Glenn's emotional message to Israel: Forgive us, for we know not what we do

July 23, 2014

The Glenn Beck Program

On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily banned all U.S. airlines from flying to and from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. The ban followed reports a Hamas rocket infiltrated Israeli airspace and landed near the airport.

As TheBlaze reported, the FAA’s notice “was issued in response to a rocket strike which landed approximately 1 mile from Ben Gurion International Airport” Tuesday morning, the agency said in a statement. The ban will remain in place “for a period of up to 24 hours.”

The moratorium has come under fire from many who believe the FAA’s action signifies a “win” for Hamas. Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg was one of the vocal detractors who went so far as to board a Tel Aviv-bound El Al flight Tuesday night to protest the FAA’s decision.

"This evening I will be flying on El Al to Tel Aviv to show solidarity with the Israeli people and to demonstrate that it is safe to fly in and out of Israel," Bloomberg said. "Ben Gurion is the best protected airport in the world and El Al flights have been regularly flying in and out of it safely. The flight restrictions are a mistake that hands Hamas an undeserved victory and should be lifted immediately. I strongly urge the FAA to reverse course and permit US airlines to fly to Israel."

On radio this morning, Glenn issued a harsh condemnation of the FAA and the Obama Administration for empowering Hamas via this decision. As he explained, the flight moratorium offers Hamas a rare victory in this two-week-old bloody conflict, while choking Israel. Glenn reiterated his personal support of Israel and its right to defend itself.

Below is an edited transcript of the monologue:

I want to talk about what the FAA and the Obama Administration did. They gave a win to Hamas. I want you to listen to this and understand. Without an investigation, there was a rocket landed a mile away from the airport in Tel Aviv. They didn't report that it landed on a house. How about we start with that one? You're always talking about how the rockets of Israel are landing on houses. How about the rocket from Hamas? It didn't land in an open field. It landed on a house. But it was a mile away from the airport. And, immediately, the federal government shuts down all American planes going to Tel Aviv and Israel and Ben Gurion airport.

I know this for a fact: If you stop the airlines from going to Tel Aviv, you're choking Israel to death. This was a 24-hour suspension without any kind of investigation at all. What they are doing is they are sending Israel a message. And let me just ask you: Do you believe that if American airliners feet it was unsafe to fly into Israel, they would make that call? Shouldn't the airlines be the one, without my pressure, to say, ‘I don't want to fly in there because I don't feel safe’? Wouldn't they do that? El Al is one of the safest airlines in the world and Ben Gurion Airport is one of the safest airports in the world. Israel is not like Boston.

That's not to say, God forbid, something couldn’t happen. But Israel knows, especially now, that if an airliner was about to be shot out of the sky, it would be horrible for their country as well as ours. You might say that's counterintuitive. ‘Glenn, that would make Hamas look bad.’ Really? Let's think this through.

Who would the media blame? Would the media blame Hamas or would the media blame Israel? I contend that already the media would have blamed Israel, but now that there's been an FAA moratorium, and the FAA is saying, ‘Hey, we're a little concerned about planes flying into Israel.’ What have they done? They have just set Israel up. So if, God forbid, something does happen, Israel would get the blame because the President and everybody else would say, ‘See, they should have known better.’ That's where it starts. Have you heard anyone talking about how Hamas should stop?

Instead, we're stopping people from flying, while we are lecturing the people who are trying to stop the people with the rockets. We are equating violence with violence. I heard the argument yesterday. I think it's great. As if somebody who is trying to stop a rapist, that their violence is equal to the violence of the rapist. No, no. That's not the way it works.

Could I ask you a question? Would JFK airport or Newark airport, if they were being bombed, would we have planes flying in there? ‘Yeah, Canadian Airlines, keep flying into Newark.’ Or would we say, ‘No, we know better?’ Would we have more compassion and say, ‘We don't want 300 dead people burning up like in Ukraine. Would we want that? Would we want our international flights from our biggest allies, especially knowing that even our biggest ally will put the blame on us and not the separatists? This is a direct attack on Israel by our country and by the FAA, and all in the name of safety.

America, answer a few questions: Do you think the FAA and the DHS know how to keep our airports safe? Do you think our airports are safer than they were on 9/11? I would be hard-pressed to find anyone to say yes. There are a lot of trappings. But do you really believe you are safer than you were on 9/11? Do you really believe this government – a government that didn't know that a country in revolution was being taken over by Muslim extremists in Libya would be unsafe for an ambassador to fly into and go to a lightly guarded non-embassy in the heart of terrorist town on the anniversary of 9/11? This government didn't see that one coming. You really believe they know what's happening in the air space halfway around the world of another country? Do you really believe that they're better to judge it than that other country?

If I hadn't seen the anti-Israel actions, the fruit of this government's labor in the last six years, I would say to you, ‘They've got to know something that we don't know, but I don't.’ But, especially seeing that this President continually says, and I quote, ‘I get the news only TV, just like you did,’ I can't give him credit he knows something that I don't know. Even if he does, his very intelligence organizations were the ones that said that whole attack on 9/11, by Muslim extremists, was a video. That had nothing to do with extremism. Why would we listen to those advisors?

So a message to Israel. Israel, hear me clearly: As an American citizen, I don't represent all Americans. I don't even come close to representing all Americans. I represent me. I'm sorry. I am really sorry. I am sorry to the Ukrainians as well. We have violated our oath to you to be your friends. We're not going to come over and fight your wars, but, Israel, you don't need anybody to fight your wars. You seem to do a mighty good job on your own.

Here's what I can offer: My prayers and my support. And I wish my country would support you, but don't think that our country is our government. It's not. Our country is set up unlike any other country in the world, even yours. Our country is ‘we, the people.’ And there's a good number of ‘we, the people,’ a lot of people that – Republican, Democrat, independent, left, right – support you. We support our right to exist. We support your right as a Jew to live unmolested. We support your right to live in a state.

Everybody is saying we need to have the UN try to come up with a solution. Everybody says we have to have the UN. What does the UN say? Well, why are all these people asking what the UN says? Because we have to have a global governance. We have to have a global community come together and agree on a solution. Well, the UN came up with a solution. You should be the most legitimate state ever created. Your borders should be the most legitimate of all time because all those people who say we have to go to UN should be reminded that it was the UN that created your borders in the first place. It was the UN and this beloved global body that put you in that space.

You're just trying to live by the rules the world and that global body set up. You have a right to defend yourself. And dare I say it, none of us would have put up with this as long as you have. If Canada had in its charter that their goal was to destroy the United States of America and kill every American, as Hamas has in her charter, that they want to wipe Israel and all the Jews off the face of the earth, this is a no-brainer. You can't sit at a negotiating table when your ‘whys’ are different. Why does Israel want peace? Because we just want to live as neighbors side-by-side and just get along so we can raise our children. Why does Hamas want peace? Well, because it furthers my goal to wipe them off the face of the earth and kill all the Jews. There is no peace there.

I know that Jon Stewart and everyone else can make a joke of that. That's what they do. We are here to talk about adults. If this were happening to us or any other country, we would have bombed that country into the Stone Age. Be it right or wrong, that's what most of us would have done. Maybe you have an Israeli exceptionalism, because your Israeli exceptionalism would come from the same source, the God of Abraham Isaac, and Jacob that teaches us to be good the one another. Our best way to serve God is to serve our fellow man. And maybe that's why our rage would have bombed Canada into the Stone Age, but I've never seen Israel act out in rage. Boy, you have had reason. But you don't. You understood, when you took the Temple Mount, that God does not want bloodshed. You understood the sacred nature of that land, and so when you could have taken the Temple Mount, you didn't because you know that bloodshed is not always the answer.

Hear me, Israel. Sometimes, unfortunately, bloodshed is the only option left to a peace-loving people. I feel for the Palestinian people. I have met Palestinian people. We have working for us Palestinians. There's a difference between those who have been rapped up in hatred. That's not Palestinian. I feel for the Palestinian people and their children. I believe you do too, but you know and the rest of the world refuses to face that they are being lied to by their clerics and politicians. Unfortunately, in many ways, we are too. It isn't hard to figure out who the bad guys are in this, when people are handing out sweets and candy and celebrating in the streets when there's a kidnapping of a soldier, a kidnapping of anybody. I would say the same thing about you. That's despicable. They did the same thing to us, but too many Americans have forgotten. They did exactly the same thing when our World Trade Center came down and all humans on the planet were sorrowful. All humans on the planet mourned with us and stood with us. They, the Palestinians, were handing out sweets and candy in the streets, exactly the way they are doing it to you now.

The Palestinians have to stop the insanity themselves. Until they do, you have to protect yourselves. We pray for a peace and we pray for the end of bloodshed as quickly as possible, but don't let us pull the rug from underneath you. Remain standing – even when your closest allies won't stand with you – unflinched in your hour of need. But know this: Many Americans and many all over the world still stand with you. And we will stand with you to the end.

While charity helped you build hospitals that take in friends and foe, our charity, Mercury One, has done the same. We have helped you build those hospitals, and, today, we are launching another initiative. We are going to help your military as well. We are sending supplies for your military – for you sons and daughters – who have been called into action and need flashlights, need blankets, need tents. Mercury One will deliver them. Quite honestly, I am thinking about delivering them myself this weekend.

While your sons and daughters are fighting, we refuse to stand by and let them be in need. While they are protecting the only land the Jews has ever owned and the only land ever to be created not only by the United Nations but by the only global authority I recognize – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Israel, you are not alone. God speed. God bless. And forgive us, for we know not what we do.

The Deep State's NEW plan to backstab Trump

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move.

In 2016, Donald Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton. Conservatives cheered, believing we’d taken back the reins of our country. But we missed the bigger battle. We failed to recognize the extent of the damage caused by eight years of Barack Obama and decades of progressive entrenchment. The real war isn’t won at the ballot box. It’s being waged against an insidious force embedded deep within our institutions: the administrative state, or the “deep state.”

This isn’t a new problem. America’s founders foresaw it, though they didn’t have a term for “deep state” back in the 1700s. James Madison, in Federalist 48, warned us that combining legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands is “the very definition of tyranny.” Yet today, that’s exactly where we stand. Unelected bureaucrats in agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice hold more power than the officials we vote for. They control the levers of government with impunity, dictating policies and stifling change.

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege.

We’ve felt the consequences of this growing tyranny firsthand. During COVID-19, so-called experts ran our lives, crushing civil liberties under the guise of public safety. Our intelligence agencies and justice system turned into weapons of political warfare, targeting a sitting president and his supporters. Meanwhile, actual criminals were given a pass, turning American cities into lawless war zones.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816 that “the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents.” Today, we see Jefferson’s prophecy fulfilled. The deep state exercises unchecked power over our freedoms, and information itself is controlled by the fourth branch of government: the legacy media.

Even when we win elections, the deep state doesn’t concede defeat. It switches to survival mode. Trump’s first term proved this. Despite a historic mandate to dismantle the bureaucracy, the deep state fought back with everything it had: leaks, investigations, court rulings, and obstruction at every turn. And now, with the possibility of Trump returning to office, the deep state is preparing to do it again.

Progressives are laying out their attack plan — and they’re not even hiding it.

U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) recently boasted about forming a “shadow cabinet” to govern alongside the deep state, regardless of who’s in the White House. Nickel called it “democracy’s insurance policy.” Let’s be clear: This isn’t insurance. It’s sabotage.

They’ll employ a “top down, bottom up, inside out” strategy to overwhelm and collapse any effort to reform the system. From the top, federal judges and shadow officials will block Trump’s every move. Governors in blue states like California and New York are gearing up to resist federal authority. During Trump’s first term, California filed over 100 lawsuits against his administration. Expect more of the same starting January 20.

From the bottom, progressive groups like the American Civil Liberties Union will flood the streets with protesters, much as they did to oppose Trump’s first-term immigration reforms. They’ve refined their tactics since 2016 and are prepared to unleash a wave of civil unrest. These aren’t spontaneous movements; they’re coordinated assaults designed to destabilize the administration.

Finally, from the inside, the deep state will continue its mission of self-preservation. Agencies will drag their feet, leak sensitive information, and undermine policies from within. Their goal is to make everything a chaotic mess, so the heart of their power — the bureaucratic core — remains untouched and grows stronger.

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move. Progressives never see themselves as losing. When they’re out of power, they simply shift tactics, pumping more blood into their bureaucratic heart. We may win elections, but the war against the deep state will only intensify. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force; and force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege. The deep state has shown us its plan: to govern from the shadows, circumventing the will of the people. But now that the shadows have been exposed, we have a choice. Will we accept this silent tyranny, or will we demand accountability and reclaim our nation’s heart?

The battle is just beginning. We can’t afford to lose.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Drone mystery exposes GLARING government incompetence

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

The drone issue is getting way out of hand.

Earlier this month, Glenn first reported on the mysterious drones stalking the night sky over New Jersey, but the situation is increasingly concerning as the sightings have escalated. Not only have drones been seen across the Northeast Coast, including over New York City, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but recently, they have been spotted over the night skies of San Diego and other parts of Southern California.

It doesn't take an expert to identify the potential dangers and risks that dozens of undetectable, unidentified six-foot or larger drones pose to national security. Yet, our government's response has been one of unimaginable incompetence, leaving us to speculate on the origin and intention of these drones and wonder in astonishment at the government's ineptitude. Here are three examples of the government's lackluster response to the mystery drones:

Iranian Mothership and Missing Nuclear Warheads

- / Stringer | Getty Images

After several weeks of hubbub, New Jersey Representative, Jeff Van Drew gave an interview on Fox News where he claimed that the drones originated from an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States. This theory has since been disproven by satellite images, which show that all Iranian drone carriers are far from U.S. shores. Another theory suggests that drones may be equipped with sensors capable of detecting nuclear material and that they are looking for a nuclear warhead that recently went missing! With these apocalyptic theories gaining traction in the absence of any real answer from our government, one can't help but question the motive behind the silence.

Pentagon's Limp Wristed Response

Alex Wong / Staff | Getty Images

In a recent press conference, national security spokesman John Kirby responded to reporters demanding answers about the government's lack of transparency, which has caused increasing public anxiety. He insisted that the drones did not pose a threat and were not assets of a foreign power, such as from Iran or China--even though he is still uncertain about their identity and origin. He also claimed that many of the sightings were simply misidentifications of normal aircraft.

This lackluster answer has only further inflamed national anxieties and raised even more questions. If the government is unsure of the identity of the drones, how do they know if they are a threat or if they aren't foreign assets? If they aren't foreign, does that mean they are U.S. assets? If so, why not just say so?

The Pentagon has also stated that they are leaving it up to local law enforcement to spearhead the investigation after concluding that these drones pose no threat to any military installation. This has left many feeling like the federal government has turned a blind eye to a serious issue that many Americans are very concerned about.

Where's Pete Buttigieg?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

We are in the closing weeks of the Biden administration, and with the finish line in sight, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg probably figured nothing else could go wrong on his watch—but boy was he wrong. As Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg is in charge of the FAA, the agency responsible for managing all air traffic across the nation. One would think that mysterious, 6-foot-long, seemingly intractable drones are invisible on radar and flying above major cities would pose a serious threat to the myriad of legal aircraft that traverse our skies. Yet, Buttigieg has been silent on the issue, adding another failure to his resume which includes: malfunctioning airplanes, the train derailment in Ohio, and the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, just to name a few.

Glenn: How Alvin Bragg turned hero Daniel Penny into a villain

Michael M. Santiago / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty.

America no longer has a single, shared understanding of justice. Two Americas now exist, each applying justice differently depending on who you are and where you live. One America, ruled by common sense and individual courage, praises heroes who stand up to protect others. The other, driven by political agendas and corrupted institutions, punishes those same heroes for daring to act.

This stark division couldn’t be clearer than in the case of Daniel Penny, the Marine whose trial in New York City this week drew strong reactions from both sides across the divided line of justice.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare.

Penny was on a subway train last year when Jordan Neely — a man suffering from severe mental illness and reportedly high on drugs — began threatening passengers, saying, “I’m going to kill you all.” The fear on that subway car was palpable, but nobody moved. Nobody, that is, until Penny did what needed to be done. He took action to protect innocent lives.

In the America many of us used to believe in, Penny’s response would be heralded as heroic. His actions mirrored the courage of Todd Beamer on Flight 93, who, on September 11, 2001, rallied others with the words, “Let’s roll,” to prevent further tragedy. But in New York, courage doesn’t seem to count anymore. There, the system turns heroes into villains.

Penny subdued Neely using a chokehold, intending only to restrain him, not kill him. Tragically, Neely died. Penny, filled with remorse, told the police he never meant to hurt anyone. Yet, instead of being recognized for protecting others from a clear and present threat, Penny stood trial for criminally negligent homicide.

In Alvin Bragg’s New York, justice bends to ideology. The Manhattan district attorney has made a career of weaponizing the law, selectively prosecuting those who don’t fit his narrative. He’s the same prosecutor who twisted legal precedent to go after Donald Trump on business charges no one had ever faced before. Then, he turned his sights on Daniel Penny.

A jury may have acquitted Penny, but what happened in New York City this week isn’t justice. When the rule of law changes depending on the defendant’s identity or the prosecutor's political motives, we’re no longer living in a free country. We’re living in a state where justice is a game, and ordinary Americans are the pawns.

The system failed Jordan Neely

It’s worth asking: Where were activists like Alvin Bragg when Neely was suffering on the streets? Jordan Neely was a tragic figure — a man with a long history of mental illness and over 40 arrests, including violent assaults. The system failed him long before he stepped onto that subway train. Yet rather than confront that uncomfortable truth, Bragg’s office decided to target the man who stepped in to prevent a tragedy.

This isn’t about justice. It’s about power. It’s about advancing a narrative where race and identity matter more than truth and common sense.

It’s time to demand change

The Daniel Penny case — and others like it — is a wake-up call. We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty. Americans must demand an end to politically driven prosecutions, hold DAs like Alvin Bragg accountable, and stand up for the principle that true justice is blind, consistent, and fair.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare. It’s time to choose which America we want to live in.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

CEO Brian Thompson's killer reveals COWARDICE of the far-left death cult

Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Early on the chilly morning of Wednesday, December 4th, Brian Thompson, CEO of health insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare, was walking through Midtown Manhattan on his way to a company conference. Suddenly, a masked and hooded figure silently allegedly stepped onto the sidewalk behind Thompson, drew a 3-D printed, silenced pistol, and without warning fired multiple shots into Thompson's back before fleeing the scene on an electric bicycle. After a multiple-day manhunt, a 26-year-old lead suspect was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being recognized by an employee.

This was not "vigilante justice." This was cold-blooded murder.

As horrific as the murder of a husband and father in broad daylight in the center of New York City is, the story only gets worse. Even before the murder suspect was arrested, left-wing extremists were already taking to X to call him a "hero" and a "vigilante" who "took matters into his own hands." Even the mainstream media joined in on the glorification, as Glenn pointed out on air recently, going out of the way to show how physically attractive the murder suspect was. This wave of revolting and nihilistic fanfare came in response to the findings of online investigators who surmised the murder suspect's motives to retaliate against healthcare companies for corruption and denied coverage. The murder suspect supposedly underwent a major back surgery that left him with back pain, and some of his internet fans apparently viewed his murder of Thompson as retribution for the mistreatment that he and many other Americans have suffered from healthcare companies.

me liking tweets celebrating the assassination of the united healthcare ceo pic.twitter.com/N41w51ZuZR
— 🔻 (@pegasustits) December 5, 2024

The murder suspect and his lackeys don't seem to understand that, other than depriving two children of their father right before Christmas, he accomplished nothing.

The murder suspect failed to achieve his goal because he was too cowardly to try.

If the murder suspect's goals were truly to "right the wrongs" of the U.S. healthcare system, he had every tool available to him to do so in a constructive and meaningful manner. He came from a wealthy and prominent family in the Baltimore area, became the valedictorian at a prestigious all-boys prep school, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's in engineering. Clearly, the murder suspect was intelligent and capable, and if he had put his talent into creating solutions for the healthcare industry, who knows what he could have accomplished?

This is the kind of behavior the far-left idolizes, like communists on college campuses who wear shirts that celebrate the brutal Cuban warlord, Che Guevara. Merchandise celebrating the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect is already available, including shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even Christmas ornaments. Will they be sporting his face on their T-shirts too?

A liberal TikToker is selling a t-shirt that glorifies the recent assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in NYC.
“deny , defend, depose” was reported to have been on the shell casings. pic.twitter.com/IWpHYkx2lF
— SteveSant66 🇺🇸 (@SSant66) December 8, 2024

This macabre behavior does not breed creation, achievement, success, or life. It only brings death and risks more Americans falling into this dangerous paradigm. But we still have a chance to choose life. We just have to wake up and take it.

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