Timeless Wisdom: The Moral Case For Israel (Part 2)

People are searching for truth in a culture that feels disconnected from it. That's why platforms like Angel exist, offering a space for uplifting entertainment and documentaries, including Homestead, a story centered on family, faith, and resilience. Solo Mio, a lighthearted romantic comedy. David, an animated musical with sweeping storytelling. And The Death of Recess, a documentary exploring concerns around the modern education system. If you're looking for meaningful, values-driven content, Angel provides a range of options. Learn more at angel.com/prager.

Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Hear thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs. And to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to DennisPrager.com. On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom.

Does anybody know what Hamas is fighting for? You just have to read their own literature. They're fighting for a Taliban-type state. They want to impose the Sharia on everybody, including, of course, fellow Muslims first and foremost.

That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager, and it starts right now.

Number 4, freedom of speech. There is a freedom of speech in Israel. There is none in the countries surrounding it. You, you, I monitor. You can too. You should. The internet is an awesome device. You can read most major papers in English. You can read the major— you can read Saudi news in English, you could read Al-Ahram from Egypt in English, and just— and read the Israeli— some Israeli papers. You read the Israeli— go to Haaretz, that's the one in English, right? That's like the Israeli New York Times, which I don't say as a compliment, just as a fact. And, uh, it is, uh, Haaretz is in English every day, and basically half the editorials and commentaries are against the government. In fact, if I read some of them to you and said, "Do you think this is from an Israeli paper or from Egypt?" You'd probably say from Egypt. Now I go to Egyptian paper and by golly, I never read anything critical of Mr. Mubarak. In all of my years of reading Arab press, I have never come across one piece that said, "Maybe we're wrong about Israel." Not one. Is there no one from Morocco to the Persian Gulf who thinks maybe we're wrong? I'll bet there are. But they prefer to live, so they don't say anything. Israelis who attack the government, they get university invitations. They get to make a good living, just like Americans who attack our government. But if you attack Arafat's government, you find yourself upside down for a prolonged period. Because they take you off the street, they call you a collaborator, they torture you to death, and then they hang you upside down, which is a sign, like with Mussolini, of what you do to evil collaborators. There is no trial. You're caught in the morning and you're upside down in the evening. See, it doesn't happen in Israel, where you have people saying the most pro-Palestinian, most anti-Israel things. They're professors, they're journalists, One is staggered at, again, that people don't see that, hey, maybe that is important, or is that insignificant because of some reason that Israel alone may not be judged by the same criteria of any other nation? And number 5, freedom of religion. To take Israel's neighbors, would you like to be a Christian in Saudi Arabia, for example? Christians in Saudi Arabia— let me just read to you one example of the fate of anybody who does in fact— this is from The Guardian in England. I purposely take the left-wing press so you shouldn't think this is slanted, because they're very anti-Israel and pro-Arab. Evidence of Saudi Arabian torture, March 5th, 2002. Of Saudi Arabian torture practices exposed by The Guardian early this year has emerged in a film to be shown on Channel 4 tonight. And this is who was done to. An investigation by Dispatches has uncovered evidence that dozens of suspected Christians were detained and tortured in Saudi Arabia during the last 18 months. They were Filipinos working there. You know that anybody, any Christian visiting there cannot have a cross from his or her necklace, cannot pray, of course, etc. And in Israel, you know, the— I mean, for example, there's a huge— and I'm glad that it's there, by the way— Mormon center built right out in some of the choicest land in the center of Jerusalem the theoretical or religious Jewish capital. And by the way, I defended the right of the Mormons to build it there. I thought it's wonderful. Let Christians visit en masse in Israel, and they do, by the way. But it's a— but that's a non-issue. It's a non-issue. Of course you could have freedom of religion in Israel. Now, is there ultimate freedom of religion? No. And you know to whom there isn't? Jews. Because Orthodox rabbinate controls religious life there. So if anybody has a complaint, it would be a Reform Jew in Israel. All 7 of them would have a serious problem with what is going on with the rabbinate. And I attend a Reform synagogue, so you can't translate that as anti-Reform, just as telling you the truth. There are almost no Reform Jews in Israel. They exist, but they can meet in a phone booth. Now, so there's no freedom of religion around— around— oh, by the way, if a Muslim in any Muslim country of which I am aware, —if I am mistaken, please correct me—converts to Christianity, he's killed. It is a death sentence. You may not convert out of Islam, certainly not to Judaism. I mean, one can't even imagine that happening in a Muslim— but certainly not to Christianity either. Number 6, this is a very important one. Love of life versus love of death. The Hamas leader told, uh, was reported in the Washington Post as saying, and this is significant, we will defeat the Israelis because they love life more than anyone else. Now, that's a very important quote, and again, it's the Washington Post. Again, as we wrote in our book on, on antisemitism, Why the Jews, often antisemites know, understand the Jews better than many Jews do. Jews, as a rule, do love life. L'chaim, to life. Wearing a chai, life. Jews are intoxicated with life. That's why Jews work so hard that their kids should advance. And it sometimes has bad repercussions. They're so this-life-oriented, a lot of Jews forgot that Judaism believes in an afterlife. They're so this-life-oriented that a lot of Jews become perhaps too materialistic. But every blessing has its curse side, if you will. But that Jews are preoccupied with life is not because of any genetic tendency. Jews are— there is no Jewish genetic tendency. Maybe there is to complaining, but that's a separate— beyond that, I can't think of any. But no, there is from the time of the Torah on a preoccupation. I have put before you life and death, and you shall choose life. Egypt, ancient Egypt, chose death. The pyramids are tombs. Its holy book was the Book of the Dead. Judaism was preoccupied with life in a world that was preoccupied with death. It hasn't changed with regard to Israel's immediate neighbor, the Palestinians. They do They actually are enamored of death. They vie for the opportunity to die, to send their children to die. 70% of Palestinians support suicide operations against Israel. This is staggering. Parents say, "I want more children so that they can all do this." I could give you article after article, all from liberal and left-wing press, none from anything that you could call pro-Israel. And Israelis, the thought of, hey, I want my child to grow up to be able to blow himself up among Palestinians, it's just, this is inconceivable. It's inconceivable. Israelis don't understand it. But it is a celebration of death. And if I truly believed 72 women were waiting for me, I don't know, and I'm 17 years old and I'm not allowed to touch a woman? Hey, that sounds pretty tempting to me, to be honest. If that's what my culture says, and my parents are going to get $25,000 from Saddam Hussein and Saudi Arabia, my impoverished parents, and I will be glorified in the whole area while I'm having a celestial orgy? Why wouldn't I do this? Why wouldn't I do this? I'm not mocking. That's the thing. None of this is mockery. This is literal description of what Israel is surrounded by. There was a— there was, uh, at Be'er Sheva University, there was an exhibition of the— they rebuilt a model of the, uh, of the pizza place, the Sbarro's pizza place in Jerusalem, where there was a massacre of Israelis. And they rebuilt it with pizza splattered all over. Over and human limbs splattered all over. And there were pictures of Palestinians bringing their children to see this— Jewish limbs splattered all over the Sbarro's pizza at a university exhibit. And, and, and, and I have to give a speech on the moral case for Israel at a university.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

People are searching for truth in a culture that feels disconnected from it. That's why platforms like Angel exist, offering a space for uplifting entertainment and documentaries, including Homestead, a story centered on family, faith, and resilience. Solo Mio, a lighthearted romantic comedy. David, an animated musical with sweeping storytelling. And The Death of Recess, a documentary exploring concerns around the modern education system. If you're looking for meaningful, values-driven content, Angel provides a range of options. Learn more at angel.com/prager.

Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom. Truth.

The world around Israel does not value truth like the Western world does. I say this only with sadness. It can change. I pray it does, but it is not the case. According to Zogby poll, the Zogby poll, and Zogby himself is an Arab, also the head of the American Arab Institute, Arab American Institute. He's a very pro-Arab Arab spokesman and a great pollster. Now, he revealed— this was just a few months ago— the great overwhelming majority of those in the Arab world do not believe that it was Arabs who attacked the United States on September 11th. This is probably unbelievable to you, but it's not unbelievable. Read the Arab press. Truth is not the issue. I'll tell you what the issue is: shame. Shame is the issue, and I'll tell you another example. Do you remember in 1999 the EgyptAir airliner that went down with everybody aboard? Well, the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States concluded that it was in fact the Egyptian pilot committing suicide. Everything points to it. There is no other rational explanation. As a major piece in the Atlantic Monthly pointed out, this is entirely denied in Egypt. And it's not denied because it's not true. It's denied because of a loss of face to Egyptians to admit that an Egyptian Air pilot, Egypt Air pilot, committed mass murder and suicide at the same time, and the various What was uncovered about his private life, which helps explain why he might have committed suicide, came out. Now, in America, if an American Airlines pilot, a United Airlines, Delta Airlines pilot committed suicide and committed mass murder, there would be no problem in our reporting this, except for lawsuits. There would be no— because the American mind does not think, oh, this reflects on all Americans. We just don't think that way. We think this guy was a sick, bad mass murderer who should have had carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage and instead killed 200 people. But in Egypt, if one Egyptian is known to do this, it reflects on all of us, and therefore we have to deny the truth. And so you deny September 11th, and you live in a world of denial. And then— no pun on the Egyptian River— and this is a constant that takes place in the world surrounding Israel, and a world that is not built on a sense that truth is paramount is very, very troubling. That is why the Arab press can print that Jews kill Gentile children. Children, uh, and, uh, and use their blood for Passover, and now the latest, for Purim as well. I knew that we used it for Passover. I, I wasn't aware that we kill Gentile children for Purim, so this was a revelation to me. I checked with some friends. They were not aware of the use of Gentile blood for Purim. Uh, of course, I, you know, I don't know how to react as a Jew to something so beyond evil and beyond— it both in the realm of the absurd and the evil. Jews can't even have animal blood. The essence of kosher is to drain the blood from the animal. It is one of the basic laws of the Torah that you can't have the blood of an animal. And here Jews have a blood libel against them from the Middle Ages, rejuvenated in the modern Muslim and Arab world. One more example, and then I will conclude. Universities. At every Israeli university, there are huge departments of Arab history, of Arabic, studying of Islam, by scholars who convey it as objectively as possible. Are there Judaism study centers in any Arab university? I mean, think about it. There's no quid pro quo. There is none. None. And yet we are told this moral equivalence idea. Reuters won't use the word terrorist because one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. As if, by the way, Hamas is fighting for freedom. Does anybody know what Hamas is fighting for? You just have to read their own literature. They're fighting for a Taliban-type state. They want to impose the Sharia on everybody, including, of course, fellow Muslims first and foremost. That's what they want. So even if I were to buy that ugly moral relativistic line that you can never tell the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter, they're not fighting for freedom. They don't claim to be. They are fighting to impose Islamic law in the most draconian way they can. Where even non-Muslim women will be executed, like the Nigerian woman who was just sentenced to death for adultery. Even worse, uh, was, uh, the, the woman sentenced to death for adultery, and she was raped. She didn't even commit the adultery in a voluntary manner. And this is what Israel is up against, and we are told that it in some ways is the villain. You have to just shake your head and ask, how is this possible? And to my mind, that is the bigger question, which is not the purview of this speech, though I'm happy to comment on it if you want me to during the question and answer period. How can Europe say what it does when it has access to the facts? Not much access. European media, for example, in a scathing article you should all check. I'll tell you where to find it because I put these things on my website, DennisPrager.com. You look at articles cited, if you want articles by, but articles cited by me on my website, you will see this 3-part series by the senior analyst for United Press International. Why did the European press tell lies about the so-called Jenin massacre? There was no massacre in Jenin. Of course not. Everybody now knows that.

Yes, sir. Dennis, I want to ask you, if I may, about your core belief about what's termed the endgame. That is, supposing, you can imagine, that the Palestinians decided to accept the offer that Prime Minister Barak made and that the Israeli government decided to put that on the table so that the Palestinians would get their own state and they get half of Jerusalem, they'd have almost all of the West Bank. Do you think if they— oh, everything— and the Palestinians agreed not to push for this Law of Return. Do you think if the Palestinians got their own state, all of what they say they want, Do you think there would be peace?

I don't know, and I don't think that there's an answer right now because the Palestinians from Oslo until the latest eruption almost 2 years ago were never prepared for compromise by their leadership. The Israelis had peace demonstrations and peace movements. There were no such demonstrations or movements on the Palestinian side. Yeah, they would gather with a few Israelis to call for peace in Israel, but there was never a mirror image. And so if you the whole time are telling everybody get ready to go home. Millions of you are going to go home. Arafat is as interested in collecting garbage in an independent state as I am. And that's the problem. The man— it is a great dilemma in history. Some of you study political science, I suspect. Do movements change history, or do individuals? It's a fascinating philosophical question. As a general rule, movements do good things, individuals do terrible things. Arafat has been a terrible curse to the Middle East. And so I don't think that the Palestinian mind is ready. I don't think that the Arab world is ready. Mr. Mubarak, who took over for a giant, Anwar Sadat, has been feeding his people hatred of Jews and Israel since he came to power. How are you going to prepare these people for anything approaching compromise?

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

People are searching for truth in a culture that feels disconnected from it. That's why platforms like Angel exist, offering a space for uplifting entertainment and documentary documentaries, including Homestead, a story centered on family, faith, and resilience; Solo Mio, a lighthearted romantic comedy; David, an animated musical with sweeping storytelling; and The Death of Recess, a documentary exploring concerns around the modern education system. If you're looking for meaningful, values-driven content, Angel provides a range of options. Learn more at angel.com/prager.

Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.

Is Netanyahu and the Likud Party correct in saying that the creation of a Palestinian state should be prevented because the result might be more rather than less risk for Israel?

I would have voted against them, but they may be right. That is the most honest answer I could give. Let me take one or two more and that's it. I always believe the speaker should leave before the audience does, so since I see some people having to leave— are you going to ask something, the rabbi? Okay, so just these last two. Yes. Thank you for coming in.

I had to take a little update on my book.

I'm here. Well, I'm honored that you did. Thank you. I've been Dennis Prager. I listened to this morning's radio show.

I was fascinated by the moral comparisons that were made. You had a guest, Dan Burton. Yes.

He was talking about the situation how CNN, LSR, New York Times, everybody just chose to ignore what one side morally chose to do and what the other side— I had on a— Yes, I will. Thank you very much. Very quickly, on my show this morning, and you're all invited to listen, 9 to noon, 870 KRLA. Now that that ad is off my back, I can tell you this morning for an hour I had Dan Gordon, who was a major Hollywood screenwriter, written one of the, in my opinion, one of the finest screenplays I ever saw, Murder in the First. In any event, he's a man of the left, he's a peace activist, he's met a lot with Arab leaders, and he went to Jenin when the claims of massacre were made, and he told the story that the Palestinians were offered blood by the Israelis for wounded Palestinians and refused it because they would not use Jews' blood. So the Israelis flew in Moroccan blood because Palestinians would not use Jews' blood. Particularly ironic Because just this week, the UPI reported that Jordan interviewed one of the heads of Hamas, a man who never gives interviews. They translated it from the Jordanian daily. And in it, he said, we are blessed. God has blessed us because the Jews, the Jews come in every ethnic and racial form so we can blend in. No matter what we look like. So here they are saying there is no such thing as a Jewish race, yet constantly calling Israel racist, though they benefit. They can bomb because there is no Jewish race. It doesn't exist. It never existed. And so, and then not taking blood. As I said, I wonder if somebody converted to Judaism, would they take that person's blood? I assume not, because the blood gets tainted upon conversion as you enter the mikveh. You get tainted. Finally, Rabbi Schaim Salafeller, and then I want to just say a final word and we'll all go home.

Yes. Question. I have two parts to my question. One is, do we need to exaggerate what are they— do you need to exaggerate what are they calling? Are they becoming taints? And I have a second, a final question. The examples are swallows. Because I think we can have our point and still hear that there's some intimations of right on the other side. The other side doesn't have to be black in order for us to be white. Number 1, criticism of violence. Thank God it has become right. There's no criticism of violence. Now it's starting. We should support You should say, you know what, they're starting. I finally hear criticism about Islam. Number 2, no Judaism is taught in universities. I mean, it's not an important point, but I mean, there was a professor teaching here at UCLA a number of years ago who teaches Judaism at the University of Cairo and also in Syria. I mean, it's also not true. It's not as if, by the way, they present Judaism the way we want Judaism to be prepared. They present it, but it's there. Support for suicide bombers in the Knesset? Well, as far as I know, the one guy who did is now on charges and lost his immunity. So it seems to me that we have to be careful. I don't know that the Arab members of the Knesset support suicide bombers, and they're not sadiki. But I don't know, do we have to say that? I don't know whether you know that they support suicide bombers. The most important point in this regard is your assertion that the West Bank is like Puerto Rico. I don't think you I don't believe that. I don't think anybody here believes that. Because whatever, even after Oslo, the West Bank was a place where there was humiliation, there were home demolitions, where there were searches, where there were checkpoints. It's not Puerto Rico. Is it better for Arabs in Israel? No question, than it is in Arab countries. But it's not Puerto Rico, so you don't have to, you don't need that. Because it doesn't sound right in terms of It affects the credibility of the important points that you're trying to make. And now the question.

Those were statements of fact. Now a question.

About the Christian right. My problem with Christian right, I don't believe in one. The conversion of Jews is irrelevant. I agree with you. It's not the point. The point for me is that the Christian right has stated openly and leaders have said, they are against peace. That is, they have a political position. They want to support Israel. And you know what my reaction to them is? Kol hakavod. Support Israel. But I'm not with you. Because you don't have the same interests. Jewish interests. You don't believe in Israel at all. I want Israel to live in peace. You want ultimately, or even soon, for there to be a war. Israel, because that fulfills some important both political and religious program that you have. And you talk about it openly. You will support every American resolution, congressional resolution, that will deride, denigrate, and make it impossible for there to be peace in the Middle East. In fact, I believe that your politics are against Israel, not for Israel, you on the religious right. And we can have a debate on that. I think an important debate. Last thing is about the university. Universities. We haven't really had a discussion about why universities are places that have— that are the last place in the world which finds some moral clarity about Israel. And I agree with you on this issue, but I think we're smart enough to find causes. And the cause is that the university is one of the last places that's made peace with nationalism, and that the Jewish professors at American universities are among the most ambivalent about the issue of nationalism. The greatest sin that the Jews have perpetrated in history is that they became a nation. So we have to talk about that, because that allows us to deal with it rationally, even though it may seem irrational, than to get in terms of mythology. It's not a mythological fact. It's a rational, a deeply felt, mistaken, and maybe immoral understanding position in the world. We need to address—

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

People are searching for truth in a culture that feels disconnected from it. That's why platforms like Angel exist, offering a space for uplifting entertainment and documentaries, including Homestead, a story centered on family, faith, and resilience; Solomio, a lighthearted romantic comedy; David, an animated musical with Sweeping storytelling, and The Death of Recess, a documentary exploring concerns around the modern education system. If you're looking for meaningful values-driven content, Angel provides a range of options. Learn more at angel.com/prager.

Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom. Thank you. Thank you.

Very well stated. Let me quickly respond. Um, you wanted me to say I finally hear criticism of Arafat. I want you to all hear me. I finally hear criticism of Arafat. I hope that that met question number 1. It doesn't negate anything that was said thus far. It is the criticism of his corruption. It is not the criticism of his moral stances. But if it is, then I— that I have not heard. It has begun. One Jordanian minister in the Lebanese weekly Napoli just now has said that, and we'll see what happens. But, uh, the— as I said in the beginning, a, an Islamic civil war will solve the world's biggest moral issues of the day, and that is that part of Islam that wishes to impose the Sharia on the rest of the world. By the way, Christians in America had a civil war. It's called the Civil War, and it was fought over a major moral issue called slavery. The university likes to deny that it was over slavery, but that's the university. Next, I continue to hold the Puerto Rican analogy, but remember what I said. I said it is closer to Puerto Rico than it is to occupied Poland. They speak of it as so awful, and I'm saying that its juridical nature is closer to Puerto Rico. Did they have— do they have humiliating checkpoints? Yes, because there is fatal terror attacks. So that's why that exists. Israelis are not thrilled with checkpoints. Evangelicals don't want peace? I am aware of not a single evangelical demonstration against Oslo in the 9 years that it was in force. And finally, why do universities have this problem? I think you're right, by the way. I do. They have not made peace with nationalism. They're all universalists. I think that is a factor. They don't like American nationalism. It's fascinating, though, they like Palestinian nationalism, so that's why I don't think it's a fair answer. I'll tell you why I think, and I think it goes back to my— what I think is the central issue in all of life, and that is God-based thought versus secular thought. And I learned the answer in kindergarten in yeshiva, when I recited every day a phrase from the Hebrew Bible that I never understood till I went to Columbia, and that is, uh, wisdom begins, Re'shit Chochmah Yirat Hashem, wisdom begins with the fear of God. I am convinced that wisdom is impossible in a place that has no God. Learning is possible, science is possible, but wisdom is not possible. You are in a very intellectual place with very little wisdom. And I am convinced that that is the ultimate reason why that is so. If I am wrong, then one needs to find another reason. But I will say this: the people who are most God-oriented in this country— and it's American religion I'm talking about— are the most correct on Israel and its enemies, and the most secular parts of America are the most wrong— the universities. I don't think that that's a coincidence.

Tomorrow on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

The power of the male sex drive is stunning in its ability to overwhelm the mind. The feminist argument, which is such a denial of reality that the sex drives are identical in the two sexes. I, I, it's painful that a society could have produced people who believe the opposite of what is true. It is, it's, it's, it's a stunning victory.

Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. This has been Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles.

People are searching for truth in a culture that feels disconnected from it. That's why platforms like Angel exist, offering a space for uplifting entertainment and documentaries, including Homestead, a story centered on family, faith, and resilience. Solomeo, a lighthearted romantic comedy. David, an animated musical with sweeping storytelling, and The Death of Recess, a documentary exploring concerns around the modern education system. If you're looking for meaningful, values-driven content, Angel provides a range of options. Learn more at angel.com/prager.