November 7, 2025 • 38 mins
1. Personal Journey & Safety in Israel
- Ferguson recounts multiple canceled trips to Israel due to war and COVID, emphasizing his determination to finally make it.
- He describes feeling safe in Israel despite recent conflicts, encouraging tourism and solidarity.
2. IFCJ’s Humanitarian Work
- Food Aid: IFCJ delivers over 3 million meals annually through soup kitchens, food boxes, and cards.
- Support for the Elderly: Programs that provide community, purpose, and income for elderly citizens, many of whom are immigrants living below the poverty line.
- Emergency Response: Distribution of bulletproof vests, armored vehicles, and ambulances to first responders and civilians during crises.
- Rebuilding Efforts: Renovation of kindergartens and hospitals damaged in attacks, especially in communities near Gaza.
3. Religious & Cultural Coexistence
- Eckstein and Ferguson discuss Israel’s religious diversity, noting that 20% of the population is non-Jewish, including Muslims, Druze, and Christians.
- They highlight the peaceful coexistence in Jerusalem, where mosques, churches, and synagogues exist side by side.
4. Political Commentary & Concerns
- Ferguson expresses concern over rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment in the U.S., especially among younger conservatives.
- He criticizes prominent figures like Tucker Carlson and organizations like the Heritage Foundation for promoting isolationist views.
- Eckstein frames the issue as spiritual warfare, referencing biblical prophecy and the importance of moral clarity.
5. Military Service & Patriotism
- Ferguson admires Israel’s mandatory military service, linking it to national pride and civic responsibility.
- Eckstein shares a personal story about her daughter joining the Israeli army, emphasizing faith, duty, and sacrifice.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I'm coming to you live from Jerusalem on my pilgrimage
here to Israel, and I can tell you it has
been nothing but an unbelievable trip to be here. I
was sitting here before, and I'm going to have a
guest in a moment, the President and the Global CEO
of IFCJ, the International Fellowship a Christians and Jews, you know,
(00:21):
Exstein is going to join me. But I just wanted
to kind of lay the land for you. This is
the fifth time that I had planned a trip to
come to Israel, and the first four times had been
canceled because of different things. One time it was COVID,
and the other three were because of war and outbreak
and attacks had happened, and so it put it on pause.
(00:42):
In fact, I was even supposed to this summer bring
my entire family to Israel as a guest of the
Israeli government and just go on a pilgrimage with all
of us. That obviously got canceled for because of the war.
But this time I was coming over and I was
hell bent on getting here. I get on the plane,
I'm sitting on the tarmac for five I think it's
(01:02):
about five hours, and they cancel the flight, and I
walked up to the pilot. I was like, there's no
way I'm getting out of here tonight, gonna make my
flight in Newark to go over to tell Aviv. And
he's like, dude, I get off this plane right now.
He was like, I got two different He goes, you've
got two different people on the plane. They're about to
time out. So I get off the plane, go back home, sleep,
get back. I was like, I'm going I'm not cancling
(01:23):
this trip. And now I am here, I'm going to
talk a little bit during this conversation about what I've
seen here. But I do want to bring in and
have a really interesting conversation with a l ex teen
who is with IFCJ. You live basically the majority, by
the way, welcome and so nice. Have you back. Thank
you you live here, I do, and you travel a
(01:45):
ton to the US, but that's because you live in Israel,
not the other way around, which is me like what
I'm doing here. I have to say just coming here.
There's there's one thing I will message I want to
get across to people listening. If you are planning to
come to Israel, it is wide open for business now yes,
I have felt incredibly safe, and I feel like it
(02:05):
is very different than it would have been even a
month ago. You can tell where the shops have reopened,
the people that are advocating and supporting tourism. I was
one of the ladies that took me on a tour
the old city. Was incredible because she was talking about
how she didn't work for almost two and a half
years because of the war. And so if you want
to come to Israel, now's a great time to come
(02:27):
and you feel safe as well.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Oh yes, yes, I have to tell you, I felt
safe every second in the past two years, even if
we had thirty five thousand rockets launched at tiny Israel
the size of New Jersey, thirty five over thirty five
thousand seven, Yeah, thousand thousand from seven different fronts, suicide drones,
ballistic missiles, Katchoosha rockets. But you know what, and I
(02:51):
really believe that when you're doing the right thing, God
protects you. And I believe that I'm here living out
the words of our prophets, walk these footsteps that our
ancestors from the scriptures walked, and they saw us sitting
here me and you've been in Jerusalem overlooking the Old City,
that one day Christians and Jews would be able to
(03:12):
come home. And every time I would hear the siren,
I would always envision it a chauffar call a trumpet,
and I would imagine God saying, Okay, wake up, wake up,
I'm here. You have my protection, and I would run
to the shelter with my children, with my husband, and
I would imagine the shelter being in the wings of
his security and safety, and we would just sit and say, hey,
(03:34):
Veloyshan Shomriisral, the guardian of Israel. Neither slumbers nor sleeps,
and so right now, thank God, it is as safe
as ever for people to come. We've actually wiped out
most of the biggest threats and Lebanon and Iran and
Syria and the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and
we're very aware and alert of those threats that if
(03:55):
there was ever a time to come to Israel to
support the local economy, to show solidarity with the people
in Israel, Jews, Arabs and Christians, we are waiting for
you guys.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You know, one of the things that I think is
really interesting about being here, and I've read it, but
I didn't understand it until I've witnessed it over the
last couple of days. I think there's a misconception in
America that if you come to Israel, everyone in Israel
is Jewish. Walking by yesterday, walking in the markets, going
(04:30):
to the whaling Wall, and seeing Jesus' tomb, this is
an insanely eclectic city. Yes, with an incredible amount of
the population is actually Muslim. I don't think a lot
of people understand that. If you haven't studied history and
studied Israel, that is something that I think would shock
many people if you've never come.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, we're around a mile away from the Garden of Kesemite.
When you walk and you see all different people from
all around the world, Christians from also from Israel, great
Orthodox and priests and visitors that are treated with the
utmost respect and appreciation. But in Israel, where a country
with round seven point five million Jews, and twenty percent
of our population are non Jews. And so you have Arabs,
(05:11):
you have Drus, you have Bedouin, you have Muslims, you
have all different religions that have freedom, and of course
you have one of these.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Said the key word there, I'm interrupting your freedom because
what I watched yesterday was and I didn't realize this,
in the Old City they were saying that almost forty
percent of the population is Muslim. Yeah, I would not
have known that if I wouldn't have witnessed it, because
I wouldn't have known to ask that question. Right, And
they've talked about freedom like freedom of religion. There is
no problem with where we see God is literally carrying
(05:40):
his cross, He's going to be die on to then
seeing a moss is the most one of the most
important moss in the Muslim fate. That is incredible that
they're that coexisting that close together.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yeah, to me, freedom also means of course respect and appreciation,
but also tangible build in this brotherhood. When you go
down the streets of Jerusalem, there's no sign that doesn't
have Arabic writing on it. You have Hebrew, you have English,
and you have Arabic. Every street sign, every holy site sign,
most store signs even And you can compare that to
(06:16):
where the rest of the Middle East is. In Israel
were seven point five million Jews with over two million
non Jews. In the entire Middle East, there are twenty
two Arab countries. In one Jewish country, Israel sits on
a round point six percent of the land mass of
the Middle East. The Arab world has ninety nine point
four percent. And in the entire Middle East there aren't
(06:40):
even thirty thousand Jews that live there. And so when
you do that comparison, you realize what democracy means, what
freedom means, and we don't.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Is really not a slogan is you're living it out
every single day.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Because we believe in it. Because we're not doing it
because of some piece of paper or to get that
label of democracy. We're doing it because we believe in
that as Jews, as these Judeo Christian values, we believe
in freedom. We remember in the scripture, how many times
does it remember? Remember that you were a stranger in
the strange land. And so Israel has the only growing
Christian population in the entire Middle East. In Bethlehem, even
(07:17):
you see it going down quickly. You look at Nazareth, Yeah,
Christian population is growing. You look at Bethlehem. Up until
around nineteen ninety four, Israel was in charge of Bethlehem
and it was eighty percent Christian. After nineteen ninety four,
the Palestinian authority took it over and now it's under
ten percent Christian. And so when you talk about these
kind of words that in many ways have lost meaning,
(07:39):
like freedom and democracy because so many evil forces are
taking advantage about it, you see what the real ramifications are.
And that's also why we stand with our Christian brothers
and sisters inside of Syria who are being persecuted both
as the state of Israel and also the International Fellowship
of Christians and Jews who's gone in built two medical
clinics for them, distributed thousands of food. We need to
(08:01):
stand together ben now more than ever.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
There's something interesting, and I think it's I say interesting
is a way of saying shocking that is happening right
now in the United States of America. I have clearly
I believe there's a line that's been drawn in the sand.
You either are anti Semitic and against Israel, or you
are standing with them. I don't believe there's a lot
(08:25):
of gray area unless you're just new and younger and learning.
But what we're witnessing in the conservative movement is something
that I never could have imagined we would see. I
knew this would happen on the left and the Democrats,
and a lot of them have abandoned Israel, and we
saw that certainly in the last administration on our Biden.
But what I'm shocked to see now is there is
this group on the right that has gained a very
(08:47):
large audience. What scares me even more, it's a younger audience,
and they are in this ideal this idealistic world of isolationism,
which is Israel is not It doesn't need to be.
He is not a big deal to us. I don't
understand why there were such great allies with them. Why
do we give them a blank check? Is how it's
been said recently. They're committing Atroses is what I've been hearing.
(09:11):
Their genocide is another word that they used in Gouds
in the West Bank. And if you come here and
you see what I've seen, not only do you know
that's a lie, but there's factual data to back it up.
But even if you haven't come here, I am terrified
of what we're going to see in the Republican Party
in the next ten to fifteen years, as these younger
people that are being indoctrinated to hate Israel or hate
(09:34):
Jews in general, are gaining momentum legitimacy because of people
that have very large followings on social media. I've considered
him a long time friend, Tucker Carlson. I couldn't disagree
with Tucker more on the issue of Israel. I think
friends should be able to disagree, and that's why I'm
not going to attack him personally, but I am going
to say on this show publicly I disagree, and when
(09:56):
I'm on TV with Tucker Carlson, I have seen and
I've known me and Kelly for a long time. I
disagree with her on what she's been saying recently and
some of the people she's been talking to on Israel,
Nick Flint as the white supremacist full stop. I don't
know why people are giving in platforms like Tucker good
to the to day. I even disagree with the Heritage Foundation,
and I'm going through a list in my head because
(10:18):
I'm shocked Heritage Foundation the present there who is given
a platform to advocate for this or is supporting it
even financially. We've seen some of the numbers that come
about how much evertence they've done on Tucker Carlson's show,
and I think it's important that we don't stay silent.
Certainly is a conservative leader in the conservative movement and
say this is going down the wrong path? Now? Can
(10:39):
I love all those people? Can I still be friends
of them? I saw Tucker at Charlie kirkstuneral. We hugged.
I'm not wonning a war with him, but I do
think there's an important point here where I want people
to know that I do believe something very different. How
concerned are you being in Israel seeing this? Where I mean,
the conservative movement, the Republican Party had been star wars
for my entire lifetime for Israel. Kakabi, who's the ambassador
(11:01):
is I'm going to see him tomorrow and I can't
wait to see him. By the way, we were texting
earlier today and I'm so excited to see him tomorrow
for lunch. But like we are now becoming, I'm a
worried the minority in this in this fight, and I
think now is the time that we have to understand
there's a real anti Semitic problem on our college chemiss
but not just from the left. It's also happening the
right and it terrifies me.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Well, first of all, thank you for being so bold
in what you say and standing with your values and
being consistent in that no matter what. That's what I
think we need in this world. I look at everything
through spiritual eyes, and so I see a spiritual warfare
that's raging. I see the words of Isaiah that are
coming to life, saying there's going to come a time
(11:44):
when darkness will be called light, and light will be
called darkness. Isaiah said it, good will be called bad,
bad will become good, and people are going to be confused.
And I see this confusion setting in, and it's not
differentiating between Republicans or Democrats. It's a confusion. It's a
spiritual war. And so what I always go back to
when I'm confused is the scriptures is God's word. And
(12:05):
that's another issue. So many people are biblically illiterate. We're
trying to get educated on scriptures from podcasters. People are
going to their podcasts instead of to their pastor, and
their church pastors are scared of speaking out because they
don't want to be canceled. That God's word has become
so controversial. It's not Israel, it's the entire Bible. It's
(12:28):
all of what God said and has withstood much worse
things than where we are right now, but we have
to learn from history and make sure it doesn't get there.
But I truly believe that on one hand, we're seeing
a generation of darkness and people who are confused, and
people who are really spreading things that are evil, people
who in the name of trying to free Palestine, are
(12:49):
actually keeping the Palestinian children and people oppressed by this
terror group Ramas. They're not standing up for the Palestinian people.
They're standing up for Ramas, which for me says everything.
It's a confusion. But when I see that darkness, Ben,
I also for myself, I need to make sure that
(13:11):
I express in every possible way how there's also to
counter maybe balance that darkness, this light that we've never
seen of a generation of Corey teenboons and Pastor Bonhoeffer's
who Pastor von Hoffer. One of my favorite quotes from him,
He said, God doesn't care about how you feel. He
(13:32):
cares about truth. And there are so many people like
what you just declared that care about truth. God says,
pray for the peace of Jerusalem. God says, to to
love our neighbor like ourself, to be able to put
our hand out to peace. When you see the Abraham
Accords and how Israel's been able to maintain this relationship
with Arab countries, because it's incredible, Yes, because they recognize
(13:55):
and they share the same threat. The threat is radical Islam,
and so there's a confusion, yes, But there's also so
many people with the strongest moral clarity, like you, people
who are forced now to speak out for the first
time ever. And I just pray, pray, pray that those
voices will grow and that the light will outshine the darkness.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
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(16:00):
make a difference with every call you make. I truly
believe with every tragedy good comes from it. I believe
that God uses bad things for good. I do think
one of the things that we've witnessed right now with
something good coming out of something terrible in the attacks
October seventh attacks on Israel, is that one you know
(16:21):
who your friends are, ye, But two you've had President
Trump really step up and go after your enemies. Iran
is one of them. How significant is President Trump's leadership?
Do you believe for the safety of Israel and not
just Israel, but for the world. He's made it clear
I'm going after terrorists, whether they're narco terrorists we're seeing
that right now, or going after the Iran nuclear sites.
(16:44):
Like he is a man that I think clearly his
legacy he wants it to be that he kept people safe,
he protected the innocent, and went after the evil. And
how big of an impact has he had do you
think in the last six eight nine months?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Wow, Well, we've seen leader who talk about peace and
then capitulate to the strongest, most violent voice. Yeah, are
not bringing peace closer, They're bringing peace farther. President Trump
has been strong and vocal and has taken very bold
action to bring peace because he knows peace is an
(17:19):
active statement, it's not a passive statement, and so a
strong America brings a strong world, and we've seen that firsthand.
I was at President Trump's speech at the Knesset just
a few weeks ago, and it was incredible to see
how in Israel that's so divided politically, the right and
(17:41):
the left, we're hugging and giving each other of high
fives and genuine smiles and genuine because what we're ultimately
looking for ben both the right and the left, and
we can't lose sight of this. We're looking for a
better world. We're looking for peace. And President Trump in
the Abraham Accords, in the historic peace agreement that he
(18:01):
just drew, now that got every single living Israeli hostage
back from Gaza strip. Just yesterday the American hostageous body
was returned to Israel. But you know that's not reported
on America.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Now, Yeah, a lot of people don't know that. They're
listening right now. Why was that? And that's a huge
victory after.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Over two hundred and fifty days that an American young
adult was being held his body by terrorists and Gaza,
Americans don't even know that. Because of President Trump's agreement,
we got that body back from burial to his parents.
Many Americans don't even know that. Yeah, And so I
think that strength in the right way brings peace closer,
(18:38):
not farther away. And I'll tell you that I say
that as somebody who is not involved in politics. I'm
a humanitarian. I distribute over three hundred three million meals
a year in Israel, from north to south, in every
different community, from Nazareth to the Christian community to Jerusalem
to carry out Shmona where our soup kitchen was hit
(18:59):
by Iraq. Within twenty four hours, we were distributing food again.
And I do that on behalf of Christians who stand
with Israel and love Israel. And so I'm not a politician.
I'm an individual when we speak in this way, but
it's very clear the right kind of strength protects those
people who should be protected and weakens those who are
(19:23):
trying to reak havoc. And I say that also as
a mother who just yesterday brought my nineteen year old
daughter to the Israeli Army.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
You bring up something that I witnessed yesterday and it
is something that I do actually wish America had. You know,
there's a lot of anti Americanism that is growing within
our country with young people that are embarrass of America,
that hate America, that think America is evil, that America's
history is awful, that America should be torn down and
turned back into some sort of utopia under socialism or
(19:54):
communism or Marxism. One of the things that I think
is so incredible about Israel is whether you're a man
or a women, if you're able bodied, you're going to
give two years to your government. In serving your government. Yesterday,
as I was walking, we witnessed dozens and dozens of
different groups of I say, kids now being forty. Gosh
(20:15):
when my forty four haveever old I am, who are
eighteen nineteen, who are serving their military walking around with
machine guns. I didn't find that threatening. I thought it
was amazing, And I'm like, dude, I wish we did
this in America, because if you serve your country for
two years, I think you're going to love your country
a lot more than if you are being in doctrinatey
like we are our kids in our public school education
(20:37):
to hate our country. And it's the amount of pride
that people that live in Israel have in their nation
has to be connected to that.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
In some way, we could disagree with our government and
still love our country. We could disagree with the politicians
or some decisions they make and still love one another.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
I mean proove of that. BB does not have one
hundred percent approval rating.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
No he doesn't.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah, nowhere close. And I think that goes to the
point that you're saying you can love your country and
also disagree on the political side of things.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
In America's country in the world, it's the country of freedom,
is the country of opportunity. This country, if you want
to go out and work, you'd make a good life
for yourself. There's no one holding it back.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Was your daughter excited? Oh my gosh, I mean, I
know as a mom, I've got three boys, you're freaking
out right, because at any point serving in the military
could become a very deadly thing. It's not a time
of peace really over here. I think at any point
in my lifetime, there's always there's always a real threat
that you're watching, even if it's not all at war.
(21:37):
You guys experienced war a lot more than we do
in the US. Your war is much more hand to
hand than it is, you know, shooting drones shots from
the sky like we did our b two bombers or
whatever it is that are bombing. I mean, it is
very different. But like the kids that I saw, like
they seem to be pretty pumped. And there's an ignorance
(21:57):
when you're eighteen nineteen about just like this is what
I do and I'm excited. So I know your fear
is a mom right, but your daughter was. She excited.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
So I called this spend the broken ground of getting
what you prayed for. From the time our children were
born here in Israel, my husband and I would always pray,
let them be connected to family, let them be connected
to God, let them be protected, connected to this land
and to God's word. And we got what we prayed for.
But that means that, yes, my daughter was very excited
to join the army, not because the violence. She's not
(22:29):
excited to kill people, it's not. She's excited to protect
and serve. And after October seventh, and she always volunteered
at soup kitchens through high school, and she volunteered on
an ambulance and took the course. And after October seventh,
I looked at her and I said, my love, do
you still want to serve? You know, as you see
your peers, I can't tell you how many funerals of
(22:50):
nineteen year olds I've been at with my daughter in
the past two years. I can't count.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
And so when you say that, you're not talking five
or six. You're talking a lot of funerals, a lot
of funerals. And that's one of the things I think
people to understand about this war, the number of people
that died in this war, that we're just trying to
protect and defend their people, their petry, protect just to
procure it's significant.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Yeah, yeah, And she looked at me and she said, Mummy,
if I was at all hesitant about joining the army,
which I wasn't, now even that tiny hesitation is gone.
If I don't protect this land, we won't have it.
If I don't protect my people, they won't be safe.
(23:34):
And if I don't stand on these borders watching, we
won't have a future. That she went with such faith
and confidence that this is God's calling on her life.
And as a mother, I couldn't be more proud and worried.
And I'm praying like I never prayed before. But what
else do you want for your child then to love God,
(23:56):
love the land, and love their people.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Let's talk about what the IFCJ is doing. And this
is day one of me broadcasting live here from Israel.
My guess with me is the President Global CEO of
the IFCJ. You can go to IFCJ dot org to
find out more. Yale Eckstein, and y'all, let's talk about
what I've just experienced with IFCJ since I've been here.
I had the privilege today of delivering food to a
(24:20):
woman that's basically bedridden. She cannot work. Her son has
a pretty intense epilepsy, so he can't work. She's a
caretaker for him, even though he's I think she said
he's fifty three. She desperately needs the food that comes.
It was you could just tell by the condition of
where she lived in her home and the stipend that
(24:41):
she receives in the government's very small. It's less than
so security in the US. And to see how thankful
she was and tell her story, and she cried a
lot because she was so thankful that there is a
group like IFCJ that is giving her the food she
needs to live, so she can also live for her son,
because when she's gone, there's no one else to take
care of him. He will go into some sort of
(25:03):
assisted living mental health facility. From what we were told today,
she clearly doesn't want that to happen anytime soon. She's
a mom that's trying to stay alive who cannot walk
for her son so he doesn't get institutionalized in essence,
and looking at how thankful she was for and for
people that are listening. Don't know what IFCG does. They
(25:25):
do a lot of different things, but one of the
things you guys do is you mentioned the meals. How
many meals do you guys deliver to people in Israel
a month or a year.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Just from soup kitchens, we'd deliver over three million meals
a year. And that's besides hundreds of thousands every single
month that we're delivering through food boxes, food tickets, food cards,
meals on wheels. There's nowhere in Israel that there's a
person in need that doesn't have access to food from
(25:54):
the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and we even
help the government of Israel build the first NAT small
food program in America. There's food stamps. At least someone
could have food even if they're very poor. Israel. We
have to remember, as a young country and it was
started by.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Let's remind you of how young it is.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Nineteen forty eight Israel was established, but it shouldn't be forgotten.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
My parents' lifetime. Where I was sitting yesterday was actually Jordan.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Mm hmmm hmm.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
That's just crazy to me. We were standing in part
of the old sting. They're like, just so you know,
you were standing.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
In Georgia and Jews weren't allowed there and.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Jews weren't allowed there and that was until.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
What year that was until the nineteen sixty seven.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
That was okay, Yeah, nineteen sixty.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Nineteen sixty seven is when we got Jerusalem. After the
Arab countries attacked Israel trying to take away the little
piece of Israel that we had. They lost in Israel
conquered Jerusalem in six days and whenever Israel.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
That is the famous war.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
That's the famous war. Six days, six days, you work,
on the seventh day, you rest, And that was the
War of Jerusalem. But it's it's you know, there was
a very famous quote from Warren Buffett. He said, it's
easier to make money than it is to effectively distribute it. Yeah,
and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has excellence
(27:09):
in distributing because our average donation is around fifty dollars
a month. We recognize every single penny makes a difference,
and so every meal is done with integrity and given
with full love and respect. But we do it in
a way that is as cost effective as possible. We
work with an organization that saves fruits and vegetables that
(27:30):
would otherwise be thrown out from fields across Israel. They're
in perfect condition and we are able to distribute them too,
elderly as soup in the winter. That we're always finding
new ways both to hold the government of Israel accountable
and get matching funds and give them our plans of
how you can effectively distribute food, but also to wherever
(27:51):
we see someone that's hungry, be there to say, just
like the woman that you met today, this is from
Christians around the world who love you and very often, Ben,
it's the food, of course, another day of living, another
day of having that sustenance that they've been praying for.
But even more than that, I think it's feeling loved.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
The people loved you talk about love. One of the
other things that we got to witness today was there's
a really cool project, and I hope that people in
America will do this where elderly a lot of them
eighty years older above, can come every day and they
can paint and help create things they're sold in the
gift shop and they get subsidized about thirty percent of
(28:32):
their pension or their government aid to come and do this.
And many of them have been doing it for twenty
twenty five, twenty seven years. There's even six married couples
who work there. They're not allowed to work together, which
is even help more funny to that, Like, it was
hysterical when I found that out. But there were people
in their nineties, there were people. There's a woman who's
legally blind and they basically created a way for her
(28:53):
to still make her projects. It was some of the
most beautiful like throws. There was some table runners that
they make handmake. They're just beautiful potter pottery that they
were hand painted. And you see this and you're like,
these people have a purpose and they were loving what
(29:15):
they were doing at this age, giving them a place
where they belong. They were saying during COVID that thirty
percent of the workers could didn't come back afterwards, because
they said in their homes and they lost that skill
at that older age, and they lost the ability to
be mobile and go get on the bus, which is
so sad, but also tells you how much community matters.
You're not isolated, you're not home alone. And that's one
(29:37):
of the things that you guys Ifcj's sponsor, which is
amazing giving these elderly people a place to be important
and significant and also creates thing beautiful.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Yeah, it's incredible because all those elderly that you saw
live below the poverty line. They live on around six
hundred dollars a month. Almost all of them are immigrants
to Israel. You see the Ethiopians together from the once
last tribe of Dan and they're speaking I'm Hurrik. And
you see the Russians sitting together and speaking Russian, and
the Ukrainians and the French, and many of them don't
(30:06):
have family, and.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
So this simple this is their family.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
This is their family. We give them a bus card
that they're able to come, but for them that saves
them money and gives them somewhere to go. We give
them a place to go where they can actually be
valued and develop a skill and be selling their work
and we give them lunch every day that for them.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Maybe they're only hot meal o the day. We found
out today, which is incredible.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yes, yes, it's saving lives and it's you know, in
the scriptures we see God says specifically feed the hungry,
clothe the naked, shelter the poor, and so that's what
we do. We look at all of our philanthropy here
and Israel, all of our projects are saving lives through
the eyes of what does the scripture say? And so
every day we have Jews returning home to Israel from
the four corners of the Earth. We bring them on
(30:48):
Alia from places where they're persecuted, from South America, from
across the former Soviet Union, from France, from countries I
can't even say on air because they're secretive and it
be dangerous. But there's still Jews coming home every single
day with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews because
that's what it says in the scriptures.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
You guys, purpose is incredible and I hope that people
that are listening will go check you out IFCJ dot
org it's IFCJ dot organ. You can just see what
they do. There's a lot of videos online, so you
can check them out on social media. What are the
biggest needs now with the ceasfire, Because the work now
is really just begun in many ways, that's also part
of what I've witnessed here. A lot of people lost
(31:30):
their homes, a lot of people lost where they live,
they lost their communities. There's a lot of needs right
now and there are going to be a lot of
needs for some time because when you have a basically
a three year war, it is it changes your community,
especially the areas that were hit hard. What are the
needs now that that are for people that are listening
that might want to get.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Involved, Well, let me give you an example what rebuilding means.
Rebuilding means that there's communities the Kibbutzim on the border
with Gaza that we're invaded on October seventh.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
And explain to people, I know what it is, but
it's neighborhoods.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
It's neighborhoods, a neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Just like we're nine percent of people listening right now.
It's you imagine your neighborhood as a neighborhood being attacked exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
It's a neighborhood that has its own grocery store. That
has its own kindergartens and schools, that has homes that
but it's a closer community. The term keyboots kind of
alludes to very very close knit community where everyone's doing
things together. You don't lock your doors, you go into
people's houses without knocking, you eat meals together. It's a
very close knit community, which is beautiful, which is why
(32:32):
they always said we have the best life here. And
those homes, those buildings are all destroyed. I was just
in near O's where one in four people from that
community were either killed or kidnapped. The homes are destroyed.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
I say that again. I want in four and can
say this because I want to paint the picture. Imagine
your neighborhood where you're listening right now. I live in
a gated, guarded community. One in four in my neighborhood
was gone on the day of the attack.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Including the Bibas family, those beautiful redhead kids one year
old and three year old and their mother who are
kidnapped and then murdered, and they were taken just a
mile away into Gaza. You have to realize how close
things are. It's these communities are a mile away from
the Gaza strip where Hamas terrorists are planning their next
(33:22):
October seventh. But these communities are still destroyed, but people
want to go back. That's the resilience here in Israel.
We believe in life, we believe in planting, we believe
in rebuilding. And they turned to the Fellowship and said,
we need our kindergarten at least refurbished so we could
send our children to a kindergarten that's not burnt and destroyed.
And so the Fellowship now is renovating all the kindergartens
(33:45):
and the border with Gaza. You have the hospital that
was hit by Iranian ballistic missile. An entire floor of
the hospital, the surgical unit was destroyed.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Do you know why buy an Iranian missile?
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Buy an Iranian missile. The reason why there weren't hundreds
of deaths there is because the day before they made
the decision to close down this unsecured surgical unit and
move everyone to the MIMI Gan, which means armored or
protected surgical unit that the International Fellowship of Christians and
(34:18):
Jews sponsored and built just a few years before.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
One of the things that you guys do that I
also think is so incredible is you give out I
think a lot of people think that there's like unlimited
funds in Israel. Not true by the government. That's a lie.
I've witnessed it. A lot of people think the Israel's
a very rich country. Is actually not. And one of
the things that I also think misconceptions is why I
tell people to come here, is that there's just a
plentiful amount of military goods. Also not true. You guys
(34:47):
give out armored vehicles, armored military vehicles, also armored ambulances,
flat jackets, basically bullet prevests for first responders that are
not provided by the by the government here in Israel.
That is how real the need is.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Yes. On October seventh, then our team was at the
place the farthest you could go that the military would
let you go on the way down south, handing out
bulletproof vests because when all the other infrastructures fell apart,
we were there to provide and so for the heroes
going down south to try to save lives, we were
just passing out bulletproof vest And I was watching television
(35:26):
and there was a live interview with one of these heroes,
a civilian hero who was driving down south in his
car and wearing his vest, and he came under live
fire on TV from Ramas terrorists and he got out
of his cars. He's still reporting and he's hiding in
the bushes and he's trying to figure out what to do,
and all of a sudden you see he's wearing a
vest from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. And
(35:47):
the person who led so much of this heroic work
saving countless lives on October seventh was Keith Isaacson. He's
the head of security for that area that the old
The only reason why he survived is because the Fellowship
provided him with a bulletproof vehicle. He was shot at
over two dozen times. Even the wheels are bulletproof.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Wow. So without that car.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
He wouldn't be alive, and many other people wouldn't be alive.
Because it's only because he was alive he was able
to arrange for the rescue. I was on the ground
during the Iranian War at a site where a huge
missile hit six buildings were destroyed. Me and my team
were there as there were still first responders working trying
to uncover the bodies, trying to save people's lives, and
(36:33):
as they were working, I realized there are sirens going off,
there's missiles falling, and they don't have flack jackets, and
so immediately we went and provided them. These first responders
need to be protected, both because they deserve to be
that's what's right, That's what's just. These people risking their
lives instead of being in the bomb shelter with their
family should be protected. But also because the bombs that
(36:57):
are trying to kill them are coming from evil and
the black jackets that are protecting them are coming from
forces of good Christians who are saying, we sanctify life.
And that's a message that we have to shout off
of rooftops. There are still people in this world who
sanctify life.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
I tell you what, as we wrap this day one
here in Israel, and I'm going to have a lot
more to share with you guys tomorrow, So make sure
you listen to the show all week long. But there's
a couple things. One follow IFCJ dot org on social media.
The stories that they put out are real, they're authentic.
It's really nice to have them, especially when there's breaking
news happening in Israel. You guys do an amazing job
(37:36):
of kind of letting you know what's really going on.
Number two, if you've never come to Israel, come to
Israel right now. Since the ceasefire, it is completely wide open.
I have felt incredibly safe here the entire time. I
would encourage you to take that pilgrimage to Israel for
sure and be a part of I'm going to bring
my family back very soon. I want them to see
what I've seen and not wait till they're forty four
(37:57):
like I am to see it. On thing is, if
think about giving, if you've never given the IFCJ, they
could really use your help. I witnessed that firsthand. That help,
whether it was the food that was given out, whether
it's the Elderly Center, whether it's building these bomb shelters,
temporary bomb shelters, you do, the armored vehicles, the five deckets.
The list goes on and on. The work you guys do,
(38:18):
and look, dear research check them out online. Once you
see it, you'll understand why I'm an advocate for them
and why I hope that you'll get involved, even if
it's a very small donation. So IFCJ dot org check
them out. Yeah, thank you so much for sitting down
me it's so fun to see you where you live.
Being here in Jerusalem, it's so nice to be here,
and we're gonna have a lot more. Tomorrow. I'll be
a meeting with with Huckabee, a dear friend of mine
(38:39):
who's the US Ambassador to Israel, so I'm gonna go
see him in the US mbsy tomorrow. I'll have that
for you as well tomorrow. So make sure jo Us
in the bed Ferguson show hit that share button like
subscribe wherever you are. Please share this episode on social
media wherever you are, and I'll see you back here
tomorrow from Israel.
I'm coming to you live from Jerusalem on my pilgrimage
here to Israel, and I can tell you it has
been nothing but an unbelievable trip to be here. I
was sitting here before, and I'm going to have a
guest in a moment, the President and the Global CEO
of IFCJ, the International Fellowship a Christians and Jews, you know,
(00:21):
Exstein is going to join me. But I just wanted
to kind of lay the land for you. This is
the fifth time that I had planned a trip to
come to Israel, and the first four times had been
canceled because of different things. One time it was COVID,
and the other three were because of war and outbreak
and attacks had happened, and so it put it on pause.
(00:42):
In fact, I was even supposed to this summer bring
my entire family to Israel as a guest of the
Israeli government and just go on a pilgrimage with all
of us. That obviously got canceled for because of the war.
But this time I was coming over and I was
hell bent on getting here. I get on the plane,
I'm sitting on the tarmac for five I think it's
(01:02):
about five hours, and they cancel the flight, and I
walked up to the pilot. I was like, there's no
way I'm getting out of here tonight, gonna make my
flight in Newark to go over to tell Aviv. And
he's like, dude, I get off this plane right now.
He was like, I got two different He goes, you've
got two different people on the plane. They're about to
time out. So I get off the plane, go back home, sleep,
get back. I was like, I'm going I'm not cancling
(01:23):
this trip. And now I am here, I'm going to
talk a little bit during this conversation about what I've
seen here. But I do want to bring in and
have a really interesting conversation with a l ex teen
who is with IFCJ. You live basically the majority, by
the way, welcome and so nice. Have you back. Thank
you you live here, I do, and you travel a
(01:45):
ton to the US, but that's because you live in Israel,
not the other way around, which is me like what
I'm doing here. I have to say just coming here.
There's there's one thing I will message I want to
get across to people listening. If you are planning to
come to Israel, it is wide open for business now yes,
I have felt incredibly safe, and I feel like it
(02:05):
is very different than it would have been even a
month ago. You can tell where the shops have reopened,
the people that are advocating and supporting tourism. I was
one of the ladies that took me on a tour
the old city. Was incredible because she was talking about
how she didn't work for almost two and a half
years because of the war. And so if you want
to come to Israel, now's a great time to come
(02:27):
and you feel safe as well.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Oh yes, yes, I have to tell you, I felt
safe every second in the past two years, even if
we had thirty five thousand rockets launched at tiny Israel
the size of New Jersey, thirty five over thirty five
thousand seven, Yeah, thousand thousand from seven different fronts, suicide drones,
ballistic missiles, Katchoosha rockets. But you know what, and I
(02:51):
really believe that when you're doing the right thing, God
protects you. And I believe that I'm here living out
the words of our prophets, walk these footsteps that our
ancestors from the scriptures walked, and they saw us sitting
here me and you've been in Jerusalem overlooking the Old City,
that one day Christians and Jews would be able to
(03:12):
come home. And every time I would hear the siren,
I would always envision it a chauffar call a trumpet,
and I would imagine God saying, Okay, wake up, wake up,
I'm here. You have my protection, and I would run
to the shelter with my children, with my husband, and
I would imagine the shelter being in the wings of
his security and safety, and we would just sit and say, hey,
(03:34):
Veloyshan Shomriisral, the guardian of Israel. Neither slumbers nor sleeps,
and so right now, thank God, it is as safe
as ever for people to come. We've actually wiped out
most of the biggest threats and Lebanon and Iran and
Syria and the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and
we're very aware and alert of those threats that if
(03:55):
there was ever a time to come to Israel to
support the local economy, to show solidarity with the people
in Israel, Jews, Arabs and Christians, we are waiting for
you guys.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You know, one of the things that I think is
really interesting about being here, and I've read it, but
I didn't understand it until I've witnessed it over the
last couple of days. I think there's a misconception in
America that if you come to Israel, everyone in Israel
is Jewish. Walking by yesterday, walking in the markets, going
(04:30):
to the whaling Wall, and seeing Jesus' tomb, this is
an insanely eclectic city. Yes, with an incredible amount of
the population is actually Muslim. I don't think a lot
of people understand that. If you haven't studied history and
studied Israel, that is something that I think would shock
many people if you've never come.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, we're around a mile away from the Garden of Kesemite.
When you walk and you see all different people from
all around the world, Christians from also from Israel, great
Orthodox and priests and visitors that are treated with the
utmost respect and appreciation. But in Israel, where a country
with round seven point five million Jews, and twenty percent
of our population are non Jews. And so you have Arabs,
(05:11):
you have Drus, you have Bedouin, you have Muslims, you
have all different religions that have freedom, and of course
you have one of these.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Said the key word there, I'm interrupting your freedom because
what I watched yesterday was and I didn't realize this,
in the Old City they were saying that almost forty
percent of the population is Muslim. Yeah, I would not
have known that if I wouldn't have witnessed it, because
I wouldn't have known to ask that question. Right, And
they've talked about freedom like freedom of religion. There is
no problem with where we see God is literally carrying
(05:40):
his cross, He's going to be die on to then
seeing a moss is the most one of the most
important moss in the Muslim fate. That is incredible that
they're that coexisting that close together.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yeah, to me, freedom also means of course respect and appreciation,
but also tangible build in this brotherhood. When you go
down the streets of Jerusalem, there's no sign that doesn't
have Arabic writing on it. You have Hebrew, you have English,
and you have Arabic. Every street sign, every holy site sign,
most store signs even And you can compare that to
(06:16):
where the rest of the Middle East is. In Israel
were seven point five million Jews with over two million
non Jews. In the entire Middle East, there are twenty
two Arab countries. In one Jewish country, Israel sits on
a round point six percent of the land mass of
the Middle East. The Arab world has ninety nine point
four percent. And in the entire Middle East there aren't
(06:40):
even thirty thousand Jews that live there. And so when
you do that comparison, you realize what democracy means, what
freedom means, and we don't.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Is really not a slogan is you're living it out
every single day.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Because we believe in it. Because we're not doing it
because of some piece of paper or to get that
label of democracy. We're doing it because we believe in
that as Jews, as these Judeo Christian values, we believe
in freedom. We remember in the scripture, how many times
does it remember? Remember that you were a stranger in
the strange land. And so Israel has the only growing
Christian population in the entire Middle East. In Bethlehem, even
(07:17):
you see it going down quickly. You look at Nazareth, Yeah,
Christian population is growing. You look at Bethlehem. Up until
around nineteen ninety four, Israel was in charge of Bethlehem
and it was eighty percent Christian. After nineteen ninety four,
the Palestinian authority took it over and now it's under
ten percent Christian. And so when you talk about these
kind of words that in many ways have lost meaning,
(07:39):
like freedom and democracy because so many evil forces are
taking advantage about it, you see what the real ramifications are.
And that's also why we stand with our Christian brothers
and sisters inside of Syria who are being persecuted both
as the state of Israel and also the International Fellowship
of Christians and Jews who's gone in built two medical
clinics for them, distributed thousands of food. We need to
(08:01):
stand together ben now more than ever.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
There's something interesting, and I think it's I say interesting
is a way of saying shocking that is happening right
now in the United States of America. I have clearly
I believe there's a line that's been drawn in the sand.
You either are anti Semitic and against Israel, or you
are standing with them. I don't believe there's a lot
(08:25):
of gray area unless you're just new and younger and learning.
But what we're witnessing in the conservative movement is something
that I never could have imagined we would see. I
knew this would happen on the left and the Democrats,
and a lot of them have abandoned Israel, and we
saw that certainly in the last administration on our Biden.
But what I'm shocked to see now is there is
this group on the right that has gained a very
(08:47):
large audience. What scares me even more, it's a younger audience,
and they are in this ideal this idealistic world of isolationism,
which is Israel is not It doesn't need to be.
He is not a big deal to us. I don't
understand why there were such great allies with them. Why
do we give them a blank check? Is how it's
been said recently. They're committing Atroses is what I've been hearing.
(09:11):
Their genocide is another word that they used in Gouds
in the West Bank. And if you come here and
you see what I've seen, not only do you know
that's a lie, but there's factual data to back it up.
But even if you haven't come here, I am terrified
of what we're going to see in the Republican Party
in the next ten to fifteen years, as these younger
people that are being indoctrinated to hate Israel or hate
(09:34):
Jews in general, are gaining momentum legitimacy because of people
that have very large followings on social media. I've considered
him a long time friend, Tucker Carlson. I couldn't disagree
with Tucker more on the issue of Israel. I think
friends should be able to disagree, and that's why I'm
not going to attack him personally, but I am going
to say on this show publicly I disagree, and when
(09:56):
I'm on TV with Tucker Carlson, I have seen and
I've known me and Kelly for a long time. I
disagree with her on what she's been saying recently and
some of the people she's been talking to on Israel,
Nick Flint as the white supremacist full stop. I don't
know why people are giving in platforms like Tucker good
to the to day. I even disagree with the Heritage Foundation,
and I'm going through a list in my head because
(10:18):
I'm shocked Heritage Foundation the present there who is given
a platform to advocate for this or is supporting it
even financially. We've seen some of the numbers that come
about how much evertence they've done on Tucker Carlson's show,
and I think it's important that we don't stay silent.
Certainly is a conservative leader in the conservative movement and
say this is going down the wrong path? Now? Can
(10:39):
I love all those people? Can I still be friends
of them? I saw Tucker at Charlie kirkstuneral. We hugged.
I'm not wonning a war with him, but I do
think there's an important point here where I want people
to know that I do believe something very different. How
concerned are you being in Israel seeing this? Where I mean,
the conservative movement, the Republican Party had been star wars
for my entire lifetime for Israel. Kakabi, who's the ambassador
(11:01):
is I'm going to see him tomorrow and I can't
wait to see him. By the way, we were texting
earlier today and I'm so excited to see him tomorrow
for lunch. But like we are now becoming, I'm a
worried the minority in this in this fight, and I
think now is the time that we have to understand
there's a real anti Semitic problem on our college chemiss
but not just from the left. It's also happening the
right and it terrifies me.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Well, first of all, thank you for being so bold
in what you say and standing with your values and
being consistent in that no matter what. That's what I
think we need in this world. I look at everything
through spiritual eyes, and so I see a spiritual warfare
that's raging. I see the words of Isaiah that are
coming to life, saying there's going to come a time
(11:44):
when darkness will be called light, and light will be
called darkness. Isaiah said it, good will be called bad,
bad will become good, and people are going to be confused.
And I see this confusion setting in, and it's not
differentiating between Republicans or Democrats. It's a confusion. It's a
spiritual war. And so what I always go back to
when I'm confused is the scriptures is God's word. And
(12:05):
that's another issue. So many people are biblically illiterate. We're
trying to get educated on scriptures from podcasters. People are
going to their podcasts instead of to their pastor, and
their church pastors are scared of speaking out because they
don't want to be canceled. That God's word has become
so controversial. It's not Israel, it's the entire Bible. It's
(12:28):
all of what God said and has withstood much worse
things than where we are right now, but we have
to learn from history and make sure it doesn't get there.
But I truly believe that on one hand, we're seeing
a generation of darkness and people who are confused, and
people who are really spreading things that are evil, people
who in the name of trying to free Palestine, are
(12:49):
actually keeping the Palestinian children and people oppressed by this
terror group Ramas. They're not standing up for the Palestinian people.
They're standing up for Ramas, which for me says everything.
It's a confusion. But when I see that darkness, Ben,
I also for myself, I need to make sure that
(13:11):
I express in every possible way how there's also to
counter maybe balance that darkness, this light that we've never
seen of a generation of Corey teenboons and Pastor Bonhoeffer's
who Pastor von Hoffer. One of my favorite quotes from him,
He said, God doesn't care about how you feel. He
(13:32):
cares about truth. And there are so many people like
what you just declared that care about truth. God says,
pray for the peace of Jerusalem. God says, to to
love our neighbor like ourself, to be able to put
our hand out to peace. When you see the Abraham
Accords and how Israel's been able to maintain this relationship
with Arab countries, because it's incredible, Yes, because they recognize
(13:55):
and they share the same threat. The threat is radical Islam,
and so there's a confusion, yes, But there's also so
many people with the strongest moral clarity, like you, people
who are forced now to speak out for the first
time ever. And I just pray, pray, pray that those
voices will grow and that the light will outshine the darkness.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
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(16:00):
make a difference with every call you make. I truly
believe with every tragedy good comes from it. I believe
that God uses bad things for good. I do think
one of the things that we've witnessed right now with
something good coming out of something terrible in the attacks
October seventh attacks on Israel, is that one you know
(16:21):
who your friends are, ye, But two you've had President
Trump really step up and go after your enemies. Iran
is one of them. How significant is President Trump's leadership?
Do you believe for the safety of Israel and not
just Israel, but for the world. He's made it clear
I'm going after terrorists, whether they're narco terrorists we're seeing
that right now, or going after the Iran nuclear sites.
(16:44):
Like he is a man that I think clearly his
legacy he wants it to be that he kept people safe,
he protected the innocent, and went after the evil. And
how big of an impact has he had do you
think in the last six eight nine months?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Wow, Well, we've seen leader who talk about peace and
then capitulate to the strongest, most violent voice. Yeah, are
not bringing peace closer, They're bringing peace farther. President Trump
has been strong and vocal and has taken very bold
action to bring peace because he knows peace is an
(17:19):
active statement, it's not a passive statement, and so a
strong America brings a strong world, and we've seen that firsthand.
I was at President Trump's speech at the Knesset just
a few weeks ago, and it was incredible to see
how in Israel that's so divided politically, the right and
(17:41):
the left, we're hugging and giving each other of high
fives and genuine smiles and genuine because what we're ultimately
looking for ben both the right and the left, and
we can't lose sight of this. We're looking for a
better world. We're looking for peace. And President Trump in
the Abraham Accords, in the historic peace agreement that he
(18:01):
just drew, now that got every single living Israeli hostage
back from Gaza strip. Just yesterday the American hostageous body
was returned to Israel. But you know that's not reported
on America.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Now, Yeah, a lot of people don't know that. They're
listening right now. Why was that? And that's a huge
victory after.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Over two hundred and fifty days that an American young
adult was being held his body by terrorists and Gaza,
Americans don't even know that. Because of President Trump's agreement,
we got that body back from burial to his parents.
Many Americans don't even know that. Yeah, And so I
think that strength in the right way brings peace closer,
(18:38):
not farther away. And I'll tell you that I say
that as somebody who is not involved in politics. I'm
a humanitarian. I distribute over three hundred three million meals
a year in Israel, from north to south, in every
different community, from Nazareth to the Christian community to Jerusalem
to carry out Shmona where our soup kitchen was hit
(18:59):
by Iraq. Within twenty four hours, we were distributing food again.
And I do that on behalf of Christians who stand
with Israel and love Israel. And so I'm not a politician.
I'm an individual when we speak in this way, but
it's very clear the right kind of strength protects those
people who should be protected and weakens those who are
(19:23):
trying to reak havoc. And I say that also as
a mother who just yesterday brought my nineteen year old
daughter to the Israeli Army.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
You bring up something that I witnessed yesterday and it
is something that I do actually wish America had. You know,
there's a lot of anti Americanism that is growing within
our country with young people that are embarrass of America,
that hate America, that think America is evil, that America's
history is awful, that America should be torn down and
turned back into some sort of utopia under socialism or
(19:54):
communism or Marxism. One of the things that I think
is so incredible about Israel is whether you're a man
or a women, if you're able bodied, you're going to
give two years to your government. In serving your government. Yesterday,
as I was walking, we witnessed dozens and dozens of
different groups of I say, kids now being forty. Gosh
(20:15):
when my forty four haveever old I am, who are
eighteen nineteen, who are serving their military walking around with
machine guns. I didn't find that threatening. I thought it
was amazing, And I'm like, dude, I wish we did
this in America, because if you serve your country for
two years, I think you're going to love your country
a lot more than if you are being in doctrinatey
like we are our kids in our public school education
(20:37):
to hate our country. And it's the amount of pride
that people that live in Israel have in their nation
has to be connected to that.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
In some way, we could disagree with our government and
still love our country. We could disagree with the politicians
or some decisions they make and still love one another.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
I mean proove of that. BB does not have one
hundred percent approval rating.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
No he doesn't.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah, nowhere close. And I think that goes to the
point that you're saying you can love your country and
also disagree on the political side of things.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
In America's country in the world, it's the country of freedom,
is the country of opportunity. This country, if you want
to go out and work, you'd make a good life
for yourself. There's no one holding it back.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Was your daughter excited? Oh my gosh, I mean, I
know as a mom, I've got three boys, you're freaking
out right, because at any point serving in the military
could become a very deadly thing. It's not a time
of peace really over here. I think at any point
in my lifetime, there's always there's always a real threat
that you're watching, even if it's not all at war.
(21:37):
You guys experienced war a lot more than we do
in the US. Your war is much more hand to
hand than it is, you know, shooting drones shots from
the sky like we did our b two bombers or
whatever it is that are bombing. I mean, it is
very different. But like the kids that I saw, like
they seem to be pretty pumped. And there's an ignorance
(21:57):
when you're eighteen nineteen about just like this is what
I do and I'm excited. So I know your fear
is a mom right, but your daughter was. She excited.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
So I called this spend the broken ground of getting
what you prayed for. From the time our children were
born here in Israel, my husband and I would always pray,
let them be connected to family, let them be connected
to God, let them be protected, connected to this land
and to God's word. And we got what we prayed for.
But that means that, yes, my daughter was very excited
to join the army, not because the violence. She's not
(22:29):
excited to kill people, it's not. She's excited to protect
and serve. And after October seventh, and she always volunteered
at soup kitchens through high school, and she volunteered on
an ambulance and took the course. And after October seventh,
I looked at her and I said, my love, do
you still want to serve? You know, as you see
your peers, I can't tell you how many funerals of
(22:50):
nineteen year olds I've been at with my daughter in
the past two years. I can't count.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
And so when you say that, you're not talking five
or six. You're talking a lot of funerals, a lot
of funerals. And that's one of the things I think
people to understand about this war, the number of people
that died in this war, that we're just trying to
protect and defend their people, their petry, protect just to
procure it's significant.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Yeah, yeah, And she looked at me and she said, Mummy,
if I was at all hesitant about joining the army,
which I wasn't, now even that tiny hesitation is gone.
If I don't protect this land, we won't have it.
If I don't protect my people, they won't be safe.
(23:34):
And if I don't stand on these borders watching, we
won't have a future. That she went with such faith
and confidence that this is God's calling on her life.
And as a mother, I couldn't be more proud and worried.
And I'm praying like I never prayed before. But what
else do you want for your child then to love God,
(23:56):
love the land, and love their people.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Let's talk about what the IFCJ is doing. And this
is day one of me broadcasting live here from Israel.
My guess with me is the President Global CEO of
the IFCJ. You can go to IFCJ dot org to
find out more. Yale Eckstein, and y'all, let's talk about
what I've just experienced with IFCJ since I've been here.
I had the privilege today of delivering food to a
(24:20):
woman that's basically bedridden. She cannot work. Her son has
a pretty intense epilepsy, so he can't work. She's a
caretaker for him, even though he's I think she said
he's fifty three. She desperately needs the food that comes.
It was you could just tell by the condition of
where she lived in her home and the stipend that
(24:41):
she receives in the government's very small. It's less than
so security in the US. And to see how thankful
she was and tell her story, and she cried a
lot because she was so thankful that there is a
group like IFCJ that is giving her the food she
needs to live, so she can also live for her son,
because when she's gone, there's no one else to take
care of him. He will go into some sort of
(25:03):
assisted living mental health facility. From what we were told today,
she clearly doesn't want that to happen anytime soon. She's
a mom that's trying to stay alive who cannot walk
for her son so he doesn't get institutionalized in essence,
and looking at how thankful she was for and for
people that are listening. Don't know what IFCG does. They
(25:25):
do a lot of different things, but one of the
things you guys do is you mentioned the meals. How
many meals do you guys deliver to people in Israel
a month or a year.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Just from soup kitchens, we'd deliver over three million meals
a year. And that's besides hundreds of thousands every single
month that we're delivering through food boxes, food tickets, food cards,
meals on wheels. There's nowhere in Israel that there's a
person in need that doesn't have access to food from
(25:54):
the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and we even
help the government of Israel build the first NAT small
food program in America. There's food stamps. At least someone
could have food even if they're very poor. Israel. We
have to remember, as a young country and it was
started by.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Let's remind you of how young it is.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Nineteen forty eight Israel was established, but it shouldn't be forgotten.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
My parents' lifetime. Where I was sitting yesterday was actually Jordan.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Mm hmmm hmm.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
That's just crazy to me. We were standing in part
of the old sting. They're like, just so you know,
you were standing.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
In Georgia and Jews weren't allowed there and.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Jews weren't allowed there and that was until.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
What year that was until the nineteen sixty seven.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
That was okay, Yeah, nineteen sixty.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Nineteen sixty seven is when we got Jerusalem. After the
Arab countries attacked Israel trying to take away the little
piece of Israel that we had. They lost in Israel
conquered Jerusalem in six days and whenever Israel.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
That is the famous war.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
That's the famous war. Six days, six days, you work,
on the seventh day, you rest, And that was the
War of Jerusalem. But it's it's you know, there was
a very famous quote from Warren Buffett. He said, it's
easier to make money than it is to effectively distribute it. Yeah,
and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has excellence
(27:09):
in distributing because our average donation is around fifty dollars
a month. We recognize every single penny makes a difference,
and so every meal is done with integrity and given
with full love and respect. But we do it in
a way that is as cost effective as possible. We
work with an organization that saves fruits and vegetables that
(27:30):
would otherwise be thrown out from fields across Israel. They're
in perfect condition and we are able to distribute them too,
elderly as soup in the winter. That we're always finding
new ways both to hold the government of Israel accountable
and get matching funds and give them our plans of
how you can effectively distribute food, but also to wherever
(27:51):
we see someone that's hungry, be there to say, just
like the woman that you met today, this is from
Christians around the world who love you and very often, Ben,
it's the food, of course, another day of living, another
day of having that sustenance that they've been praying for.
But even more than that, I think it's feeling loved.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
The people loved you talk about love. One of the
other things that we got to witness today was there's
a really cool project, and I hope that people in
America will do this where elderly a lot of them
eighty years older above, can come every day and they
can paint and help create things they're sold in the
gift shop and they get subsidized about thirty percent of
(28:32):
their pension or their government aid to come and do this.
And many of them have been doing it for twenty
twenty five, twenty seven years. There's even six married couples
who work there. They're not allowed to work together, which
is even help more funny to that, Like, it was
hysterical when I found that out. But there were people
in their nineties, there were people. There's a woman who's
legally blind and they basically created a way for her
(28:53):
to still make her projects. It was some of the
most beautiful like throws. There was some table runners that
they make handmake. They're just beautiful potter pottery that they
were hand painted. And you see this and you're like,
these people have a purpose and they were loving what
(29:15):
they were doing at this age, giving them a place
where they belong. They were saying during COVID that thirty
percent of the workers could didn't come back afterwards, because
they said in their homes and they lost that skill
at that older age, and they lost the ability to
be mobile and go get on the bus, which is
so sad, but also tells you how much community matters.
You're not isolated, you're not home alone. And that's one
(29:37):
of the things that you guys Ifcj's sponsor, which is
amazing giving these elderly people a place to be important
and significant and also creates thing beautiful.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Yeah, it's incredible because all those elderly that you saw
live below the poverty line. They live on around six
hundred dollars a month. Almost all of them are immigrants
to Israel. You see the Ethiopians together from the once
last tribe of Dan and they're speaking I'm Hurrik. And
you see the Russians sitting together and speaking Russian, and
the Ukrainians and the French, and many of them don't
(30:06):
have family, and.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
So this simple this is their family.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
This is their family. We give them a bus card
that they're able to come, but for them that saves
them money and gives them somewhere to go. We give
them a place to go where they can actually be
valued and develop a skill and be selling their work
and we give them lunch every day that for them.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Maybe they're only hot meal o the day. We found
out today, which is incredible.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yes, yes, it's saving lives and it's you know, in
the scriptures we see God says specifically feed the hungry,
clothe the naked, shelter the poor, and so that's what
we do. We look at all of our philanthropy here
and Israel, all of our projects are saving lives through
the eyes of what does the scripture say? And so
every day we have Jews returning home to Israel from
the four corners of the Earth. We bring them on
(30:48):
Alia from places where they're persecuted, from South America, from
across the former Soviet Union, from France, from countries I
can't even say on air because they're secretive and it
be dangerous. But there's still Jews coming home every single
day with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews because
that's what it says in the scriptures.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
You guys, purpose is incredible and I hope that people
that are listening will go check you out IFCJ dot
org it's IFCJ dot organ. You can just see what
they do. There's a lot of videos online, so you
can check them out on social media. What are the
biggest needs now with the ceasfire, Because the work now
is really just begun in many ways, that's also part
of what I've witnessed here. A lot of people lost
(31:30):
their homes, a lot of people lost where they live,
they lost their communities. There's a lot of needs right
now and there are going to be a lot of
needs for some time because when you have a basically
a three year war, it is it changes your community,
especially the areas that were hit hard. What are the
needs now that that are for people that are listening
that might want to get.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Involved, Well, let me give you an example what rebuilding means.
Rebuilding means that there's communities the Kibbutzim on the border
with Gaza that we're invaded on October seventh.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
And explain to people, I know what it is, but
it's neighborhoods.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
It's neighborhoods, a neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Just like we're nine percent of people listening right now.
It's you imagine your neighborhood as a neighborhood being attacked exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
It's a neighborhood that has its own grocery store. That
has its own kindergartens and schools, that has homes that
but it's a closer community. The term keyboots kind of
alludes to very very close knit community where everyone's doing
things together. You don't lock your doors, you go into
people's houses without knocking, you eat meals together. It's a
very close knit community, which is beautiful, which is why
(32:32):
they always said we have the best life here. And
those homes, those buildings are all destroyed. I was just
in near O's where one in four people from that
community were either killed or kidnapped. The homes are destroyed.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
I say that again. I want in four and can
say this because I want to paint the picture. Imagine
your neighborhood where you're listening right now. I live in
a gated, guarded community. One in four in my neighborhood
was gone on the day of the attack.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Including the Bibas family, those beautiful redhead kids one year
old and three year old and their mother who are
kidnapped and then murdered, and they were taken just a
mile away into Gaza. You have to realize how close
things are. It's these communities are a mile away from
the Gaza strip where Hamas terrorists are planning their next
(33:22):
October seventh. But these communities are still destroyed, but people
want to go back. That's the resilience here in Israel.
We believe in life, we believe in planting, we believe
in rebuilding. And they turned to the Fellowship and said,
we need our kindergarten at least refurbished so we could
send our children to a kindergarten that's not burnt and destroyed.
And so the Fellowship now is renovating all the kindergartens
(33:45):
and the border with Gaza. You have the hospital that
was hit by Iranian ballistic missile. An entire floor of
the hospital, the surgical unit was destroyed.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Do you know why buy an Iranian missile?
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Buy an Iranian missile. The reason why there weren't hundreds
of deaths there is because the day before they made
the decision to close down this unsecured surgical unit and
move everyone to the MIMI Gan, which means armored or
protected surgical unit that the International Fellowship of Christians and
(34:18):
Jews sponsored and built just a few years before.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
One of the things that you guys do that I
also think is so incredible is you give out I
think a lot of people think that there's like unlimited
funds in Israel. Not true by the government. That's a lie.
I've witnessed it. A lot of people think the Israel's
a very rich country. Is actually not. And one of
the things that I also think misconceptions is why I
tell people to come here, is that there's just a
plentiful amount of military goods. Also not true. You guys
(34:47):
give out armored vehicles, armored military vehicles, also armored ambulances,
flat jackets, basically bullet prevests for first responders that are
not provided by the by the government here in Israel.
That is how real the need is.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Yes. On October seventh, then our team was at the
place the farthest you could go that the military would
let you go on the way down south, handing out
bulletproof vests because when all the other infrastructures fell apart,
we were there to provide and so for the heroes
going down south to try to save lives, we were
just passing out bulletproof vest And I was watching television
(35:26):
and there was a live interview with one of these heroes,
a civilian hero who was driving down south in his
car and wearing his vest, and he came under live
fire on TV from Ramas terrorists and he got out
of his cars. He's still reporting and he's hiding in
the bushes and he's trying to figure out what to do,
and all of a sudden you see he's wearing a
vest from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. And
(35:47):
the person who led so much of this heroic work
saving countless lives on October seventh was Keith Isaacson. He's
the head of security for that area that the old
The only reason why he survived is because the Fellowship
provided him with a bulletproof vehicle. He was shot at
over two dozen times. Even the wheels are bulletproof.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Wow. So without that car.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
He wouldn't be alive, and many other people wouldn't be alive.
Because it's only because he was alive he was able
to arrange for the rescue. I was on the ground
during the Iranian War at a site where a huge
missile hit six buildings were destroyed. Me and my team
were there as there were still first responders working trying
to uncover the bodies, trying to save people's lives, and
(36:33):
as they were working, I realized there are sirens going off,
there's missiles falling, and they don't have flack jackets, and
so immediately we went and provided them. These first responders
need to be protected, both because they deserve to be
that's what's right, That's what's just. These people risking their
lives instead of being in the bomb shelter with their
family should be protected. But also because the bombs that
(36:57):
are trying to kill them are coming from evil and
the black jackets that are protecting them are coming from
forces of good Christians who are saying, we sanctify life.
And that's a message that we have to shout off
of rooftops. There are still people in this world who
sanctify life.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
I tell you what, as we wrap this day one
here in Israel, and I'm going to have a lot
more to share with you guys tomorrow, So make sure
you listen to the show all week long. But there's
a couple things. One follow IFCJ dot org on social media.
The stories that they put out are real, they're authentic.
It's really nice to have them, especially when there's breaking
news happening in Israel. You guys do an amazing job
(37:36):
of kind of letting you know what's really going on.
Number two, if you've never come to Israel, come to
Israel right now. Since the ceasefire, it is completely wide open.
I have felt incredibly safe here the entire time. I
would encourage you to take that pilgrimage to Israel for
sure and be a part of I'm going to bring
my family back very soon. I want them to see
what I've seen and not wait till they're forty four
(37:57):
like I am to see it. On thing is, if
think about giving, if you've never given the IFCJ, they
could really use your help. I witnessed that firsthand. That help,
whether it was the food that was given out, whether
it's the Elderly Center, whether it's building these bomb shelters,
temporary bomb shelters, you do, the armored vehicles, the five deckets.
The list goes on and on. The work you guys do,
(38:18):
and look, dear research check them out online. Once you
see it, you'll understand why I'm an advocate for them
and why I hope that you'll get involved, even if
it's a very small donation. So IFCJ dot org check
them out. Yeah, thank you so much for sitting down
me it's so fun to see you where you live.
Being here in Jerusalem, it's so nice to be here,
and we're gonna have a lot more. Tomorrow. I'll be
a meeting with with Huckabee, a dear friend of mine
(38:39):
who's the US Ambassador to Israel, so I'm gonna go
see him in the US mbsy tomorrow. I'll have that
for you as well tomorrow. So make sure jo Us
in the bed Ferguson show hit that share button like
subscribe wherever you are. Please share this episode on social
media wherever you are, and I'll see you back here
tomorrow from Israel.
Host
Ben Ferguson
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