At the Israel Heritage Foundation event on Sunday that honored former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with the “Crown of Israel” award, Jewish leaders who attended spoke to Israel National News, praising Pompeo’s service and blasting the Biden administration for turning away from the policies that Pompeo and the Trump administration put in place that made the U.S., Israel and the world safer.
“Mike is a very special individual, a brilliant man, and you know he was able to lead us in a lot of directions he thought were appropriate and really helpful and if the president of the United of the United States would listen to Mike Pompeo, he would be in a lot better shape than he is right now,” says Dr. Rabbi Joe Frager, executive director of Israel Heritage Foundation (IHF). “But unfortunately he's not listening to Mike Pompeo, he's going to be listening to others.”
“There's nobody like Mike Pompeo. No one has done more for Israel,” says Martin Oliner, co-president of the Religious Zionists of America and chair of the Center for Righteousness and Integrity. “He put together the team, an extraordinary team, people who were so critical in doing so much for Israel and when you compare it to where we are today it's extraordinary.”
Frager added that it was enlightening to hear Pompeo speak about his experiences and give his thoughts on the current state of the world as it relates to American policy and Israel.
“Enlightening experience to hear him speak and now we're just so happy that he was here and I’m privileged and honored that he was here,” Frager says.
Judy Freedman Kadish, director of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI), says that as supporters of Israel gathered to honor Pompeo – a “man of intelligence and vision and conviction” – they believe that Pompeo is “the kind of man that we need at a time like this.”
Frager agrees, saying: “I think Mike Pompeo has a big future. He's clearly interested in having a future himself. He's not just holding back. [He was at the event] because he wants to become obviously a lot more than secretary of state. That would be great if he wants to become president of the United States someday and he can make it that would be great.”
Freedman Kadish describes Pompeo as a man who “stood behind his principles and stood for what he believed in.”
“He stood with us no matter what, it makes me proud to be here to honor him,” she says. “I can't even begin to compare him to his successor who is a self-proclaimed self-hating Jew. It just scares me what could happen or what is happening in Iran and I think in any arena that we would be doing so much better with a man like Pompeo.”
Oliner explains that today Israel has never been in more danger due to Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the Biden administration’s intent on potentially signing a deal that would further Iran’s ability to attain nuclear weapons.
“Today we are in a position where Israel has never been more endangered existentially than in its history,” he commented. “We have a deal coming on with Iran which is basically designed to endow terrorism for the next 25 years. What are we doing here? We're basically endowing for the future terrorism. We're allowing a nuclear bomb to come about in no less than three years. No one at all is screaming and yelling. No one is saying that this has to stop. No one is picketing Washington, none of the people in the Middle East, that coalition that's being put together, is doing enough to raise the flag, to understand that this is not something that the world will be able to deal with.”
“No deal is better than a bad deal and that has to be brought home by the world at large and all leaders need to start yelling and screaming particularly the ones that are in Israel,” he adds.