Sunday was the Ninth of Av, the date on the Hebrew calendar which commemorates the destruction of both the First and Second Temples in Israel.  The Second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 CE.  It was destroyed by the Romans as the final blow to Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel at that time. 

I am Jewish and my Jewish identity is key to who I am.  It is key to what my nation is and it is key to the existence of Israel.  We will not apologize for being.  We will not apologize for defending ourselves.  We will never tire of the attempts to seek peace with our neighbors but in so doing we will never deny who we are.  I am Jewish and I am proud of it. And if there are those who hate me because I am Jewish, so be it.  I will not apologize for who I am.

They could have complained bitterly about having to settle in an army camp. They could have given up.  But instead, they had faith.  They knew they could do it.  They knew this was the beginning of a monumental  movement to settle Samaria. And they were right.  Today, there are hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Samaria and close to half a million throughout Judea and Samaria.  They were right because they heeded Moses’ call to G-d to disperse the enemies. They were right because they heeded Caleb’s call: “Let us go up for we can do it!”

As I reflect on these various conversations, with Jews who are trying to understand new developments in Christianity and with Christians who are trying to understand their connection to Judaism and to Jews, I realize that while the main goal of CFOIC Heartland has always been to connect Christians to Israel and specifically to Judea and Samaria, so much of what I am doing is far broader than that. 

As Christians, you share the Bible with us, but you have not shared our experiences as a nation. But it is so moving to me to meet Christians who want to understand those experiences better, who are eager to meet Jews, face to face, and hear the telling of the Exodus directly from us.  For the modern –day Exodus from Exile to the Land of Israel is truly the story of Modern-Day Israel. It is the story that can be told by Jews of faith, on the basis of faith and it is this story that never fails to grab Christians, for you too are people of faith.

Netanyahu has served as Israeli’s prime minister longer than any other person in our short history.  He has been at the center of enormous power and has done great things for Israel.  But 2 years ago, during the last election campaign, as hatred against him grew, I felt that it was time for him to step down.

We cannot change the past nor bring back the dead.  But we can encourage and strengthen the living.  We can reach out to the brave men, women and children of Judea and Samaria and give them what they need, when they need it.  I hope you will help us help them.  I hope you will continue to partner with us as we strengthen the Jewish presence in the Biblical Heartland.

We cannot know what 2018 will have in store for us.  Will we lose a loved one?  Will we suffer illness or tragedy?  I certainly hope not.  But we are not in control.  We can do our best; we can do what we believe G-d is expecting of us, but we know that G-d is in control. 

We came to Samaria to reclaim our ancient heritage and settle the land that G-d gave to us, the land that G-d promised we would one day restore and rebuild.  But we didn’t come seeking war.  We came in peace, eager to get to know our Arab neighbors.  We respected their property rights and only sought to settle in the areas that had not been settled before — and there was plenty of land to go around.

The thunderous applause I received from the audience sent a clear message to the Members of Knesset, who themselves are very supportive of Judea and Samaria, that you have their back. That they have strong international support for their stand on Biblical Israel. MK Rabbi Yehuda Glick stressed, Israel should be the focus of the world, a place where everyone will recognize G-d and come to worship Him in Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount. But what was probably most special about the event was how nearly everyone there, Jew, Christian and MK, expressed their ultimate gratitude to G-d for the miracles that we are witnessing in our day.