid. So I think they're in a better shape than a lot of Jews who are leading very assimilated Jewish lives, very assimilated lives as Jews. In all around us.

There was— I read this to my listeners a few weeks ago— there was less suicide and depression in America during World War II than today. Yeah, the hardship is not the cause of depression. Meaninglessness is. By the way, I'm paraphrasing you. I just want to make that clear.

I know.

I know. Just want to give credit where it is due. But it echoes my entire life's mission. Can I give you a quote?

Can I give you a quote? I'm just opening up the book right here because I have two favorite, two of my favorite quotes in this book. And I don't mean to—

All right, give the two quotes when we come back. It's a perfect way to leave it because I want to remind everybody, The Genius of Israel is up at DennisPrager.com. It explains almost everything.

I don't think you realize.

Dan Senor has co-authored a really important book, ironically coming out now right after 10/7, October 7th, the worst day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. The Genius of Israel. And it's— if Israel is not on your radar, although it is on most people's now, But even if it's not, if you want to understand America and our existential crisis, this is a tremendous way to do so. You were about to cite two citations from your book.

So the first one is a quote by Sebastian Junger, who's not Jewish, who's a war correspondent living here in the U.S. He's written a number of very good books, including one called Tribe. He spent a lot of time with American troops in very difficult parts of the world, in Afghanistan. Elsewhere. And he writes in Tribe, and we quoted him, we quoted him elsewhere in the book based on conversations with him. This quote opens up the book, our book. He says, humans don't mind hardship. In fact, they thrive on it. What they mind is not feeling necessary.

That's in your New York Post piece. It's phenomenal.

Yeah, yeah. Modern society has perfected the art of of making people not feel necessary. That quote to me says so much because Israel is one of the happiest places in the world, literally, according to the UN. That's right. The nicest thing the UN has ever said about Israel. The UN ranks countries based on happiness, and Israel in 2023, it's been top 10 for years, but in 2023—

By the way, Gaza, just for the record, is in the top 130.

Right, exactly. So Israel's number 4, and so it's interesting, like, why is Israel so happy when you look at events right now and you look at versions of events right now that Israel has had to experience in some form or another throughout its history? It's because happiness is not about the easy life. Happiness is not derived based on lots of creature comforts and being taken care of. Happiness comes from feeling like you have a purpose, like you have a reason to get out of bed in the morning, like you're necessary. And in Israel, if we didn't call Israel startup nation, we'd call it necessary nation. Everybody in Israel feels that they have a role, they have a part to play, and that's That's what's significant in that New York Post piece, which is an excerpt from the book, which is one of the important things about national service in Israel is Israelis feel like, I have something to contribute. I have a role to play. It's larger than me. It's not all about me. And so, that's a very important part, that's an important theme that explains the health of Israeli society, the happiness of Israeli society, and the resilience of Israeli society. The second is, We quote extensively a public intellectual in Israel who you may know named Mika Goodman, who says, who told us, and we quote the interview in the book, he says, you know, Israel is a small country with a big story. That is to say, there are other small countries in the world, okay, nothing against them, you know, there's small countries in Europe, Canada's a little more than a small country, still smallish country, But these countries don't have big stories. Like, what happens in those countries beyond the country's goal of maintaining a decent standard of living for its people or whatever, in the scheme of things, there's not a sense that the country really matters. And in Israel, it's a small country with a big story. It's small, but what happens there really matters. What happens there, it's like it's a story, it's a country and a story with biblical proportions, not only going back 2,000 years, but God willing, forward 2,000 years. And so every Israeli says this place is big in the scheme of things. What we debate and deal with here is not just about the quality of life, it's about the essence of life. And yet the country's small enough that everybody has a role. Everyone has a role in shaping that story, or as Mika says, in touching history. Everyone here can touch history. So I think, Dennis, when everybody feels necessary, everybody feels that the story and the purpose of the country matters, and everybody feels that they can do something to touch it, shape it, move it forward, I think it's incredibly empowering. So it requires hard work. Those people storming, those Israelis storming Gaza right now, that's really hard work. Those Israeli civilian volunteers that left their comfortable homes in North Tel Aviv over the last few weeks to go down to the southern agricultural communities that were wiped out on October 2nd and now have been evacuated. October 7th and been wiped out. And those farms there are going to go dormant unless people start taking care of them. These volunteers from the tech community and other very comfortable communities in Tel Aviv schlepped— have been schlepping down to South Israel. To farm, to make sure these farms don't go dormant. These people who have set up an Airbnb system, a bespoke Airbnb system in Israel, so that every Israeli that has a spare bedroom in their home that can take an evacuee from the north or the south. And so, hey, my son is going into— called up to the reserves. We got a spare bedroom. Oh, we can take someone. That you can find a room if you've got nowhere to live and go into that person's home, total stranger. Okay, I, I have example after example after example of what I'm talking about, Dennis, of the country rallying, the country coming together. Every one of those people in every one of those projects I just described, and I could times them by 1,000, feels necessary. They feel that they're part of a story that they're shaping and advancing and defending. And therefore, I think They are leading happier lives.

That is brilliant. We have lost that to a large extent in America because Americans don't feel the American story. Israelis feel the Israeli story, as you put it. So they've substituted with this story of climate change and LGBTQ. And hormone blockers and American racism and defunding police, because there's no more American story. It's so applicable to here. People don't know how many Israelis doing so well in America and in Europe got on the first flights they could to go to Israel to fight, to maybe die. Living a comfy life in France.

Yep.

The book—

I know, I know people who have done— there's a—

let me just— let me announce your book because I'm trying to push your book.

Sorry, sorry. Far be it for me to get—

that's right, exactly. The Genius of Israel. It is up at dennisprager.com. Dennis Prager here. Thanks for listening to the Daily Dennis Prager Podcast. To hear the entire 3 hours of my radio show commercial-free every single day, become a member of Pragertopia. You'll also get access to 15 years' worth of archives, as well as the daily show prep. Subscribe at pragertopia.com.