Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday, after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that she supported Israel's right to defend itself, but was concerned about the humanitarian cost in Gaza.
Then she added: "The war in Gaza is not a binary issue."
That is a fundamental dividing line -- not just between the two parties and the two candidates; not just on the issue of Israel; but between the two major forces in our society, between Judeo-Christian ethics on one hand and moral relativism on the other.
Perhaps the overall conflict can be described as complex, a clash of "right versus right." That is not a bad way to approach it if you are trying to make peace. But the war in Gaza? A war launched by murderous terrorists and the Iranian regime?
I heard Kamala Harris speak just hours after revisiting the sites of the October 7 terror attack, where unspeakable evil was unleashed by Palestinian terrorists.
She refuses to distinguish between the side that targets civilians and the side that tries to save them; between the side that revels in cruelty and the side that embraces humanity; between the side starts a war and the side that fights to end it.
There is something more important here than an obvious attempt to pander to Muslim and Arab voters in Michigan, or to split the difference between the anti-Israel mobs and their antisemitic slogans and anti-American behavior.
What we see here is a would-be leader without a moral core. Kamala Harris would be a disaster for Israel and the U.S. This really is the most important election of our lifetimes.
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
Topics:
- The anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump
- The escalating tariff battle with various different trading partners
- The future of the Middle East peace talks, and ongoing antisemitism
- The Jeffrey Epstein files and whether they mean anything at all
- The continued crisis of the Texas floods, and stories of heroism and survival
And more!
Special guests:
- James Rosen - Newsmax chief Washington correspondent
- Bob Price - Breitbart News Texas reporter, on the ongoing floods
- Robert Cahill - Trafalgar Polling, on a new alliance of reliable pollsters
- Rabbi Yaakov Menken - Coalition for Jewish Values - on Israel & antisemitism
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
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