welcome, ladies and gentlemen,

to evening, which promises to be fascinating and very intriguing and thought provoking. this is a special to take a moment to. welcome back to our neighborhoods, david and tammy friedman. david, in time, it's been a pleasure really a pleasure to have you back here and, especially mazel tov on the birth of your of your grandson in israel was yehuda. what a beautiful strength. yehuda, after tammy's dad's resurrection. god willing, he should bring lots of light into this into this world. thank you. i wanted to take us back.

david it really is a pleasure to be back to back here. i want to take us back, actually, one year. one year ago at the end september, we will all altogether many us in this room were together with you down in rockville center watching a movie together where we were. if you take us a background. and what was that movie feels like a billion years. it feels like a million years ago. and then we were at the premiere september 19th, 2023, in the rockville center watching ruth's 60, the biblical highway premiere. and you introduced it. it was such a beautiful time. it was a time of optimism. it was a of looking forward. and and i really walked out saying there's a bright future. there's this so much to look forward to. and now we're a year later and that was within three weeks of october 7th. and now, here we are. and we we're at this book. and i'd like to just dig into how did the events of the last lead to this space, the space of this of this new book in your personal journey. so we were in israel on october

7th with actually with daniel and janet as well and their family and and so you know, that was it was it was traumatic for everyone far, more traumatic for others than for us. but traumatic and and then, you know, the things just kept moving forward. and what happened, at least from my perspective, was two things kind of struck me. the first was the overwhelming for this barbaric, brutal unspeakable act by the palestinians. right. that was polling down that, you know, 80 plus percent of the palestinians since judea and samaria were supporting, you know, that cruelty that they're now trying to walk that back. but i at the time that that was unquestionably views and and then a few weeks later you know our administration was pushing this idea that the reason we really have no peace region is because we haven't given the palestinians a state of their own. i heard that and they said, know

what? to me it's just it's of it's sort of hit me that, you know, what am i it just struck me as so wrong and by the way, you know, i think the way people should look at it, i mean, i think i'm guessing everybody here has been to at least a few places in judea and samaria, whether it's shiloh or batel or hebron or bethlehem, you know, lots of places. just imagine like watching a video where palestinians are gleefully breaking every single archeological site, every single connection of the jewish people to their ancient homeland because what that's what a palestinian state is right. that's what it is. i mean, you want to talk about like clear bothered it and how we cry this horrible and you know the rest of jewish history in the in the land of israel and so you know i'm thinking that's really what the world wants as the response to the worst attack against -- the holocaust. so i said all right what am i going to do? you know, i'm not in government anymore. i really you know, nobody in

cares what i say. i can assure you that. so i said i locked myself in a room for ten weeks and write a book and i'm going to make two points. one, we can never have a two state solution or a palestinian state. israel. it'll never work. and it's not good for anybody not just not good for the jewish people. it's not good for anyone. and second of all, we're at a very unique time. think in our history in the world history where when you think about what do you think about the israeli palestinian conflict. right. and people obsessive it around the world. i mean, it gets so much more attention. you know, there's there's there's there's a war going in sudan right now where people are getting killed in numbers that are multiples of what's happening in gaza nobody cares. right. there's an expression, you know, no --, no news. right. it's but but that's but you know, that when you think about it, you know, people are obsessed about the israeli-palestinian conflict. and i think basically five different, you know, perspectives, you know, this faith, right.

you know, which certainly is one of my, you know, vectors, if you will. there's national security. there is know economics, there's human rights and there's kind of regional stability. do you how do you make all those things you know, put those things all together and depending upon what you prioritize? you're going to look at this conflict differently. you know, you're going to have different. and what's happened after october, at least what struck me, all these vectors are heading in the same direction for the first time maybe in the history of the state of modern state of israel, the only nation, the only people that have showed any ability to empower an arab minority are the state of israel. the only nation in the region that has any economic capacity is state of israel. so it's like in stark numbers the gdp, the gdp per capita, israel is about $55,000 in in lebanon in syria, it's about $2,000 in jordan. and egypt, it's about $5,000 in

gaza is called z at this zero. and and, you know, judea and samaria, arab communities, you know, two, three, $4,000. if you were like picking, you know, somebody to take over this land and make something out of. right. you know, you're looking at the resumes right. who are you going to pick? right. it's only the state. israel. the state of israel. you know, we've we've made some very good friends who arab muslims, the state of israel. i mean, i have a dear friend who used to be the chairman of the largest in israel. he's a muslim. he's an arab israeli citizen. doctors, you know you get you get hurt. and you all you probably know this. i mean, you know you get hurt in israel. you got to go to a hospital a pretty good chance. you're going to get an arab doctor. arab, you know, it's almost non-arab pharmacist. right. so you israel has and they don't see credit for it and they don't take credit for it's a shame. but israel has the ability to empower and respect its arab minority. so the idea to me is like, well,

is everybody trying to, you know, push a square peg into a round hole, take a people who've become radicalized who hate israel, who have shown that they've given they've been given the chance, you know, you know, in gaza no -- living in gaza. and that seems thousand and five. no, no, no, no soldiers set foot in gaza since 2005. they got billions of dollars. they got this beautiful land, a western facing mediterranee view which is the best for you. we get to sunset at and they took all that money and they built terror and they built rockets. right? so that that's that's you know, to me, strike one, two and three. and they elected hamas. they weren't taking over by hamas. and then on the other side, you know, in judea and samaria, they were given, you area and area b under oslo, which is about 40% of judea and samaria. and they they run, you know, they you know, if you if you ever tried to if you ever drive around aimlessly and you never shomron you'll get to these red signs. they say if you're israeli, don't come in there. it's it's literally judenrat. you can write right that you can't get -- can't go in there.

so they're running entirely by by the palestinian. and they're also hotbeds of terror. so like we're still talking about something that. it's not like we're not sure it's going to work. we know it doesn't work. so i have to book is to kill that idea and. then the second half of the book is to say, well, look, we're not going to create a vacuum. we're going we're going to try to a way for israel to kind of take over this land. and then, you know, the interesting thing, you know, i point out and a lot of christians really appreciate maybe more than the -- is that, you know? this is also god's will. so here we're at a point where god's will also happens to be the best outcome for everybody living there. and i don't think people have realized that before and they're starting realize it now. and i wanted to jump on that point before it got stale and again, ten weeks, you know, as tamir i came out, you know, for dinner and, you know, eight way too much and drank drank too much coffee and, you know,

didn't really take good care of my health. but i the book, you know, i wrote the book in ten weeks and just pounded it out. unbelievable. and there's so much that you're saying here, which i think deserves digging into a little bit. so i just like sometimes we sit with these these vestigial like fossils from the past. one of them is the two state solution. so hear it again and again and again and. any time anybody talks about israel, it's is, you know, upending the process, delaying the process of the two state solution. and netanyahu is a prime minister is not fostering enough support to create this and paving a way. we hear this all the time and i'm just curious as to why where that came from like why why why it goes back in to go back to 1936 peel commission going back to the partition plan in 1947, the partition plan of the un voted here in queens you go back to the numerous offers oslo all the way to the 2000 and every offer of some some degree of division the nation of the states of israel has accepted all the nations, the pre-state

israel's accepted and the arabs have rejected. where does this notion come from that that two states is the solution when it's been tried so many times and hasn't worked with the originated well, you know you kind of touched on the problem which is that the state of israel continues to accept. you know, the problem is, you know what? you know, i don't i don't you know, the arabs want to kill us. they want to destroy us. i they're going to keep doing that. and the question is, what are we going to do in response now? the fact that we are willing to you know, we pay it? it's very kind of awkward it depends on the government of israel. it depends on who's in the white house. it depends on the pressure that's being put on on israel. what else what do they need from america? so you'll hear all this lip service. but at the end of the day, you're hearing you have two different things being heard from from israel. one, they'll they'll they'll go, you know, during the campaign campaign season, they'll say things like, you know, 711 may as well the permit you know, it's forever. it's our you know you'll hear

this talk about judea you know we're -- because we come judea and and that's all that's all great but we're not really i have to tell you, we don't act like we're really the barbarians of this land. we don't. and and one in the world thinks we own this land. america mean for a short window from 2019 till we left office. you know we had we we reverse the doctrine in the state department mike pompeo you know kind of reversed course and said the jewish people have a right to be here. i mean forgetting about you know, we they were they didn't even have a right and just think about that. arabs have a right to live in israel. i mean so the idea that you don't have a right to live in, you know, in judea and samaria we're not talking about statehood here, just about the right to live there. and and know. pompeo reversed doctrine for two years and blinken, you know, turned it back when he got in. but you know we have to i don't

blame anybody but ourselves i really i mean i think it's a question of who the jewish standing up and caring enough to say and i'll tell you the truth, i mean, i've spoken to lots of lots of, you know leaders of the arab world. they're they're deeply religious. they're deeply wedded to their history which is not as ancient as ours, but has its anti antiquity. and they get it. i say, look what what do you think israel should do? should you give up sovereign? should it give up the you know, they tell it. this is where god told jacob that his children would have this land forever. just give it away and they get it. they say, well, we we wouldn't give away. you know, you guys want to get you guys not to care. you know, most of a good portion of israel doesn't. and it's the reason they don't care. it's not because they don't care. it's because they just don't know. and a failure of it's a failure of israel. i mean, it pains me to say it goes tell one story because this is this is this is what caused

me to write the book. this single story. the single event. so i was in tel aviv kind of doing my my other job, which is to consider investing in some israeli companies. and i'm on the 40th floor of a higher maybe a siren, a tower, gorgeous, beautiful building in tel aviv. what a nice building has ever been in views of everything know you can see the whole world from there and talking to a guy who runs this company and he is he's brilliant. incredibly. and, you know, his looks secular israeli wearing, you know, black shirt, black jeans, you know, running a company almost potential and, you know, we talked about business, but then he wants to talk politics so it's like talking. and i asked him, what do you how do you feel about? youth? i was wrong. he says, i don't really care about at all. i don't i haven't been there since i was in the army. i don't want to rule over these

people. i don't my kids don't. i don't my kids risking their lives there. and i said, well, you know, do you believe in god? and he said, i don't, you know, like my parents are holocaust survivors. you know, i got i got i got i got some issues. i got some issues with god. and i said, well, let me ask you a question. do you know much you remember much about you didn't marry. we'll pick a place. let's pick shiloh. and he said, you don't happen there. he said, i may of no doubt refresh my memory. so like when joshua brought the jewish people across, you know, he over for moses on the jordanian side of the jordan river, he brought the jewish people over, brought the nation of israel over into the land of israel. they spent seven years in guildhall, you know, which you know, kind of an asterisk. then they went to shiloh. it's the first place the jewish people stopped wandering from the moment they left egypt. the miscount, the tabernacle stood there for 369 years. this jerusalem, you know, before there was a jerusalem, this pre first temple. right.

and, you know, it's where all the tribes would, you know, kind of were given. they're not allowed out. you know, you go that way. you go this way. they were told where to go. the people would come back every you know, every one of the shabbos regular. you can actually how that the altar that his back was built in a way where because can't eat from them is bad unless you can it there it's like you see like bleachers all around with the altered down low in the you all the almost like seating almost steps like an amphitheater all around you see shards of pottery and there were shards, pottery because you had to break the vessels after you ate from something holy. i said this is where you know, this is shmuel navi was born. this is where i kind of the world how to pray. he said, what was that? i said, well, you know, like i said, people used to give sacrifices and kind of shows up. and she wants a child desperately and she starts to pray and know liturgical voice and she sings a song. it was so unusual that the high priest thought she was drunk and said, you know, don't, don't

come here drunk. so i said to her, look, it's a very important place, as you can see, what do you want to do. like i'm not an israeli i don't get a choice here. what do you want to do? you're in israel. you to keep it. you want to let it go. now, if you let go. i understand that it'll never be the same. you'll never see it again. it'll be destroyed all the. all the, you know, all the incredible holiness of it will be. because that's what the palestinians want to do. they want to destroy any connection of the jewish people to their biblical legacy. so this is what they want to do. she says, we have keep it. i said, well, you got to keep it. i thought you were i thought you don't believe you don't care. we have to keep it. i said, but you know, i think the bible's a it's a great book. you know so is the iliad, you know, says the odyssey you know i mean, you know, i went to college, i read a lot of books they were all they told me mean i don't trust columbia anymore but they told me they were great books, you know and. and so of them is the bible. so what he said is our book. i said, and you guys, you know, it's our book. it sustained us.

i don't care who wrote it, who cares? he wrote it this book has sustained us for 3000 years. it's our dna, who we are and these places are what give credibility. what authenticity to the book. so how can we give it away? so would you give the washington monument? would you give away the statue of liberty? i said, but ten, 15 minutes ago you said you didn't care because i really didn't know. i didn't think about it. and i said, i wish i could have this conversation because this guy, this, this this is this in, i should say, preface know i don't take shots at secular. i mean, these are incredible patriots. they fight for our country. you know, they know what they know. i mean and it's but but it's an of of the educational in israel and i again, it pains me to say it, you know, the book will hopefully be out in hebrew soon. and i hope, you know, i actually hope more read it in hebrew than than in english. but but i can't have that conversation a million times. right. so i think i'll write the book maybe that will you know, the word will get out.

but i believe that that the jewish if they really thought long and hard about, they visit it. they understood it, can't give it away. i mean, it's it's this great gift, this treasure that god gave us. and, you know, as i say, the book, you know, october 7th was, you know, to some extent, i don't want to i don't want to imply that i have any particular insights into what god thinks. but to me, at least way i took it was god saying to us, how many times i have to tell you, stop trying to give the land and i want to give you. don't give it away, it doesn't work. please don't do that anymore. and i hope that october 7th was the last time. i hope we internalize that lesson as painful as it was. i wish we didn't have to learn that lesson. i tried. i trade, you know, ignorance, right? you know, i anything not to have had october 7th, but we had october 7th. we have to at least understand that we can never go back there again. i love the fact how deeply rooted it is in our tradition and our history. i just was just curious, as a representative american, the the

united of america and the state department's, you served you the judea and samaria is not the only disputed territory in. the world there are many, many disputed territories. the world. why is this different and why is this treated differently so? northern cyprus is, ukraine, crimea, there are lot of places in the world. why is this different? why is the solution different? why is why is the focus different than any other disputed territory? i mean, it's a great question and it's probably requires a psychiatrist to answer it rather than answering. but it's it is again know the bible sells 2000 copies an hour. i wish my book sells sold 10% of that. yeah like the bible sells 2000 copies an hour in the united states 20 million copies a year. most of the people buy it already have a bible right so they're you know, they're giving them out. we have we've made a every one

thing i learned. we've made a colossal error in in in trying to approach this approach to all these issues in israel by of western rules. you know nobody else does you know and we've been given you know you know everyone here knows like knows the first roshi, right? we've been given the title policy to piece of land on earth of you know, when someone says to you, you know, you don't belong here, you say, look what you want to take it up with god, you know, i'm not you know, we don't need to argue. yeah. you don't like where i am. take it up with god, you know, i mean, the bible is the single most accepted book in the world. take it up with him. you know, he gave it to us. what you want from us. so i don't think we do that. i don't. i think we are squeamish about our biblical legacy and. you know, if we do, i guarantee you look, look, look at the muslim world, they they have a

whole, you know, religious about jerusalem. it's complete fantasy it's this complete sense about the jewish about the lack of entitlement to the jewish people, to the land of israel. if really study the koran, there's nothing holy about jerusalem al-aqsa someplace in saudi arabia and the and the rights of the jewish people the land of israel is in the koran but they don't care. you know. they got their narrative. they got their story. this my story, i'm sticking with it. and they push it and they push narratives and they get people to buy into it. and and take it seriously. we don't take we just don't react, you know? you know, you you know, one -- walks past al-aqsa and says, you're my israel and you know, there's this writing everywhere. you know, arabs, you know, defile our holy places. and we say what do you want there? you know, they're they're filled the high as what can we do it we got to get better at this i mean we just have to we just have to

have stronger spines and mostly we to know who we are. and you know what people say, how do you anti-semitism? well, the first thing we need to do is know what we're fighting like. if if it doesn't if it's not worth being jewish, then who cares? then just give it up and people won't want one, one fight us anymore. you know, we could become we become, you know, agnostic or just take off the key, but do everything it's got to be worth fighting for. and if in order for it to be worth fighting for, you have to what? your fight, what it is. and you know, i'm not talking about people sitting here, but you know, there's 5 million -- in america or more. and a tiny fraction of them know what they're fighting for. unfortunately. unfortunately, i want to actually just push a push on a actually the subtitle that you you have the book, which is the last best hope to resolve the israeli-palestinian conflict. and in that in that subtitle, there's a there's an of urgency i sense from the the idea of the last best hope. i mean what's the problem?

let's say let's not go in the direction of two state solution and what's the problem with the status quo in a certain sense, if you look at the current governments, the current government has has said, well, just kind of live with things right as they are what is the urgency that you see in finding a solution which is beyond the status quo? well, look, if if you if you had next to your house, a if there was a home that you thought you had title to and somebody else thought they had title to, and the home was fabulously valuable. it had, you know, natural, you know, it discovered oil underneath it. right. it was some incredibly valuable home. and you, you know, it's mine but i'm not going to really take any actions to perfect my rights to it, you know. well, we'll agree to disagree and we'll just kind of every day your claim to that land gets worse because no one takes you seriously. like if you something if you had you know some incredibly valuable asset next door and you

thought it was yours, you'd hire a lawyer, you'd take the actions to protect. well, you know, our entire biblical legacy is right across the green line. and you it's you know, you want to build a house there. you know, you got to go to the right. i mean, everything is run there by the by the military. i mean, it's treated as and israel is very honest about it, open it. the judaism area is a military occupation. i got to yell all the time that it's not occupied territory classically as defined and it's not. but because there's no other system of laws would apply, israel says, well, we're going to treat this as if it's a military occupation. well, military occupations definition are temporary. you occupy the land until you can, you know, peacefully turn it over to the indigenous population. right now, more arabs than there are -- there. and then you leave right? that that's what israel's doing. that's what it is. so every year, you know, we're just i got to tell you, i mean, i can, you know i have these

arguments in the state department and you know, you can read the book and you can i think even mentioned it in my first book. we can go through the law. i mean, i can i can make a legal argument why this land belongs to the jewish people. easy. it's easy. it's a it's much legal argument why this belongs to the jewish people. but, you know, again, what what are you doing? what what are you doing on the ground? like, what's what? what's how are you actually taking steps to to perfect your rights? and and we're not we're not. and and the biggest problem is that it's got nothing to do with america. like if i said to donald trump tomorrow, i going to say i mean, let's say he's back in office i'm somehow in the government and i say you know read my book i really think this is the best outcome. i think we should i think we should have sovereignty over judaism every he said about what does israel want to do? and i would say as it's it's the right question. right? that's the right question right here. and i'd i don't know. and i'd say i'm not sure. and said, well, look, i'm not getting ahead of them.

so you figure that out and come back to me. and so that, that conversation that i had with that, that, you know, very talented, intelligent, high tech entrepreneur has to be socialized across, you know, and the people of israel have to want if israel doesn't want to do it, i mean, it's it's got to be the subject, the national war. and i've met, you know, lots of people in the government. i know still a lot of there. and, you know, some of them say, yeah, let's do it, let's pass a resolution i said, guys, no, no, no, no. this is not, you know. with all due respect to my friends, the right and you guys are great and you're patriots and i love you're the worst politicians like ever. that's not the way to do it. like you want to do it like don't do it like reform. you know, let's get 61 seats and just ram it through. you won't be able to get it through. you really need to go into the, you know, into the shtetl, as they say. you got to really get into that get into the fields and talk this through and make the case. i don't care if it takes a year or two years. it's just the trajectory counts. you'll get there eventually if you just make the case for

israel's and make it from all perspectives. why it's our biblical legacy, why it's the best way to treat the inhabitants of the land with dignity, with giving them the opportunity for prosperity. you know, you can make it. why it's essential for israel's national security. you know, i remember speaking i mean, i remember when i spoke to i used to meet with the head of the shin bet once, once a month and, who's since left and i must say, it seems like he's lost his mind in terms of how shrill he's gotten. but i he's he used to say to me the the worst tragedy that could befall the jewish people is israeli sovereignty. judea and samaria, that's the head of, the shin bet or shin bet that he is this is is our this is our the equivalent of that of our fbi. and i said, why? he said, because will we will die under the weight of ruling over those people. i said, yeah, but like i'm not talking about conquering them, talking about, you know, you know, being a sovereign and

treating the people who live there. they're not they're suffering there. i mean, they you're all you're offering right now is stick. you don't have any carrots. you know what? if we got saudi arabia and the emirates to kick in a few billion dollars and we start building better roads and better schools and we took over the schools. the schools weren't teaching people to hate -- anymore. what about if we actually, you know, took some responsibility? he says, well, i don't you know, i don't want to we don't want take out the garbage in janine. i said was that me, you know, you're not taking out the garbage in janine. i mean, they can take out their own garbage. they've been taking it out for four not and i found that there was a real kind of institutional reluctance there and they said, well, you know, we don't want to rule. we don't want to rule, janine. and i said, you ready? or i mean, like know, like you don't want to go into janine. you don't want to rule over janine. and my friend, you're on, you know, yossi, really? fouda. i mean you're you're showing up there in the middle of the night under the most high risk circumstances at times, and things are the most difficult to solve when terrorist acts are are just about to be committed and you're coming in there and

everyone's risking their lives, if you were there, you're on the ground right? you'd have better security. don't you agree? and i mean and this is this is the guy that runs. yes. he's not there anymore. but this is the guy. but this is a this is a it's it's complicated. it really is. i mean, the the israeli people are the people i know they what they've done since october the seventh is extraordinary. the courage there. but it's lot of it. a lot of the the kids like the ones who are like under 30, they get it the you know, the guys 60, 70. i don't know i don't know what's happened but they've a lot of them have lost way and maybe never had their way. you know, and i'll just say this, like, i don't i hate being critical of israel. it may be it may very well be that the only way to create a state of israel beginning the 1920s and 1930s, was through a intense secular socialist kind of, you know, body politic. you people really needed to subordinate their individual

needs and wants to the to the collective hope maybe that was necessary to build the state. and so we have to have a court that of everything they did, whether they were religious or not, whether they were believers, not they built the state and we owe them everything. but things have changed and things have changed dramatically. and if we lose at this point, if we become untethered from, you know, our our biblical legacy, we got nothing left and we have to we have to push that. we have to push that harder. i agree fully. i just the one of the biggest struggles, obviously very, very intelligent over the decades have been pondering how to resolve this. so it seems it's a case and it seems to me that like just from discussions the average israeli, the reason why have moved away from the one state solution is is always comes down to the following issue, which is that you're going to have a now a millions palestinian arabs in the we'll call inc israel. we don't know the number because they sense they are not accurate. but now you incorporate those and now it's going to it's going

to the the the the majority of the coalitions of a jewish state. the only jewish state. so the solution which is suggested is going the direction, as you mentioned, the book is a degree of civil rights, but limited. there's a glass ceiling of sorts in terms certain elements of voting or the ability to build a change. and you cited an example was puerto rico and the united states of america. there's there's there's but there's no representation in congress. but there's the they benefits of many, many, many many federal benefits at the same time. and you may that made that suggestion i for for for me i guess there's two two avenues of question one is is is in terms of is that is that truly a democracy meaning can it be a jewish and a democratic said at the same time with that where some civil civilians of that state have a glass ceiling in terms of their representation. number one. number two is is in terms of judaism's relationship to that, how does judaism relate to the other and you speak to in the

book but sort of ideologically is judaism does judaism believe that everybody who's under the auspices needs to be of equal rights and that same society. and. that's right. i think we have a lot of people are getting stuck how how would you help surmount those hurdles so it's so i mean to start i mean the you know israel just cannot swap a security for a demographic risk i mean it's just it's just not not possible that you could have a solution would enable in the arab population just by voting to cause israel no longer be a jewish state, which is really where title comes from. there has to be one jewish state. and by the way i, you know, i mean, i. the notion of one jewish state is the title is very important because people need to understand this and i think they do. but i think, you know we need to make this argument more forcefully. there's over 40 muslim states in

the world. okay. does anybody care that, you know, there are christian states? i mean, we come from america where, you know, we have a first amendment and we have a separation of church and state. and that's fine. it works great for america. most of the world doesn't like that, right? i mean, there's church of england. you saw the coronation of. what's his name? charles. i mean? it was all it was all church stuff. i mean, it was all you know, it was the anglican anglican church. but as 40 muslim states, you have hindu states, buddhist states, national religions all around the world right and. the main thesis of this book is so one jewish state, it's like too much to ask we're just one state with collect that where the jewish people have the right of collective self-determination that's it just one never going to be two it's never going to expand. it's the size of new jersey. it's really small. like what? why is the world obsessing one jewish state when there are so states that have national religions? and so that's sort of the point. and the way i look at it like this there israel has has two laws that need to be harmonized

and they need to be harmonized in judea and samaria as well. you have the called basic laws, right? that's what calls these quasi constitutional laws. one, basic laws, human dignity. right. which is that every human being doesn't matter religion. you are every human being who is a citizen of the state of israel is entitled to basic human dignity, which includes the rights to to pray to the right, to freedom of worship, freedom of travel freedom of speech. what are all the well, the typical that's the that's the basic basic law of human dignity. and then there's the nation state law, right. is that whatever rights you have of human dignity, they're all so subordinate. the collective right of the jewish people to self-determination right now. you can imagine a circumstance where those might put up against each other under some limited circumstances. and my to that is okay, you know, life's not perfect. i mean okay so you know israel a as israel a perfect democracy i don't know who cares?

like, i mean we're not we don't have to be better than everybody else, especially when it comes to self-governance we, you know, the united states owns puerto rico, it owns guam but owns american samoa. do they vote in national elections? no. is america an apartheid state? no. i mean, it's not, you know. we have, you know, whoever wins you know, if trump wins the election, he's not going to get the popular vote. right. so a majority of americans will have voted for kamala harris, but trump could be the president is that a democracy? how's that a democracy i don't know. i mean it's just it's we only obsess about this when it comes to israel. i mean you know you make rules that you make and you live with the rules and if your goal is to sure that israel always remains a jewish, then you come up with a system to do. it's not going to affect the lives of of the palestinians that their lives are not going be any worse. you know, in in the emirates, which is, i think, a great country, great country. and i like the people there very much. i'm very fond of the of the leadership there. they've got 10 million people

live in there, 1 million of them are citizens. 9 million are guest workers throwing entitled to stay. as long as they have jobs, they lose their jobs. and the next plane home to pakistan or they came from. so anybody care now? i mean, it's like there's only you know, there's so much you can try to achieve perfection in an imperfect world, an incredibly imperfect. you no problem said. so you do the best you can. you maximize the quality of life of the people you live. you try to treat people fairly and with dignity. and by the way, you think right now mean are the are the arab citizens, israel, all that participatory in the in the election process? i mean not really. i mean, you know, i don't know how many of them vote. it's not it's not as high as the israeli citizens but anyway it's it is a it is it is we do the best we can do to provide you know, to to to live within those two basic laws that that and and by the way, there are other ways to skin the cat. you can just say, look, we could you know, the government could pass a law that says, you know,

here are ten things that are immutable. you have to always be. you know, the knesset must have must be 80% jewish, no matter how you vote. you know, there different things or and you would need a 90% majority to to break any of those laws. then, you know, everybody can vote and votes. they're subject to this this constitutional construct. i not to get too deep into the weeds of the governance. if people want to do it, we'll find a way to, you know craft the governance, you know, get some lawyers in a room, figure it out. you and it can be done. but you know, circumstances that this israel become, you know, a defective state under those circumstances. it's it's it's really coming down to stop apologizing for being jewish. stop, stop being a stop apologizing for having one state. it's just one. that's it. just one state. yeah, but how realistic is it, do you think, to get into the and arab school system and change the curricula? you know, here we breeding a of people are born to hate and and

is it realistic to say that the next generation will actually be part of a cohesive cooperative society. it's not a it's it's not an overnight process. but i can tell you, for example, in in jerusalem, right. they started their you know, mostly on is actually done a very good job here by schools. there's a palestinian curriculum and an israeli curriculum and you know you can you can send your kids to wherever you want but there typically haven't been enough israeli curricula schools for palestinians. so mostly on exchange that he's built a few schools that are in in arab neighborhoods but are under the israeli you know curriculum. i met the parents. right. they don't want take pictures with me. they were afraid. but they said to me, this is the greatest changer we've had because sending our kids to these schools, they're going to become doctors and lawyers okay, the palestinian curriculum, horrible. you know, you go there in the you know when you get out, you don't know anything or, you know, so there is a, you know,

there is a large component of arab palestinian society as well that kind of see the world, especially the young james martin. everybody's got you know, everybody's got internet. everybody can see what the world looks like. so they want they want what everybody else wants. i mean, they see enormous opportunities. they're not impoverished, not living like they're living in gaza. and they understand that you to be to advance, you need to be able to you know, this this is an information agencies in a technology age, you need to go to school and learn programing or computer science or physics or math or whatever. and that's what they wanted. the parents all want that for their kids. and so it's a question of priorities. you, again, and it's easy for me to say all these things and want to kind of just take a little dose. you we should have some humility here. you know, it's easy to criticize israel. they haven't had one day of peace since 1948. right. so, i mean, easy to say. well, israel should do this, this and this.

and i say this, you know, with love, not criticism. they're still at war with lebanon, still at war with syria, since 1948, still at war with iraq, you know, the peace with jordan. and egypt is. not the not the warmest you ever see. and and they got problems, you know, as bibi says, he's fighting a war now with seven fronts, right. so we got to give him a break. right. have to i mean, they this is this is easy. okay. to think forward a year or two years, three years to them, you know, future is like next week. i understand i understand the issues. but there will come a point. there will come a point where israel will prevail over its enemies. and it has to start thinking about how do we how do we, you know, preserve our values 100 years or more. and so hopefully, again, this is not in any way an overnight process, but it is a process. we can start just just judging, going back to the the peace plan of the previous the administration, which you are so actively involved. and i remember that that ultimately the the looming threat israel announcing sovereignty over the jordan

valley and was ultimately what gave the arbitrage as you mentioned in your previous book to create the abraham accords which was the changing the face of the middle east and the reason it was so successful in that sense was because the arab states were able to were able to the moderate arab states were able to say that protecting the palestinian brethren by making peace and therefore the sovereignty on the shelf, but that ultimately demonstrates that there is a great fear among even the moderate states to create to to allow israel to announce sovereignty. that being the case, then how can such a bold plan how could such a bold idea ever gain traction if even the moderate states are about this type of this type of action? i mean, what they're concerned about primarily is being perceived as having abandoned. the palestinian cause. and so what you really need is to is to substitute the the the palestinians state for some other treatment of the palestinian people that where

people can look them in the eye and say, look, we got something for you now, look, they they didn't you know, the emirates didn't require that we originally they said you have to any plans to for sovereignty any portion of judea and samaria or the jordan valley. i remember that negotiation. i was, you know, negotiating this. we were coming looking at a thesaurus for words that we could live with, both live with. and we came up with word suspend because suspended by its terms is temporary and it and and it was a four year deal which expired two weeks ago. right so the deal that israel made with the emirates expired, that was also part of the sense of my for this book i wanted to it out so the emirates didn't say you can never do this. they said, you know, don't do it for four years. let's see if we can make some progress. look, there was there is privately the all these countries understand who are the palestinians and the danger they present to the region hamas.

everybody's you know, all the all the all the moderate nations at war with hamas or the muslim brotherhood or whatever iteration there is. everyone knows them mahmoud abbas is a crook. he's corrupt. he he he takes money, gives it to his friends and deprives i mean, there's nobody in the palestinian world who looks at mahmoud abbas and says, you know, we hope you get a state and you rule us. it's not it's not what people want. so it's a lot of a lot of it is is stagecraft, how to put this together in a way in which there's face saving. and, you know, people can stand up and and feel good about the outcome from all perspectives. but again, i can't emphasize this enough like we wouldn't even begin to start about this with the the arabs until we knew that this is something was interesting to the to the --. like, you know, like that's what's the point what's the point of getting going down the road if you're not going to if. and so that's that's really the issue. i mean, the first issue is to really just look at, again, if

if the people of israel by some you know by majority it is a democracy. i respect the democracy. after after all this process, they say, look we don't want it. i mean, i would be deeply disappointed, but i'd also respect it because, you know, they're the ones who have to live with it. and, you know, if i was living there, maybe i'd feel differently. i mean, we're going to argue. i'd argue my, i'd argue too much. so i was horse. why it's a mistake. but, you know, they have the right to there's a right to determine their their future. i don't think it's going to happen. i really don't think if we take the right of time and treat people with respect and we don't try to ram it through and don't try to, you know, tell people why they're bad -- or why they don't it it's got to be done with with love and respect and information, i don't think. well i don't think we have that problem. i, i certainly hope so. i'm optimistic. i always actually, david, when we have a conversation, i'm always optimistic because you have a way of through a lot of dark clouds and seeing there's a reason beyond them. and i. this leads me just a final question. i'm going to open up 2 to 3

audience questions. so i'm trying to think of something she's not been asked yet. and just a last question, which is it seems to me that this is just a pragmatic solution. it's not just the best of the things we could figure out doing this isn't an ideological solution. this is something which you spend time, i imagine, more than ten, 15 weeks time. i imagine it was it was a little overlap. but this is something which which is which is based based on ideology. can you just speak the fact of of you've touched on this before is, the idea of something which is rooted in ideology rather than simply pragmatic actually secure? well, look, you know, in book, i talk about i talk about the the fact, you know, why is semitism why is anti-zionism anti-semitic and why is it necessary, the jewish people to have the land of. i'm no rabbi, you know, and i

hope got it right. i hope i got some of these things right. at least i probably made some mistakes. but but but the point is that you know the biblical prophecy right is is about the return of the jewish people, the land of israel. in fact, moses, you know, predicted the expulsion of the -- from the land of israel and their return, even though he wasn't there to watch their their initial entry. but, you know, i say a jeremiah ezekiel, i their prophecies so profound and moving i even referred to you know, at that i spoke to john paul him, you know, when they found out that their son died and said, you know, this is this is real excited by now. this is the modern iteration of rock island of aqaba and that rachel poland she crying for a son but then again but then jeremiah says okay you shovel but it will it will work out okay. i think that the i think i don't think judaism survives without

the land of israel. and i think the full land of israel think at this juncture we can't not going to go through another exile. we're going we're either going to, you know, plant our roots forever in this lands or we're just going to disappear over some over 50 or 100 years or whatever. maybe we'll pockets here and there. but i don't think we really have another exile. you know as a people. and so it's to me, it's now or never and it's about about preserving the jewish character for our children and our grandchildren and making sure that that that we survive and, you know, we've gotten gotten you know, we've lasted this long, you know, through through bigger challenges, far bigger challenges than we're facing today. um, we just can't let go. we can't live like, oh, this, of this legacy, this continuum that we've been privileged be part of. so yeah, it's very much, it's personal. it's not like when i tell you about the book, it is that you can read the book. i say, look, you can be a you can be a person of deep faith. you'll have the book. you can actually be person completely secular and still

love the because it gets you to an outcome that you think is good. you can be pro-palestinian, you know the bucking me pro israeli you know you can there's something in this for everybody. i tried to write a book where no matter how you process conflict in your head, it's a good outcome for everybody. i think that's the difference between the approaches of you know many the people in the israeli right the politicians on the israeli don't have the the perspective of of of of how to make the case to the world you know, to them it's simple and. it's about, you know, you the more land we get, you know, the off we are. and who cares about the you know? and i tell them, look, it's i get it. you know, you're on the ground i understand it. but if you really want to make the case to the world, it's got to be a holistic solution. you got to deal with everything. you've got to deal with all the way. and that's what that's why i mean, this book, people will call me a colonizer and you know whatever, they'll call me. but it's really a good for everybody. if you really care about human rights and human dignity, it's the best outcome. but but it's, you know, for me,

it's personal. it's very personal. you know, again, those who knew my father and knew how committed he was to see judea and samaria and to especially to it's a big deal, along with along with rosie's parents, you know, i mean, these you know, these these places are really you speak to us, speak to us very, very deeply. yeah. rabbi jonathan, sex is to say that non--- i the -- are embarrassed of the judaism and proud of -- or proud of the judaism. yeah, and thank you for being a proud --. making us proud the --. thank you. really. you know, ask that anybody who has a question rabbi. i actually a microphone. um, please. yes, we have a question. stay on the back rub over here in the fire. just just remember it's on tape, everybody. we do. we need that. we need that. we need the mike. rosie we need the mic. it's like, you know, now we need we need the microphone for the recording we need the microphone for the recording sorry, i just

wanted to say that the 7000 that marched and protested after the six had died, the israelis they are so set in their they call religious people messianic states and they're very strong. they're not 20, 30 years old. 40. there's so of them who are very difficult to bring them back to a different idea. what do you think about that? i think you're right. i think you're right i think we just have to we to we have to love them a little harder in. the end and a lot of them their kids don't agree. and i think, you know, people don't people don't realize how many parents there are of of hostages who have come out and said, don't rescue my son if it means losing the war. i mean you know, it takes for parents to say that's so, um, there's, you know, look, we are and i'm chérif. we're, we're, we're, we're stiff necks, but we can't we can't give up. and i'm know look, i the

advantage, at least here is like like when you see crazy in america, it's easy to really dislike them. you know, i don't just like these people because i know that deep down they love israel and they're patriots and their children have fought in army and we have to treat them with love and respect and get them to the right place like that one guy, you know, um, but you know, like the government will the, the israeli, the israeli political process will run its course and we'll get past it. i think i'm optimistic. i think i'm optimistic cause, you know, you know, you know this that the the people, by and large, the people are just incredible. the greatest people in, the world. and they will get government they deserve and they will get the leadership they deserve. i'm not saying they don't have a now i'm not making political comments, but i'm just it will be it will be okay long as god protects us. first of all, thank you. it's wonderful to have you here. one question, have you been in touch with former president trump and do you believe that

he's reelected? he will ask you to serve ambassador? yeah, i think you get a prize because the 400th person who's asked me that question so which and the answer is so the answer the the answer. first of all, you got to be really the right person to ask is really my wife okay she really that's really her decision because. i put her through this one. so i'm going to do it again without her without her approval. yeah. like serving. it's it's an indescribable honor and joy to be able to serve the united states in an area where you care so much about and where america can be. so impact on the un, the state of israel if i have that chance again i would do it. it's up to president trump. we have not he has not offered me anything and that we haven't talked about that he doesn't he doesn't do i and harris he doesn't give out. he doesn't give out jobs until he's elected. but we were you know, we talk and we text and and, you know,

if he wins. and i, i think he will it'll be he'll make that decision. and then we'll figure it out. you know, that's i have to say that i agree with just about everything said except for one thing, there's no thing as palestinian. i'm 83 years old. i 84 and less to months. i have a long memory and i remember the arab line that was only one arab nation. there may be 20 some arab states, but it all belong to the arabs. whole middle east. after they lost one of their wars with israel, yasser arafat, who was the of the palestine liberation organization, which today is the palestine authority, said, oh, we're

palestinians. he was an egyptian, by the way. we have palestine 1%. they invented themselves as a new nation, kind of a history. i'm going to ask, is that a quest just to get to a question? okay. okay. i don't disagree with anything you just said, by the way. okay. yeah, yeah. so can you the question is, could you please stop calling. i you know, i give me a give me another word. i mean i'm open i'm open to other words. yeah. arabs. okay, fine. thank you. bye bye. my book is a complete agreement with you just said, by the way. so yeah, i want to take a moment to really think david and tammy and david thank you for your in time thank you for being an optimistic what it means to be a proud --. and thank you for representing us. so just tell me, you know, i didn't get i didn't get to sign everybody's books. so should i just sit over there on the way? absolutely. so we gonna do is is that i'm and david is going to be just towards the entrance you could give him a chance to get there

and there are books for sale right outside at $3 for each of the books. and if, if ambassador friedman has time you will able to to sign them. but we are also going in a few minutes time do a ma'ariv. just i'm going to sign i'm. going to sign everybody's book stop never home. so we're all yeah, i really thank you. and david, thank you for here thank you to me for being and i want to say special recognition i want to ask who's joining us this evening. out of