Mr. President, You’re Missing One

By: Juda Honickman

This morning, from my office in the Judean hills, I listened to the President of the United States talk about Iran and the future of Israel.

Sid Rosenberg, my friend and one of the great voices in American media, had President Donald Trump on WABC. And what came through the speaker was remarkable. Not just for what Trump said, but for what he didn’t.

Trump was on fire. Sharp, confident, unapologetic. A conversation that was scheduled to last 5-10 minutes lasted over 40.

He declared Iran militarily finished. He said their navy, all 159 ships, is on the ocean floor. Their air force, gone. Their nuclear program, obliterated. “The entire mountain collapsed on top of it,” said Trump.

Sid pushed him. “Do you really feel, President Trump—forget about the Strait of Hormuz for one second, forget about regime change—do you really feel in your heart of hearts that you can stop Iran from enriching uranium and never build a bomb?”

Trump didn’t hesitate.

“Oh, 100%. They’re going to stop.”

And then he said something that stopped me cold.

“You wouldn’t have an Israel without the both of us—and you wouldn’t have it without me.”

He was talking about his relationship with Bibi Netanyahu. And he wasn’t wrong to push back on the media’s manufactured narrative of the tension between them. He was right to remind people that terminating the Iran nuclear deal, that catastrophic gift from “Barack Hussein Obama, have you heard of him?” may have saved millions of lives.

He was right that a nuclear Iran was a real and imminent threat. He was right that the deal was a path to a bomb, and he slammed that door shut on that.

But Mr. President, with the greatest respect, you’re missing one.

There is a third partner in Israel’s survival. Really the first. There always has been. And He doesn’t do interviews on WABC.

Just last week, President Trump did something no American president has ever done: He signed a proclamation calling on the entire nation to observe Shabbat. He called it Shabbat 250 in honor of 250 years of American independence. He invoked George Washington’s letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport. He wrote that Shabbat is a time for “rest, reflection, and gratitude to the Almighty.”

Gratitude to the Almighty. That’s exactly the point, Mr. President.

The same G-d you called America to honor with Shabbat 250 is the same G-d who has been protecting Israel since long before either of us was born. Long before the B-2 bombers. Long before the Tomahawks from the submarine. Long before the deal with Bibi. Long before Iran, George Washington, or America.

I say this not as a criticism because Trump has said it before.

After the bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania nearly took his life, Trump didn’t credit luck. He posted: “It was G-d alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.” At his inauguration he said it again: “I was saved by G-d to make America great again.” After the Iran strikes, he ended his address to the nation with: “I want to thank everybody, in particular, G-d. G-d bless Israel and G-d bless America.”

He knows. He’s said it. The man visited the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He has Jewish children and grandchildren. The Shabbat 250 proclamation didn’t come from a speechwriter trying to court a demographic. It came, by all accounts, from the president himself. He told his Faith Office: Make sure Jewish Americans feel seen. That’s not politics. That’s something deeper.

So, this isn’t a rebuke. It’s a reminder. You’ve said it before, Mr. President. Say it here too.

The interview was great. Your respect for our mutual friend, Sid Rosenberg, and his show, and his trust in you shows. Your love for Israel and the Jewish people is plainly evident. Your actions speak for themselves.

But we cannot for a second think that Israel is a geopolitical accident. It’s not the product of a “good deal” or a well-planned airstrike. It is the fulfillment of a promise made thousands of years ago to a people who refuse to disappear.

Through Egypt, through Babylon, through the concentration camps of Europe, and now through the missiles of Iran. You played a big role, Mr. President. And you continue to, as does Bibi. America’s military played a role. Many players have.

But the Author of this story is not sitting in the Oval Office.

From where I sit in the Judean hills, a short drive from Hebron where our patriarchs and matriarchs are buried, it is impossible to look at what is happening and see anything less than the hand of G-d.

Iran’s military is destroyed. Israel is standing. An American president is calling on his nation to observe Shabbat. These are not coincidences.

Sid asked Trump about regime change in Iran. Trump said he gets along great with Bibi. “We’ve been partners in the true sense.” He’s right. They are. And I believe Trump, in his gut, knows there is a senior Partner above them both.

Say it, Mr. President. You’re already calling on America to observe Shabbat. You’re already writing “gratitude to the Almighty” into the official record of this presidency.

Go one step further. Give credit where it’s due.

Israel is here because the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. And Hashem will watch over His nation both now and forevermore. 

Juda Honickman is a writer from Woodmere who lives in Israel and is spokesperson One Israel Fund.