Embassy In Israel Moving So Quickly And Why It Matters: Today we are continuing celebrating becoming the first foreign nation in Israel to open our embassy in Jerusalem! In this episode, we have special guest, State Representative Phil King to talk about the opening of the embassy in Jerusalem from a legislative perspective! We also learn something interesting about the cost and time involved! Tune in now to learn more!

Air Date: 05/30/2018

Guest: Representative Phil King

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith And The Culture

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. This is WallBuilders Live! Where we”€™re talking about today”€™s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture. We always do that from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective.

We’re here with David Barton, America’s premier historian and our founder at WallBuilders. Tim Barton”€™s with us. He”€™s a national speaker and pastor and our president at WallBuilders. And my name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas state legislator.

Yesterday on the program we actually had Pastor John Hagee with us. He was there in Jerusalem for the opening of the U.S. embassy. Today later in the program we”€™re going to have Phil King with us. He was also there during that process and actually saw some things that we are really looking forward to hearing about. So, it”€™s going to be great to hear Phil King”€™s perspective on what happened this last week in Jerusalem.

David:

Yeah, Rick, what Pastor Hagee gave us yesterday was a very, very, good spiritual perspective from a pastor, from a church leader, who has been intimately involved with Israel for, literally, decades. And today Phil King really comes at it from a legislative perspective because he was there as a legislator leading other legislators. They were there for defense purposes with defense issues related to the F-35 and other things. And Phil has been key in passing legislation not only in Texas, but elsewhere across the United States that supports Israel from a legislative perspective.

Phil right now is a state legislator in Texas, but he was recently the head of the National Organization of the American Legislative Exchange Council made up of several thousand state legislators. So, as former past president of that he’s been working on these kinds of issues across the United States. So, it’ll be a real different type of perspective on the same issue.

A Different Perspective on the Same Issue

Tim:

And I’m interested to see one of the things that Pastor Hagee talked about was how Trump also was a guy who fulfilled campaign promises. I think he referred to Trump as a promise keeper. Which, in my mind, was like a flashback to the old Christian movement, right – men, be promise keepers. But he referenced to Trump and said he’s a guy that”€™s keeping his promises.

Well, Phil, obviously for different purposes initially, was over there got to be there to a very cool time in the midst of the opening of the embassy. But Phill was even texting us pictures while he was over there showing us things of how the Israelis were putting up signs to support Trump, and how pro Trump they were, and some really interesting things about it.

So, I’m also interested in his perspective on what he sees from even this political standpoint of America as Trump perspective supporting Israel. Beyond just maybe what he saw with some of the military things that he did, although that’s pretty cool too. He was over there at a time when some of these rockets were being fired. So, pretty interesting time to be in Israel. Although I guess, by argument’s sake, you could say almost anytime you”€™re in Israel somebody is firing rockets at them. It seems like that happens very common in Israel.

Nonetheless, it’s something that will be very interesting to see what Phil experienced over there. Because he was over there, I think, longer than Hagee was. Definitely did some different things, certainly military aspects. So, it will be cool to see what he unfolds.

David:

And even the military side, Pastor Hagee mentioned yesterday that that American money that we gave Iran, 150 billion dollars, is what was financing the turmoil that went on last week in Israel. And even those 20 rockets that were launched out of Syria toward Israel, Phil King was there with that. I got a text from him when he was over there and these rockets were launched and he was talking about it. But those were launched out of Syria, but they were Iran supplying that stuff through Syria.

So, you actually have American money being used against the Israeli military which is such a different perspective from what President Trump is doing in cutting that out.

Israel Took Care of the Situation

Tim:

And if I’m remembering correctly I think Israel took care of that situation.

David:

Oh, they did.

Tim:

It seems like there was a response.

David:

Oh, yeah.

Tim:

It seems like something was flattened and leveled and it seems like–

David:

**

Tim:

So, yeah so if anybody is not familiar for listeners, Israel responded and just demolished this portion of Syria where a lot of this was happening where they were being attacked. And Israel is very good at being very strategic–

David:

They”€™re pinpoint accuracy.

Tim:

Very, very, much can take out exactly where the bad guys are with minimal, if any, civilian injury casualties or whatever else. They’re so good at protecting life of innocents and targeting the bad guys. And that’s primarily, really, they’re so good at doing that. But they certainly responded to Syria and took care of the problem.

Rick:

Phil King will be our special guest today, so stay with us. State representative Phil King when we return on WallBuilders Live.

Leadership Training Program

Rick:

Hey, friends! We’ve got a great program to share with you today. It”€™s the WallBuilders Leadership Training Program and it’s an opportunity for 18 to 25 year olds to come spend two weeks diving into the original documents we’re always talking about here on WallBuilders Live.

Tim, you’ve already been doing this a couple of summers and seen the results of young people coming to this program. We’re going to see more of them coming this year.

Tim:

Yeah, Rick, it”€™s something that”€™s been cool to see the transformation with young people coming in. The emphasis, for us, largely is a pursuit of truth. We have a culture that doesn’t know what truth is. We don’t know what biblical truth is, or constitutional truth, or the American heritage that we have. And so we really dive into original documents and say, “€œWell, what did they actually write? What did they actually do? Not just what did somebody say, what is actually true, and the truth is what’s transformational.

David:

Yeah, guys. This really is a remarkable opportunity. And for those who want to spend time with us and spend time in the original documents, this is a great program. So, if you’re from 18 to 25, or you know someone who’s 18 to 25, send them to sign up for one of our three sessions this summer at WallBuilders.com/leadershiptraining.

Moment From American History

This is Tim Barton from WallBuilders with another moment in American history. America is a special and unique nation. The average length for a constitution in other countries is only 17 years. But we’ve had ours for over two centuries. Our 4 percent of the world’s population produces 24 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and every year we produce more inventions and technology than the other 96 percent of the world combined.

In 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville of France came to America, traveled the country, and in his famous book, “€œDemocracy in America” reported,  “€œThe position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional. It may be believed that no Democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.”€

This is the origin of the phrase “€œAmerican exceptionalism”€ and affirms that America is unique because of the distinctive ideas on which we’ve been based. Including in inalienable rights, individuals, and limited government, and the importance of religion, and morality. For more information about American exceptionalism go to WallBuilders.com.

Getting a Report

Rick:

Welcome back to WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us. Our good friend, State Representative Phil King, from Texas back with us. Representative, always good to have you, sir. Thanks for your time today.

Representative Phil King:

Well, thanks and apologize for being on the mobile. I”€™m pulled over on I-35 for this important interview.

Rick:

Well, we appreciate it, man. We”€™ve got David here as well and we just wanted to kind of get a report from you on being in Israel for the opening of the embassy in Jerusalem. You’ve been over there many times and really worked on the relationships with Israel and supporting Israel. What was your take away?

Representative Phil King:

Well, it was just really, Rick and David, it was just such a neat time to be there, an historic time. We recently went for a Homeland Security tour when we scheduled this and we’d been over when the F-35 were first delivered, the first two F-35s back in December “€˜16. And then we came back over for a more comprehensive Homeland Security tour this time.

But we were there when Trump made his announcement that he was stopping or ending the Iran agreement. We actually worked up in the Golan Heights on that day in the northern part of Israel and that night they started shooting back and forth.

An Iron Dome

Representative Phil King:

In fact, when we were up in the Golan, it was a new thing was about to happen. We saw an Iron Dome battery that they had just deployed up there and we were able to see soldiers being deployed on some special ops getting ready to be there for that and their *. Rockets started actually firing that night. And then to be on our last day of the leg at the embassy grand opening when the U.S. formally announced what everybody else has known for 3,000 years is Jerusalem is and always has been the capital for the Jewish people and the capital of Israel. So, it was a neat and historic time to be there.

Rick:

Phil, I remember talking to you back during the presidential election and one of the things you told me that really was the beginning of me getting comfortable with Trump as our nominee on the Republican side was that everything indicated to you that he had the right instincts. That once the information was put in front of him he tended to come down on the right side of things. And the moral clarity to know who the good guys and bad guys are in the Middle East and the willingness to stand with the good guys the way he has has proved out what you told me that day. Do you feel the same way?

Representative Phil King:

Oh yes. And let me tell you, the first night we were there we got a private meeting with David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador, who is a house standing person for that role. He and his chief of staff, *,  is a good friend. Just a little background on it, we asked him how all this came about and really all the people giving advice to Trump were saying, “€œLook, for us to be able to do this embassy deal, it’s going to create a great deal of unrest. It’s very dangerous. Basically the same lines that, apparently, presidents have been told since 1995 when Congress said that they could move the embassy. And he said that the officials in power, including the then Secretary of State”€™s office, were saying that it would take a billion dollars and ten years to move the embassy.

Moving the Embassy

Representative Phil King:

And Ambassador Friedman looked at it and said, “€œLook we’ve already got two facilities, consulates, that were already in Jerusalem. His story is that he called Trump directly and said, “€˜Look, I can do it in 90 days for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”€™”€

Rick:

Wow.

Representative Phil King:

And he said Trump’s response was, “€œWell–“€ I’m paraphrasing, “€œWell, make it look nice. Go ahead and spend a million.”€

But the bottom line was the big state, the institutional Washington, was giving Trump advice not to do this across the board. And David Friedman said, “€œIt’s not a billion dollars, it’s not 10 years, I”€™ll convert one of the consulates to get us started. We can do it for a low cost and I can do it in 90 days.”€ And that”€™s what happened.

Rick:

Wow. I did not know that. That’s amazing. So, how was the attitude among our– expression Freedman, and his staff, and the people your were around. The media has portrayed it as this bittersweet. Half of the coverage at least, well I’d say much more than half the coverage, has been what Hamas did on the border and everything. But  from what you saw on the ground inside what was your sense of everyone’s attitude?

Representative Phil King:

Rick, let me tell you. We”€™ve talked with Arabs and Jews. We went to businesses on the Palestinian side and the West Bank and talked to people there. Which, maybe it’s best characterized with this – we met with Michael O’Brien who’s the Israeli ambassador to the United States. We were at the Knesset one day, their parliament, meeting with their congressman. And Michael was in a meeting with us and literally got tearful.

It was the day after the president’s announcement and he said, he goes, “€œI don’t know how else to say this, but by canceling the Iran agreement and moving the embassy here we just literally feel like we’ve been rescued.”€ “€œWe’ve been saved”€ were the words he used.

The Responses

Rick:

Wow. And what we’ve found across the nation was tremendous respect for the United States, tremendous respect for Trump. There were signs up all over the place that “€œTrump Supports Zion”€, “€œTrump supports Israel”€. If he ran for president over there he would get an overwhelming, overwhelming, vote. We met with military, we were with an F-16 squadron visiting with them and standing around there one of their aircraft when they got scrambled.

And everybody you talk to from the waitress to the pilot, and to the government officials, everybody was excited. They believe that America is back with them and they love Trump.

David:

Phil, let me jump in on something for a minute because you were saying you guys had gone over there because of F-35 stuff. And for folks who don’t know Texas is where they manufacture the F-16 which is what Israel’s been using for the last several decades. Now Texas is also manufacturing the F-35 which is what they’re using.

So, kind of explain where their military is and how it works there because we’re so used to seeing American military. These guys are on the edge, I think you guys saw the missiles coming into Israel that were being fired by the Iranians. Kind of lay out how different it is over there with what they face and how their military works.

Representative Phil King:

Sure. And I will say we didn’t see any personally. We were down in the Jerusalem area and the missiles were in the northern part of the country. But when you’re in Israel that’s not very far away no matter where you’re at.

Israeli Military

Representative Phil King:

Here’s the difference is every 18 year old goes into the military and serves at least two years. And then everybody stays active duty reserves until they’re 45 unless there’s some waiver. So, everybody understands that they’re surrounded by people that don’t like them and by many who have sworn to wipe Israel and to wipe Jews off the map and out of existence. And of course they’ve got the Red Sea on one side and they”€™ve got Gaza and Egypt to the south, Jordan and then as you go on up the coast you’ve got Lebanon and Syria– or Syria and then Lebanon. So, they’re surrounded by hostile foes.

You’ve got Iran beamed up in Syria and trying to get access through there and then of course there’s the Russian relationship there. Everybody recognizes that they are a sliver of a nation. I think at it’s most narrow point it’s about 70 miles across. Everybody recognizes that they are constantly in danger of military attack. The most latest with the boycott movement of economic attack and everybody is scared.

The other thing that since everybody’s been in the military, not only does everybody get the benefit that I wish we had in America for all our young people of two years of discipline training and learning how to show up on time, and how to take on training, and how to be objective oriented, and be disciplined. But everybody comes with that. But they also come in with everyone understanding their situation with safety. And so it’s a whole different approach.

And then their military is, frankly, just man for man among the finest in the world- both in training, and in technology, and motivation, commitment. So, it is a way of life and everybody in Israel is military.

Rick:

How different is it for them, Phil, when they have a president of the United States supporting them the way Trump is versus what they had to go through with Obama obviously not supporting them well?

How Different is it With a Supportive United States President?

Representative Phil King:

I’ll put it this way – our good friend Alan Plemons who passed a resolution about eight or 10 years ago when Obama was still in office and passed resolution in South Carolina just supporting Israel. And he took it over there and he ended up in front of a group of military out on the front line and read it to them and they began to weep. And one of them said, “€œWe thought America had abandoned us.”€

Rick:

Wow.

Representative Phil King:

And now they feel like America is back and it’s not just Trump – Americans everywhere. Everywhere you go you”€™re running into Americans. You get on a plane, you get on the bus, you get on everywhere. Americans are engaged in Israel. Israel has 9 million people they get 3 million visitors a year and a bunch of them are from the United States and a bunch of them are from Texas.

Rick:

Well, speaking of Texas and here at home, what can people– they say, “€œWell, I can’t go to Israel. I want to support Israel.”€ What do you say to folks that want to support Israel and believe that’s part of our responsibility as Christians? What can they do as Representative Phil King:

SPEAKER: M8

Well, obviously you’ve got a lot of churches that are engaged in supporting Israel through organizations like Israel Allies, and Stand With Israel, and groups like that. And you can very easily get involved in some really good pro Israel groups. Pastor Hagee down in San Antonio is a great leader in that movement. As is pastor * in the big cities area in Dallas Fort Worth is a big leader. I think they were both over there. So, there are Christian organizations that are engaged.

God Blesses Those Who Bless Israel

Representative Phil King:

You can also support political officeholders and candidates that say they’re going to stand with Israel. When they do the right thing like President Trump has, let them know. Make sure that they’re hearing from you and letting them know, “€œWe support what you did in standing with Israel.”€ And then also, of course, just as believers we just need to be praying for Israel and recognize that not only is it the right thing to do, but God bless those who bless Israel.

Rick:

So, Phil what about– obviously Trump is standing with them, America is standing with them. What about when it comes down to the U.N. or even just other help, is anybody else moving their embassy to Jerusalem? Are we the only ones helping them or do they have some other allies right now?

Representative Phil King:

Well, interestingly, Guatemala, I believe, has announced they’re moving their embassy. And I think Paraguay has. I heard the prime minister. *, say in his speech last week, or the week before last, that he believes others are going to come along. And he invited other nations to move their embassies to Jerusalem. Again, the purpose of reaffirming that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and not Tel Aviv or elsewhere.

There’s a huge movement on to rewrite history and say that the Jewish people have not historically been involved in Jerusalem which is nonsense if you know anything about it biblical or secular history. So, reaffirming this– the embassy’s moving reaffirms that Jerusalem is and should always be the capital of Israel.

Rick:

And that’s– I don’t know much on this at all, Phil, so– and I may be blindsided you with this question. But is there any other example of a nation saying, “€œThis is where our capital is and where your embassy should be”€ and us not putting our embassy there and actually choosing to put it somewhere else?

The Only Nation

Representative Phil King:

Well, no they are the only nation in the world that declares, that controls, and manages, and has their borders– their borders are very distinct and very clear and they’ve had those borders since 1967 in place. And they’ve declared “€œThis is our capital”€. They are the only country that says, “€œThis city is the capital of our nation.”€ And the rest of the world says, “€œOh no it’s not. It’s really over here.”€

Rick:

Wow.

David:

Well, they really have no basis for saying that except for 3500 years of history. So, I can understand why the rest of the world tells me– I don’t know what they’re talking about. But you’re right it is an effort to rewrite history and that is a real difficulty. Now, certainly, those inside Israel know that, but those outside Israel they just don’t know Jewish history, they don’t know Bible history, like we used to and that does create a problem .

Representative Phil King:

But even if even if you say, “€œOkay, we’re not going to believe. We don’t care about the past. We don’t care what history says.”€ Even if you just say, “€œWe’re going to look at modern history.”€ Well, you go all the way back to the Oslo Accords in the early part of the 20th century, you go back to the division of the land, the things that took place after World War Two, and then you go to 1967 when there is a war in which Israel was triumphant against people that were trying to wipe them out. And they have occupied Jerusalem in its entirety since then.

And so even if you just look at recent history what nation wins a war, wins wars, has a territory, and then within that territory isn’t allowed to declare where their capital is. That’s just unheard of in modern political science and certainly with regard to the Jewish nation and the Jewish people. Jerusalem has been the center of their nation and their hearts for 3000 years. And even when they were expelled, at every Passover what was it they said the very last thing – “€œNext year is in Jerusalem.”€

Rick:

Well, Phil, it’s great to get a firsthand account, man. We appreciate your expertise and just being willing to share with us. And pray for God to bless you, and the Texas legislature, and the work that you’re doing there. We appreciate you serving, man.

David:

Thanks, Phil. We appreciate it.

Representative Phil King:

My pleasure. Thanks for giving me a call.

RIck:

Alright, stay with us, folks. We’ll be right back. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Pastors Only Briefing Trip

Tim:

Hi, this is Tim Barton with WallBuilders and I want to encourage all the pastors out there with a unique opportunity that we’re presenting it WallBuilders. We’re doing a special tour just for pastors that you can come and learn more about the spiritual heritage of our nation. Not just seeing the sights but understanding the significance of what they are and what they represent.

We get to go to the Capitol at night.  And we get to see the spiritual heritage of our Founding Fathers, of who we are as a nation, where we came from. We bring in congressman that will tell you about current legislation, about our religious liberties  and freedom, and what’s going on in Washington, D.C.

If you’re a pastor or if you want to recommend your pastor for this trip, you can go to our website at www.WallBuilders.com. And there’s a link that’s for scheduling.  If you click on that link there’s a section for pastor”€™s briefing. There’s more information about the dates, when it’s going, and how it’s going to happen. If you want to know more about our nation, our religious liberties, our freedom, our spiritual heritage, this is a trip you want to be a part of.

Rick:

Welcome back WallBuilders Live. Thanks to State Representative Phil King for joining us today and giving his perspective on being there during the Jerusalem Embassy being opened up.

Back with David and Tim now. Guys, it was fun yesterday with Pastor Hagee and, David, you were exactly right – different perspective from Phil and some other meetings that I didn’t realize he had had over there. And Hagee had mentioned yesterday that Friedman was a fantastic ambassador and doing a great job. We didn’t even mention that to Phil and he brought it up and talked about the same thing.

David:

Well, I love what he said about Friedman and that Friedman get this estimate where Trump is told, “€œHey, if you move the embassy here it’s going to take ten years and one billion dollars.”€ And Friedman calls Trump and said, “€œI can do it for 150,000. And by the way, I can do it in 90 days.”€ So, Trump comes back and says, “€œWell, spend a million on it.”€

Tim:

At least make it look nice.

Rick:

Yeah.

A Little Bit of Perspective

David:

But let me put that in perspective. State Department, Deep State guys, say 1 billion. Trump says let’s splurge and use 1 million. You need to understand that is one tenth of 1 percent of what the State Department.

Rick:

David:

That’s one tenth. Now, Friedman had offered to do it for 150,000 which is seven one hundredths of 1 percent. That is such a massive change and it did look really good. It was a great open.

Tim:

It did. And  I’m curious of that 1 billion number how much of that would have been surrounding security, and the barriers, and things that were these external expenses. Which, for someone who’s familiar with Israel, Israel’s a pretty safe place, right? When we talked about yesterday these protests that were happening in the Gaza Strip. Well, the Gaza Strip is not Jerusalem, right. Israel is so good at sniffing out, routing out, finding terrorists, finding bad guys, and in minimizing these kind of situations that when we look at things from the outside perspective, when we see this, we go, “€œOh man, danger.”€

And so I’m just curious how much of this was that perception of the danger, and the negativity, and we have to put all this extra money in for whatever special ops, or these contractors we have to bring in, and protection, and safety. I’m just curious. It might not be that much, but to me I would think that some of this number”€™s not just for building, facilities, army personnel related, security related. But I would feel pretty safe with the Israeli military.

So, one of the things that Phil mentioned, every 18 year old goes in the military.

David:

And by the way, they are on reserve until 45.

A Pretty Good Condition

Tim:

Yeah, they are on reserve until 45. So, pretty much everybody you see on the street is military or military reserve. This is– it”€™s a pretty good condition to live in. And I loved what Phil pointed out too the training that gets, what it does for them as young people going through this. But Israel is just such a unique place and I’m so glad we’re finally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, putting the American embassy there.

Rick:

I just wonder if Trump’s response when the State Department said it was going to be a billion in 10 years he’s probably thinking, “€œY”€™all are even worse than the New York people I had to deal with when I was developing back then.”€

David:

That”€™s right. They”€™re storing thirty seven thousand dollar toilet seats at the Pentagon.

Embassy In Israel Moving So Quickly And Why It Matters

Rick:

Unbelievable, unbelievable. Well, this is great news, we’re thrilled to be celebrating both yesterday and today. Yesterday with Hagee, with Pastor Hagee, and today with State Representative Phil King. So, special thanks to both our guests for joining us today.

Thank you for listening today. Be sure and visit our websites – WallBuildersLive.com and WallBuilders.com. Lots of great materials for you there that you can use to share with your family. And you can also come alongside us, support the work of WallBuilders and the good work that we’re doing, spread this news across the country, and equip more citizens to do a great job. Thanks for listening. You’ve been listening to WallBuilders Live.