New York City Councilman Dan Halloran, a Republican running for Congress in the 6th congressional district, met with Dr. Joseph Frager, chairman of the World Committee For The Land Of Israel, Rabbi David Algaze, president of the committee, Odeleya Jacobs, the committee's VP media relations, and Asher Taub, an activist on Jewish causes who ran for Congress in the last election.
During the meeting, Halloran expressed his support for Israel and placed an emphasis on his support for the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron). He stressed that the Jewish people have a right to live and build wherever they want.
“The United States has an obligation to stand by its ally Israel, and one of the areas that it needs to stand by its ally the most is in the area of where people live,” said Halloran.
He emphasized that “in the United States, no one can tell anyone else where they should or where they shouldn’t live, so we have an obligation to make sure that in Israel, settlers can live anywhere they want to live. Anywhere that they’ve lawfully purchased the property, it is our obligation, as a nation of laws, to stand by those decisions. It’s the right of Israel to make its own determinations about its own future.”
Israelis, Halloran said, “should be free to stand up and do what they need to do in their own country.”
“After four years of the Obama administration we’ve seen our relationship with our friend and ally Israel deteriorate,” he said, adding, “We need a Congress and a White House that’s going to stand up for our allies like the State of Israel and not allow nations to fall into chaos, as we did in Egypt.”
“A country like Israel has an absolute right to defend itself and should know that its allies will stand with it, no matter what the situation is,” added Halloran, referring to Iran’s nuclear program.
Taub, a volunteer political consultant for Halloran, said that his position, as well as the position of 99% of religious Jews, is to vote for Mitt Romney in the presidential elections in November.
“We believe that President Obama is not a friend of Israel, has held back their permission to attack Iran, has created a grave situation both in Egypt, with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and now the acquiescence by sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to meet with [new Egyptian President] Morsi, therefore giving an okay to Hamas and legitimizing both Hamas and Hizbullah,” he said.
Dr. Frager along with Dr. Paul Brody, the VP of the World Committee For The Land Of Israel, will be bringing Halloran to Israel. Bringing Halloran to Israel is part of the continuing efforts by the World Committee to educate American leaders and political candidates on these issues that are vital to the security of both nations and the Western world.
The World Committee For The Land Of Israel has previously brought former Arkansas Governor and Fox News journalist Mike Huckabee to Israel. During his visit, Huckabee visited the Gush Katif Museum and also toured Sderot, Judea and Samaria.
The World Committee also brought Huckabee to the knesset and arranged a conference with several knesset members from various parties. Huckabee stressed that the Jewish people have biblical rights to the entier Land of Israel and have the right to live and build in all of Israel.