Britannia Radio

Glenn Beck’s in Caesarea: Restoring Courage

Prof. Paul Eidelberg

May the good Lord watch over Glenn Beck. May his few Jewish detractors understand that this courageous and sagacious personality repeatedly sanctified God’s Name during his speech in Caesarea—which is far, far more than anyone can say of Israeli Prime Ministers who seem to choke on the word God!

Mr. Beck is perhaps the most eloquent defender of Israel and the Jewish people. Would to God that Israel had a Jewish voice with Mr. Beck’s heartfelt concern for the lives of the many unprotected Jews of this country. Allow me some caustic questions about the government of this country.

What government in the world would tolerate for so long the bombing of its citizens by Arab missiles? What government on this planet would pursue a policy of self-restraint and turning the other cheek vis-à-vis the murderers of its women and children? What government would anaesthetize its people with the drivel about "measured responses" to Arab attacks on its territory and sovereignty? What government would tolerate a Defense Minister that wants to apologize for his soldiers’ lawfully defensive actions against hostile forces invading its territorial waters? What self-respecting government would be so self-effacing about evil?

Mr. Beck emphasized the theme of evil in his speech on "Restoring Courage." He knows that evil men attack and butcher Jewish women and children. But for our own part, must we not admit that Israel’s government has been appeasing and therefore encouraging evil since it signed the Olso Accords?

Mr. Beck rightly declared that Israel is the most courageous nation on earth. Look how the people of this country have withstood thousands of terrorist attacks and yet did not succumb to self-pity or victimology—indeed, went on prosper like no other nation on earth! But can such fortitude and virtue be attributed to Israeli governments which, despite Israel’s formidable military forces, have yielded Jewish land to Arab thugs?

Mr. Beck said that courage includes the courage to tell the truth. Do Israeli governments tell the truth about Israel’s enemies—about the implacable nature of their religious creed, whose bellicosity has tortured much of mankind for more than a thousand years?

Mr. Beck also spoke about honor. Do Israeli government display honor in negotiating with Jew-hating, despotic regimes whose maps exclude Israel from the Middle East?

Did Israel’s government uphold the honor of the Jewish people when it expunged the words “Judaism,” “Zionism,” and “Eretz Israel” from its Soldiers Code of Ethics—with the approval of its Chief of General Staff, now Israel’s Defense Minister?

Mr. Beck’s magnificent performance in Caesarea was monitored in Philadelphia by the Israel-America Renaissance Institute. I was given a few minutes to speak to the people monitoring the Caesarea event. I said that, given the power, I would nominate Mr. Beck to be President of the United States, and we would not have to worry about his birth certificate. Alternatively, I would nominate him to be Prime Minister of Israel, even though he’s not Jewish, for the Jewish state of Israel has no religious qualifications for office!

This is quite consistent with Israel’s Soldiers Code of Ethics! By the way: Israeli soldiers might almost feel at home serving in the Swedish army, since the government of Sweden has renounced the Swedish heritage and has officially designated Sweden a multicultural society. Welcome to the Jewish state of Israel!

Mr. Beck is a proud American. He takes special pride in the American Declaration of Independence, whose ideas are rooted in the Hebrew Bible. The Declaration proclaims man’s unalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. But to his sublime credit, Mr. Beck went a step further. He repeatedly emphasized, in contrast to human "rights," the concept of "responsibilities" — say duties — a concept that permeates the Torah, which highlights our duties to God as well as to our fellow men.

No wonder Mr. Beck has been denounced by Muslims, for Islamic scriptures reject not only human rights, but also the concept of "personal responsibility"—a concept foreign to Islamic theology, which denies free will and posits the fatalism of absolute predestination.

So, while Mr. Beck is persona non grata in the Muslim Arab world, he is a warm and wise friend of Israel and the Jewish people. Indeed, he is a breath of fresh air in a country whose ruling elites, having expunged the word "Judaism" from the Soldiers Code of Ethics, are silent about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and say nothing about Moses, mankind’s greatest law-giver and statesman.

May this not be the reason for the dearth of leadership in Israel, but therefore of political courage?