Transcript [00:00] Sunday was Palm Sunday and there was an [00:02] uproar you might have heard about it [00:04] about what's an incident that took place [00:05] in Jerusalem where two leading Christian [00:09] figures were prevented from going to the [00:12] Church of the Holy Sepulchre and it [00:13] turned into an international incident [00:15] lots of outrage [00:17] and I want to break that all down in [00:18] this video and talk about what happened [00:21] and why I believe that this is uh [00:25] uh perhaps perhaps I mean as as terrible [00:29] as an incident as it was it is also [00:31] being used by people [00:33] to foment uh [00:35] sentiment [00:37] that is not exactly deserved and I'll [00:40] explain through the video so if you're [00:42] enraged by this if you're upset by this [00:44] hear me out I'm not happy about it [00:46] either trust me [00:48] before we go on [00:49] uh though I I want to make sure that you [00:51] uh connect with us in the best possible [00:53] ways I'm I lead an organization called [00:56] Israel 365 action our mission is to [00:59] equip people with the right information [01:03] uh and the right tools to be able to [01:05] defend Israel in the information warfare [01:07] that we were all that we are all engaged [01:09] in [01:10] and uh we also [01:12] uh get involved in in many issues [01:15] um defending Israel and we also uh have [01:19] we also have seats in the World Zionist [01:21] Congress we are a movement that is [01:23] dedicated to really changing the way [01:25] Israel presents its image which is what [01:27] this video is really about but also [01:30] fights back against the left in a way [01:31] that sadly much leader much of the [01:34] current Jewish leadership does not do [01:37] sufficiently anyway there's more to say [01:40] about it but go to israel365action.com [01:43] sign up for our newsletter won't cost [01:45] you a dime and you'll stay informed [01:46] about what's going on in Israel and all [01:48] the great content that we're putting out [01:50] especially the webinars that we do the [01:52] briefings that we do with top experts in [01:54] the Middle East and Israel [01:55] uh you can get connected with us more [01:57] and really stay on top of things by [02:00] again just go there and uh and sign up [02:03] for the Israel 365action newsletter [02:05] we're not going to spam your inbox all [02:06] the time you'll get one newsletter per [02:09] week and it'll just keep you informed [02:11] okay let's get over to this incident [02:13] here [02:16] so the incident in question [02:19] is like I said uh you probably heard [02:21] about it already [02:23] um but it was reported by everybody [02:26] uh that as CNN reports on Sunday the [02:29] Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem said [02:31] Israeli police prevented the church's [02:33] senior leaders from entering to [02:35] celebrate mass citing security concerns [02:39] and uh the and uh the the main person [02:42] that they prevented was Cardinal [02:44] Pierbattista Pizzaballa the Latin [02:46] Patriarch okay they prevented him from [02:48] holding services in the Church of the [02:50] Holy Sepulchre quote for the first time [02:52] in centuries the heads of the church [02:53] were prevented from celebrating the Palm [02:55] Sunday mass at the Church of the Holy [02:57] Sepulchre the Patriarchate the [02:59] Patriarchate said in a statement the [03:01] incident is a grave precedent and [03:03] disregards the sensibilities of billions [03:05] of people around the world [03:07] who during this week look to Jerusalem [03:10] okay this is what happened um [03:12] the Latin Patriarch uh [03:14] uh [03:15] Pizzaballa and another top church [03:18] official [03:19] were on their way to the Church of the [03:21] Holy Sepulchre to to do a mass for Palm [03:23] Sunday [03:24] police officers stopped them and told [03:27] them that they were not allowed to go [03:28] there [03:29] okay what happened exactly the move [03:30] comes as Israeli authorities restrict [03:32] access to religious sites in East [03:34] Jerusalem amid the war with Iran [03:36] including the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the [03:38] Western Wall the holiest site for [03:40] Judaism the holiest this this Muslim [03:43] holy site they're not allowing [03:44] gatherings at any religious site we just [03:47] had the Purim festival a couple weeks [03:49] ago [03:50] public gatherings were forbidden [03:52] Passover's coming up [03:54] it's one of our most important festivals [03:56] Passover public gatherings synagogue [03:58] services forbidden [04:00] Israel captured East Jerusalem and uh it [04:02] talks about East Jerusalem [04:04] um and then it it brings us to Prime [04:07] Minister Netanyahu's response so Prime [04:08] Minister Netanyahu's response was as [04:10] follows over the past several days Iran [04:13] has repeatedly targeted holy sites of [04:14] all three monotheistic religions in [04:16] Jerusalem with ballistic missiles that's [04:18] true in one strike missile fragments [04:20] crashed meters from the Church of the [04:21] Holy Sepulchre where by the way where [04:24] was the outrage by the world when the [04:26] Iranians uh [04:29] the Iranians launched missiles at the [04:31] holy sites in the old city and a piece [04:34] of a missile landed right near the [04:36] Church of the Holy Sepulchre as a result [04:39] Israel has temporarily asked worshipers [04:40] from all faiths not to worship at holy [04:42] sites in Jerusalem's old city to protect [04:44] them today out of special concern for [04:46] his safety Jerusalem police prevented [04:49] the Latin Patriarchate Pizzaballa from [04:51] holding mass this morning at the Church [04:53] of the Holy Sepulchre again there was no [04:55] malicious intent whatsoever only concern [04:57] for his safety and that of his party [04:59] however given the holiness of the week [05:01] leading up to Easter for the world's [05:02] Christians Israel security arms are [05:05] putting together a plan to enable church [05:07] leaders to worship at the holy site in [05:08] the coming days let me explain what is [05:10] going on in Israel right now and again I [05:13] understand the outrage [05:15] it actually makes sense you see Israeli [05:17] police preventing this from happening it [05:19] shows a lack of sensitivity to [05:21] Christians it enrages me I have been at [05:24] the forefront of Jewish Christian [05:26] relations for many years that is a [05:27] position I hold very publicly and there [05:30] have been incidents in the past where [05:31] some either out of stupidity like this [05:34] situation or out of malice there are [05:37] some actors in this country who are [05:39] anti-Christian they don't represent the [05:41] government in any way [05:42] I'll give you an example just another [05:44] news item that you may have heard [05:46] recently [05:47] uh every every few years it pops up [05:49] again that there are some Knesset [05:51] members who are passing a law that it's [05:53] forbidden to preach the gospel in Israel [05:56] okay which it's not there there are laws [05:58] about proselytizing to minors and [06:01] offering incentives there are laws like [06:02] that okay but it's not illegal to preach [06:05] the gospel in Israel [06:07] um but every now and then this comes up [06:08] that there's a law on the that there's a [06:10] law being presented in the Knesset and [06:11] it makes it seem like the Israelis are [06:13] going to make it illegal to preach the [06:14] gospel okay [06:16] what is this about [06:19] it usually comes up in in the months [06:21] leading up to an election we're going to [06:22] be having an election in the fall either [06:24] in September or October somewhere around [06:25] there probably there will be an election [06:27] hasn't the date hasn't been set yet and [06:30] usually in the months leading up to an [06:32] election usually for the last 30 years [06:34] or so [06:35] a few members of the ultra-Orthodox [06:37] parties will present a bill to make it [06:39] illegal to preach the gospel so or some [06:41] other anti-Christian bill they'll come [06:43] up with something it's not always [06:44] exactly the same but they'll come up [06:46] with some anti-Christian bill they'll [06:48] present it [06:50] it doesn't pass ever [06:53] and that way they get to signal to their [06:55] voters [06:57] that that they you know from the Haredi [07:00] parties they get to signal to their [07:01] voters that they're standing up against [07:02] the Christians okay that's all that's [07:04] about that's another example and then it [07:06] gets used but it turns into an [07:07] international incident because oh [07:09] there's people in the Israeli government [07:10] who are anti-Christian okay there are [07:12] some [07:14] so you have that you have malice but [07:16] then you also have stupidity and I've [07:17] been outspoken against all this [07:18] anti-Christian stuff going on in Israeli [07:20] society I've done more than many many [07:23] people I'm very public about to educate [07:26] the Jewish community [07:28] to bring the Jewish and Christian [07:30] communities into closer cooperation into [07:32] greater understanding [07:34] when there was an incident where Jews [07:35] were spitting at Christians a few years [07:36] ago I wrote a column condemning them [07:40] okay so I take second place to almost no [07:43] rabbi in the world in my respect for [07:44] Christianity and my and my and my [07:46] relationship [07:47] with Christians I have my questions I [07:50] like to have debate I like to discuss [07:51] theology and you know and I like to have [07:54] open conversations [07:55] but I I have the deepest respect for [07:57] Christianity [07:58] but Israel often behaves stupidly to be [08:02] perfectly frank when it comes to [08:03] Christians now with this situation let's [08:06] let's make it very clear what happened [08:07] here [08:08] these police were told that the [08:10] directive by the Home Front Command is [08:13] to prevent all public gatherings all [08:16] worship gatherings especially in the old [08:18] city why especially in the old city the [08:19] old city is an old city it's ancient and [08:22] it's built with very narrow streets [08:24] there's [08:25] almost no access for emergency vehicles [08:28] it's very difficult to get an ambulance [08:31] in there certainly [08:33] to get uh uh [08:35] the type of rescue equipment in there [08:36] that would be needed if there would be a [08:39] a um [08:40] if there would be a a missile strike [08:42] that would hit anything in the old city [08:44] it would be a much worse tragedy if a [08:47] building in the old city was hit by a [08:48] missile much more difficult to save the [08:50] people than anywhere else because of the [08:53] way that city [08:54] that that part of Jerusalem is built [08:57] okay so these cops are out there in the [08:59] street and they're told that no one's [09:01] going to no one's allowed there's no [09:02] there's no Jews at the Western Wall the [09:04] Al-Aqsa Mosque is also empty of Muslims [09:07] and they're told that no one's allowed [09:08] in okay and then along comes these two [09:11] church dignitaries on Palm Sunday and [09:13] these guys they don't know anything they [09:15] stop these they stop them and say no you [09:17] can't go in [09:18] now was that a smart thing to do if they [09:20] really knew the situation of course not [09:23] and and should the exception have been [09:24] made in advance by the people above them [09:26] yes of course but this has nothing to do [09:28] with Prime Minister Netanyahu or the top [09:30] people in the government or the Israeli [09:31] agenda it was a dumb it was a stupid [09:35] insensitive thing to do okay and and [09:36] this these types of mistakes should not [09:38] happen [09:39] okay but here's what happened uh here's [09:42] what happened next let's go back to what [09:43] happened so Prime Minister Netanyahu [09:45] says this [09:46] that was his take [09:48] okay now [09:49] Cardinal Pizzaballa here's what he had [09:51] to say [09:52] it is true that the police had said that [09:53] the orders for the internal command [09:55] prevented any kind of gathering in [09:57] places where there is no shelter cuz [09:58] there's no bomb shelter there. Okay, [10:00] let's make it clear. Where the Church of [10:01] the Holy Sepulchre is, there's nowhere [10:03] safe. If that building had gotten hit or [10:05] a building around it had gotten hit, it [10:07] would have been disastrous for anyone [10:10] present there. Okay, regardless of how [10:12] many people there were. [10:13] But we had not asked for anything [10:15] public, just a brief and small private [10:16] ceremony to preserve the idea of the [10:18] celebration in the Holy Sepulchre. There [10:21] were no clashes. [10:22] Everything was done in a very polite [10:24] manner. Everything was done in a very [10:26] polite manner. I do not want to force [10:28] the issue. We want to use the situation [10:31] to [10:32] to try to clarify better in the coming [10:35] days what to do in respect for [10:37] everyone's safety, but also in respect [10:39] for the right to prayer. A very nice [10:40] statement. And he's saying, "Listen, [10:41] this was a misunderstanding. [10:43] We want to clarify the issue in the [10:44] coming days so this doesn't happen [10:45] again." [10:47] That that was his response, but that was [10:49] not the response of [10:52] of the of world leaders, right? So in [10:55] the CNN going back to the CNN story, so [10:57] Netanyahu said what he said. [11:00] And then the uh [11:01] um [11:02] And the Israeli president also said, you [11:04] know, we we have an unwavering [11:07] commitment to freedom of worship, which [11:08] we do. It's the only really the only [11:10] place in the Middle East where [11:10] Christians can really freely worship. If [11:12] you look on Open Doors International's [11:15] list of countries that persecute [11:17] Christians around the world, the top 50, [11:19] bottom 50, whatever you want to call [11:21] them, the worst countries for [11:22] Christians, Israel's not on the list. [11:23] It's nowhere near on the list. It's a [11:24] great place for Christians. [11:26] But all the countries that surround [11:27] Israel persecute Christians. [11:30] Okay, the Italian government had [11:32] criticized the police decision to bar [11:34] access to the church and plan to summon [11:35] the Israeli ambassador in Rome. Look at [11:38] that. The Italian government's going to [11:39] summon the Israeli ambassador because [11:41] this cop did something stupid. Okay, so [11:44] they condemned it. And then it goes [11:46] further. [11:47] Um [11:49] Well, well, this is this focuses on the [11:50] on the Italian guy. US Ambassador Mike [11:53] Huckabee, [11:54] a known Israel supporter, also said it's [11:56] an unfortunate overreach already having [11:59] major repercussions around the world. [12:01] >> [snorts] [12:01] >> Okay, and uh and he said for the [12:03] patriarch to be barred from entry to the [12:05] church on Palm Sunday for private [12:06] ceremony is difficult to understand or [12:08] justify. I agree. It's very difficult to [12:10] understand or justify. It was a stupid [12:12] move. Um you know, you got to think a [12:15] little bit even though you have these [12:16] regulations. [12:18] Okay. [12:19] Um [12:22] Uh Gideon Saar, the foreign minister, [12:25] pointed out what I [12:26] I pointed this out earlier that when an [12:28] Iranian missile struck near the Church [12:30] of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, [12:32] which was like a week ago, [12:34] these same world leaders condemning, you [12:36] know, Macron also condemned it. I [12:38] shouldn't leave that out. Macron [12:40] what Look at what he had to say. [12:43] French President Emmanuel Macron also [12:44] condemned the Israeli police saying [12:46] worship for all religions must be [12:47] guaranteed. I condemn this decision by [12:49] the Israeli police. So does everyone. So [12:51] did So does our leadership in Israel. [12:53] They're like, "What are you doing, you [12:54] morons?" [12:55] Um He said on their exit their action [12:57] adds to a worrying series of violations [13:00] of the status of holy places in [13:01] Jerusalem. Yeah, really, give me another [13:03] example. Give me an example of a of a of [13:06] of this series. What is this series of [13:07] violations of the status of holy places? [13:09] Really. Which holy places? [13:12] Where's the status been harmed? This is [13:14] This is just nonsense. [13:16] There's nonsense. There's no series of [13:18] violations of any status of holy places. [13:20] We're at war with Iran. It's a crazy [13:22] situation. There's air raid sirens all [13:24] the time. The Home Front Command is [13:25] trying to keep everybody safe and [13:27] they're looking at every situation. And [13:29] one of the rules they made, again, it [13:31] shouldn't have been a blanket rule. They [13:32] should look at the calendar. They should [13:33] anticipate what's happening. They should [13:35] have had these conversations with the [13:37] Christian leadership in advance. These [13:39] These are all dumb moves. They're dumb. [13:41] There's no malice against Christians, [13:43] and that's where the whole social media [13:46] thing is so insane. [13:47] You know, I'll get to that in a minute, [13:49] but you know, [13:50] but Gideon Saar, our foreign minister, [13:52] points out he's like, "Wait a second. [13:53] The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was was [13:55] almost hit by a missile the other day. [13:57] And none of these leaders, not Macron, [13:59] not the guy from Spain, the guy from or [14:01] or or or or Meloni from Italy, all the [14:03] people condemning Israel for this for [14:05] this stupid stupid move by the by the [14:08] Jerusalem police, none of them said a [14:11] word when the when the when the same [14:13] Church of the Holy Sepulchre was was was [14:16] fired upon by the Iranians. [14:18] And they also haven't really said a [14:20] whole lot about the fact that on the eve [14:22] of Palm Sunday in Holy Week in the [14:24] ancient Christian town of Suk al-Shuyukh [14:26] in Syria, armed Islamists have been [14:29] attacking Christians, homes, churches. [14:32] They've been burning down Christian [14:34] businesses. The Al-Qaeda ISIS aligned [14:36] Syrian government is encouraging these [14:38] attacks and has been a catastrophic [14:40] disaster for Syria's Christians and [14:42] other minorities. [14:44] Okay, that's what's going on in Palm [14:46] Sunday. It's a pogrom. It's against [14:48] Christians. Look at these Look at these [14:50] pictures here. This is a pogrom against [14:52] Christians in Syria because it's Palm [14:55] Sunday. I don't see condemnation of that [14:57] where the government of Syria is is is [15:00] making this happen. And I I don't see [15:02] the outrage on social media over that. [15:04] Where's that? [15:07] So [15:08] um Daniel Mail in a great blog post here [15:11] or Substack post [15:13] uh [15:14] gathered together some of the comments [15:16] made on social media by Jack Posobiec [15:19] who said, "Defend the Sepulchre." And [15:21] Arin McIntyre who said that this is a [15:23] humiliation of Christians by Israel. And [15:25] And my And my friend Steve Bannon also [15:27] was going off on this and oh, terrible [15:29] what the Israelis are doing and [15:31] Netanyahu is not letting the cardinal go [15:33] there. Like [15:34] There's nothing to [15:35] Netanyahu is not letting the cardinal go [15:38] to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. [15:39] Netanyahu immediately when he heard [15:40] about it was like, "Stop this nonsense." [15:43] Look. [15:45] He sums it up great here. [15:48] Listen to this. [15:53] Here. What does he say? [15:57] Um [15:58] Look at the assumptions required by the [16:00] outrage peddlers to believe Posobiec, [16:02] McIntyre, or Macron [16:04] or Bannon, you have to assume that the [16:07] Israeli government, [16:08] currently fighting a multi-front war for [16:11] its very survival, [16:13] decided that Palm Sunday was the perfect [16:15] moment to intentionally antagonize the [16:18] Vatican, the global Catholic community, [16:21] and its Western allies. Okay? [16:23] Think about that. How stupid I mean, [16:25] look, Israelis are accused of lots of [16:27] things. Are we Are we [16:29] You think the Israeli government is that [16:30] dumb? [16:32] You really think all of you, all of you [16:34] who are saying that the Israeli [16:35] government, that Netanyahu wanted to [16:37] stick it to the Christians or there's an [16:38] anti-Christian bias in the Israeli [16:40] government that led to this. Do you [16:42] really think we're that dumb? [16:44] That in the middle of this war going on [16:45] right now with all the sensitivities [16:47] about our relationships with the West, [16:50] you think that we're that stupid that [16:52] this was an intentional humiliation of [16:54] Christianity cuz we're just suicidal? [16:57] We're that stupid? [16:59] He goes on beautifully. The simplest [17:01] explanation requires zero grand [17:03] conspiracies. [17:04] Israel is a nation at war. [17:07] Jerusalem is a city on edge, operating [17:09] under heightened security protocols. The [17:12] context that the outrage merchants [17:14] conveniently ignore is stark. Just days [17:17] prior an Iranian ballistic missile [17:19] fragment fell within 1,500 ft of the [17:21] Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The threat [17:24] of mass casualty events isn't [17:26] theoretical. It happens every day. It's [17:29] a daily reality. In this environment, [17:32] the police department has to manage [17:33] massive crowds in narrow ancient [17:36] streets. They issued orders to prevent [17:38] gatherings in places without adequate [17:41] shelter. The Old City is a complex maze [17:43] that does not allow access for large [17:45] emergency and rescue vehicles. A mass [17:48] casualty event there would be an [17:50] absolute nightmare. So a police officer, [17:52] likely exhausted and operating under [17:54] strict directives, I don't know that. [17:56] Regarding public safety, but he was [17:57] definitely operating under strict [17:59] directives regarding public safety in a [18:01] war with air raid sirens [18:04] in the shadow of literal missile [18:05] strikes, enforced those rules at the [18:07] church entrance when the patriarch [18:09] arrived. It was a mistake, a classic [18:12] example of bureaucratic rigidity [18:15] clashing with religious tradition. [18:18] And we know it was a mistake because the [18:20] Israeli government corrected it [18:22] immediately. Within hours of the [18:24] incident, Netanyahu personally [18:26] intervened, instructing them to grant [18:28] instructing the authorities to stop the [18:30] nonsense and grant the cardinal full and [18:32] immediate access. [18:34] The Israeli police themselves clarified [18:36] the situation the very next day, [18:37] confirming that the incident was [18:39] entirely about enforcing safety [18:41] regulations, not some sinister change in [18:44] policy regarding freedom of worship. If [18:47] you think, and I'm talking to some [18:49] people who are friends of mine. If you [18:51] think that Israel has an anti-Christian [18:54] agenda, open your eyes and look at the [18:57] Middle East. [18:58] Are you out of your mind? [19:01] Are you out of your mind? Israel has an [19:02] anti-Christian agenda? [19:05] What evidence is there of that? [19:07] That's insanity. [19:09] Yes, some of that insanity is peddled by [19:12] some of these people. By the way, this [19:14] Pizzaballa has he he was walking around [19:17] wearing a keffiyeh [19:19] a few months ago. [19:21] Wearing a keffiyeh in solidarity with [19:23] the Palestinians. Okay, this is no this [19:25] isn't some [19:26] you know, he's a political operative. [19:29] He's been in bed with the you know, with [19:31] Hamas and the Palestinian Authority for [19:32] years, this guy. [19:35] Yes, he's the Latin Patriarch. Okay. [19:37] So you There's a structure to the [19:38] church. He holds a certain position. [19:40] But just understand what we're dealing [19:42] with here. Okay, there's a lot of [19:43] details that you sitting in America may [19:45] not know about what actually happens on [19:47] the ground. [19:49] He goes on. If this was a deliberate [19:51] humiliation [19:52] or a grand ideological plot orchestrated [19:55] by Ben-Gvir, why would Prime Minister [19:57] Netanyahu instantly reverse it? Why [19:59] would the president step in to smooth [20:01] things over? Why would the police [20:03] immediately negotiate a compromise? [20:06] Okay, there's no grand conspiracy here. [20:08] There's no war on religion in Israel. [20:11] Yes, in there's a war on Christianity in [20:13] like literally every other country [20:14] around Israel. [20:16] And in Israel, Christians flourish, [20:18] population grows, they have churches [20:20] everywhere, they have freedom. [20:22] And and and you think that Israel's a [20:24] problem for Christianity? It's insanity. [20:27] It's insanity. [20:29] Focus on the real issues here. [20:32] Okay? Israel has done nothing to [20:34] compromise Christian holy sites. [20:37] It's an absurdity and it's insulting. [20:41] A cop made a stupid stupid idiotic [20:45] monumentally stupid mistake. You summon [20:48] the ambassador? As though it was a [20:50] policy decision by the Israeli [20:52] government to persecute Christians? [20:54] It's insulting and it's stupid.
