The Truth About Israel That the Media Won’t Tell You | Chris Widener and Robert Chernin

Full Episode Transcript:

Chris Widener: I believe that we now in America have two contrasting worldviews. I think that’s the biggest problem and it’s the biggest division. It’s not a political worldview. On one side, you have the traditional, traditional Judeo Christian capitalistic worldview. On the other hand, you have a new secular humanist, Marxist communist worldview.

I think that the people who understand God and what God’s doing in the world today, they understand whether Christian or Jew, they understand that we need to support the nation of Israel because they’re God’s chosen people.

Rob Chernin : Really, the motivation for Israel Appreciation Day is very simple, which is when you look at what’s happening in the country and in the world and certainly in the Middle East, no one was really telling the Israel story.

Most of, you know, most of the Mishpochah, most of the Jews think they’re still voting for FDR. Right? And that I think holds true today where the Jewish community is going to have to decide do they support, uh, no limits on abortion or do they support Israel’s right to exist.

Matt Kane: Joining me today is author and motivational speaker, Chris Weidner. and Chairman of the Coalition for America dot com, Robert Chernan. Gentlemen, thank you for joining me. Welcome. Hi, Matt. Thanks for having us. So both of you are involved in the upcoming Israel Appreciation Day. Beginning with you, Chris, what inspired the creation for this event?

Chris Widener: Well, Robert is the one who, that really came up with the idea and, and that world, and I was sort of brought into that world, uh, you know, Robert is Jewish, I’m Christian, but I’m telling you the, the Jewish folks and the Christian folks, we need to stick together. Israel has a special place in the hearts of Christians.

And so when I was connected with Robert, I said, I’m all in, what do you need me to do? So let’s pass that off

Matt Kane: to you, Robert. What was your inspiration for coming up with this day?

Rob Chernin : Well, again, in all deference to Chris, it was our mutual friend, Larry Ward, who actually came up with this. And Larry called me and then brought Chris into this.

But really, the motivation for Israel Appreciation Day is very simple, which is when you look at what’s happening in the country and in the world, and certainly in the Middle East, no one was really telling the Israel story. Right. Everyone knows that Israel is the Jewish state, you know, home, you know, Jewish homeland, and everyone knows that they’re a strategic U.

1. ally. But there’s so many things below that level that people, certainly in this country, are not aware of, whether it’s freedom of religion, freedom of the press, human rights, women’s rights, capitalism, democracy, rule of law, all the medical and technological advances that this little country, the size of New Jersey, contributes to the world.

And it’s such an important thing. We just felt it was important to start. Putting together sort of an educational campaign if for no other reason than to counter the narrative that’s out there that, you know, Israel is this bad occupying country when that’s just not true and most people don’t have the information they need in any organized fashion.

So, um, our mutual friend reached out for me. He then brought Chris in who has honestly been a godsend in helping make this a reality and Israel Appreciation Day is September 18th and it’s our first annual. This is going to be a yearly event.

Matt Kane: Now, you mentioned September 18th. How important was it to have the event take place close to the one year anniversary of the October 7th attacks from last year?

Rob Chernin : Well, we thought that was critical. First of all, you’re coming up against, like you said, the anniversary of October 7th. Uh, tactically speaking, obviously, the Jewish holidays, the high holidays were in October. But it was really, the other motivating factor was not just coming up against October 7th, and let’s remember, the There are still hostages, both American and Israeli hostages, and they need to come home, and they need to come home now, and that’s one of the things that we’re going to be talking about, but the other, um, things that seem to line up is the UN General Assembly is back in session, and the college kids are back on campuses, and like I said, the other side is very organized, and they are trying to control the narrative, and without any information, so we just felt that September 18th was the right date to really engage.

Bring this to the American public in, in this large, incredibly, uh, uh, well done event. That’s just going to have the reach across the country and across the world for that matter.

Matt Kane: Let’s talk about narratives for a moment. So when the Russia Ukraine war began, it seemed as though opinions and support were split amongst American political party lines to a certain extent with this conflict.

However, it seems that there are people From both parties who support, support, I should say, both Israel and the Palestinian cause. That’s a rarity in American politics, and I want to ask both of you why you believe this is the case. Why is, why is this so unlike other conflicts in terms of public support?

Chris, we’ll begin with you, then we’ll go to Robert.

Chris Widener: I find it interesting, you know, um, looking at this in that I believe that we now in America have two contrasting worldviews. I think that’s the biggest problem and it’s the biggest division. It’s not a political worldview. It’s a, it’s a problem. It’s a worldview problem, meaning on one side you have the traditional, uh, traditional Judeo Christian, uh, worldview.

Um, capitalistic worldview. On the other hand, you have a new secular humanist, Marxist, communist worldview. And while, uh, politically you have people who support in both the right and the left, you tend to have more support on the right for Israel than the left. But there are people on both sides and are, are.

Our meeting, our, our, uh, Israel appreciation day is nonpartisan and we have people from both sides. And so what’s interesting to me is to see people who sort of sort into those different worldviews. And it’s traditionally just that one worldview that believes in God. It believes that Israel is the chosen people.

Uh, you know, when I think about the old Testament and I think about when God. said to Israel, he said, um, do you know why I chose you? And it’s not because you’re great. It’s not because you’re bigger than everybody else. Not because you’re smarter or richer. I chose the nation of Israel to demonstrate my glory and my grace.

And out of this one man, Abraham will come a nation whose people are more than the sand in the seashore, seashore or the stars in the heavens. And I think that the people who understand God and what God’s doing in the world today, they understand whether Christian or Jew, they understand that we need to support the nation of Israel because they’re God’s chosen people.

Matt Kane: Now, Robert, what do you attribute this sort of blended support to? What is causing this?

Rob Chernin : That’s a more complicated question, but I would say the simple answer is that you have people who just don’t have the correct information. Look at what happened on college campuses last spring, where they would go around, reporters would ask them, what are they protesting for, and they had no clue what the river to the sea means.

I think Chris is right. This really is a great divide between the Judeo Christian values of the West. And let’s call them, whether it’s Marxist or communist or, you know, uh, is Islamic values because, because I think there’s a fundamental incompatibility there, right? So let me relay a story, which I think sort of sums this up.

I was at a conference many, many months ago and someone said, why do they hate the Jews? And I said, they don’t just hate the Jews. I said, we’re the tip of the iceberg. If they drive the Jews into the sea. And I explained to them, that’s what the river to the sea means, right? From the Jordan River, you know, to the Red Sea.

If they drive the Jews into the sea, I asked the gentleman, I said, are you a Christian? He said, yeah. I said, you’re next. I said because it’s really about these Judeo Christian values. Now in terms of the schism in this country, Judaism has a concept called Tekun Elam, which is to heal the world, right? Do good, make the world a better place.

And I think, over the years, that has been sort of co opted by a certain, um, Philosophy or ideology on the left side, and that is that has sort of morphed into the social justice movement. And I think the interesting thing for me when I’ve seen this, certainly going back from 2020 and even earlier, but certainly at the height of Black Lives Matter protest is the vanguard of most of the social justice movement.

movements were Jews. I mean, I mean, there are obviously, you know, a lot in, in the African American or black community as well, obviously, but a lot of it was Jewish because they just thought that there was this, this, um, alignment between them. And then when they found out that, Oh my God, these organizations are anti Semitic, you know, those of us who I think were a little more tuned in just said, Oh my God, You know, where, where have you been all this time?

So I think there’s this cognitive dissonance moment going on within arguably the liberal Jewish community, which is the majority in this country. Uh, I would say certainly the reformed Jewish community as well, uh, as to how did we get here? So I think what you’re really seeing is sort of a In, in, in common day parlance, a gut check time for much, much of the Jewish community because when you look at this and I don’t want to get into politics, but you know, arguably and I, and I ran the Jewish outreach for president Bush 43 for the country in 04, who at the time was the, probably the best friend as a U S president Israel’s ever had until Donald Trump and the Abraham Accords, which is radically shifted the Middle East towards peace.

The Jewish community now has to make a choice. You know, do you, do you support. Israel and its right to exist, or are you going to, you know, support this sort of pro Hamas lobby in this country, which is basically shouting death to America inside America?

Matt Kane: Now I know you just said you don’t want to get too into politics, so you could sit this one out if you’d like, though I would like to hear your feedback.

But I want to ask both of you about the election. Jewish Americans have previously predominantly voted for Democrats. Yet this conflict has certainly created speculation that, that might change this time. Uh, but it’s really hard to know for sure. How do you think what has unfolded will impact Jewish voters this year?

Either one, one of you could begin. Rob, you can sit this one out and think if you want to chime in, but Chris, what do you think about that?

Chris Widener: Well, I would love to hear Robert’s opinion on it because, you know, he’s much more inside the Jewish community and hears a broader amount of voices across the spectrum of Jewish beliefs and politics.

But, um, I think what happened last October, um, I, I think that people just said this is just insane. I think, you know, it’s one thing, the skirmishes, it’s one thing, the random, you know, shot here and there, but something that’s planned out, brutal, ruthless, murdering of people, I think people kind of, that was really shocking to people, and I also just think that what has happened over the last few years, where, whether you’re Jewish or black or, or, uh, you know, whatever, traditional Democrat, it’s one thing.

Constituencies, they’re looking at what’s happening in America and going, this just isn’t good for anybody, you know, rising food prices and gas prices. They aren’t good for Jewish people, black people, white people. They’re not good for anybody. So I think there’s been this little shift amongst typical Democrat constituencies, but specifically Jewish, where they’re just looking around going number one, it’s just not good in general.

And number two, why is it that this party is sticking up for us? And the party we’re always with. isn’t. And so that’s, that’s sort of my take, but you know, that’s from mine kind of outside looking back in would be my guess on it. But Robert obviously hears, you know, a lot more than I do from within the Jewish world.

Yeah. Rob, what’s your take on that?

Rob Chernin : Well, I agree with Chris, but from a relatively speaking an insider’s perspective, I think that anyone who predicts or thinks they can predict how this is going to unfold really doesn’t. Doesn’t know because there’s definitely a realignment going on between the coalitions that traditionally form the power bases of the different parties, including the Jewish community, which remember the Jewish community really only moves the vote in probably three states would be Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

There are obviously large Jewish populations in New York. There’s large Jewish populations in California, but relative to the whole of the population, the question is, do you, you know, do they move the needle? I think what you’re, what you’re, I think it’s gut check time. I think, The Jewish community and my father, who was in a family of Democrats, was the first Republican, the black sheep, uh, when he voted for Nixon in, in 68, um, basically said to me, don’t forget Robert.

Most of the, you know, most of the mishpacha, most of the Jews think they’re still voting for FDR, right? And that I think holds true today, where the issue, the Jewish community is going to have to decide, do they support, uh, No limits on abortion. Or do they support Israel’s right to exist? And I don’t know how that’s going to play itself out.

Obviously, I think that the Jewish community, like many other communities, vote against their own self interest sometimes because they believe the billing. And if you look at, you know, Vice President Harris is now sort of repackaging herself to say all the things that Donald Trump says, because when she gets in office, I don’t think anybody realistically believes she’s going to do any of that.

But I think that’ll hold some of the Jewish vote to her base. But I look, I think it’s they, they being the Democratic Party passed over a moderate Jewish governor in Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro in favor of a pro Hamas, uh, I would argue communist governor or certainly pro Chinese governor. Of Minnesota, Tim Wall.

So I don’t know how this plays out in the Jewish community. I know you’re going to get on a, on an aggregated national basis, more Jewish votes voting, you know, on for Donald Trump than you are going to then historically has been. But I will tell you, 2004 was the high water mark. Traditionally about 21%, 18 to 21 percent nationally of the Jewish population voted Republican.

We got that up to 28%. I’ll be curious to see if it breaks that number. And that’s sort of my benchmark.

Chris Widener: Well, you just, you know, when you think about it, you think about, you mentioned Robert, you mentioned a realignment of constituencies and you look at particularly younger black African men, African American men who are shifting out there.

Like, no way we’re done. This is, we’ve been, we’ve been with this group for 50 years. That hasn’t done us any good. So, so they’re moving out and that’s based on race, right? Typically racially, they’ve been Democrat. You look at what, uh, Robert F. Kennedy just did. I mean, that is a, again, it’s like, Hey, I’ve been Democrat my whole life.

I’m, I come from the greatest Democrat family in American history, but at some point you kind of have to go. They’re not doing me any good. And, and so he’s stepping out. So you’ve got former Democrats, you’ve got former constituencies, like, like, uh, African American constituencies. I think you’re seeing a lot of gay and lesbian folks who are saying, okay, look, historically, maybe we’ve been this way, but we need to pay for gas and groceries, and we’re kind of concerned about what’s going on at the border.

So we’re going to go this way. And then ultimately, I think you have Jewish folks the same way. They’re like, okay, historically we’ve been this way, but. There comes a time when you have to realign to people who are going to do what is best for you.

Matt Kane: And what I just find, what I found interesting about what Robert just said about Jewish, Jewish people thinking years ago that they were still voting for FDR’s Democrat party, I think now a lot of, not necessarily Jewish people, I don’t have that information, but Democrats still believe they were voting for the JFK party and this Robert F.

Kennedy shift sort of is a wake up call to them. So I’m very interested to see what impact that has as well. Um, before I let both of you go, what is one thing both of you want people to walk away from this event with? Both Jewish Americans and non Jewish Americans in attendance.

Chris Widener: I’ll tell you what I hope for.

I hope for people to come to a greater appreciation of Israel historically as God’s chosen people, but as our greatest, uh, ally of freedom in the Middle East, uh, you know, the, the nation of Israel and America. We’re locked together, not only rooted by that traditional faith, but rooted by a belief in capitalism, a belief in freedom and, and those kinds of things.

I hope that people come to a better understanding of our relationship and the unique relationship that we have with the nation of Israel.

Rob Chernin : I agree with what Chris said. I want to take it even a little further. The theme of this event is Israel, a modern miracle and an ancient hope. But the subcontext of this is imagine a world where Israel doesn’t exist and all the things that that would affect, not only in the Middle East, you know, but in the world.

As Chris pointed out earlier, this is a, it’s not even bipartisan, it’s nonpartisan. It’s a nonpartisan, interfaith, grassroots outreach to the country, and it’s not D. C. We do have politicians, we have Marco, Senator Marco Rubio, we have Congressman Richie Torres, we have Senator Cory Booker, we have, you know, both sides of the aisle here.

But the important thing is not that this is not Washington, D. C. talking to the country. Matt, this is the country talking to Washington, D. C. And one of the really uplifting things for me in this whole process has been the outpouring of support in this country for Israel that we have tapped into and found that has no sort of organized or meaningful way to express it.

So that’s what we hope comes out of Israel Appreciation Day. And as we’ve told, you know, your listeners before, it’s not a one and done. This is the, this is our inaugural event. We’re going to be doing this every year. I think I won’t. Put her name out there, but I think we have a senator who may be putting something into the record, you know, on, on, on that as well.

I hope people come away with an understanding that Israel, that the things that matter about Israel, yes, it’s a Jewish state. Yes. It is our strategic us ally, but here’s all these other things. I didn’t know about Israel. Wow. I didn’t know that, especially the younger generation. Because when, you know, when the old white guys like me are dead and gone, it’s the younger generations that are going to be here.

And we have done a really poor job in educating them because we’ve, we have abdicated that education to what I call government run schools, right? Public schools to me are government run schools, right? That’s really what they are. And we’ve said here, teach my kid. So we hope that Israel appreciation day and folks it’s Israel appreciation day.

com September 18th. It is Totally virtual. Um, you can get your tickets online. You can stream it on Roku or the streaming channels, but we hope that you all, everyone that walks away with learning something they didn’t know and go and going, Oh, you know what there is. Israel is important and here’s why.

And that’s what I hope they walk away with. And that’s why thank you. Thank you for having us. This is, it’s such an important message to get out there because right now only one side’s doing the talking and that’s about to change.

Matt Kane: Well, thank you both for joining me today. Maybe we’ll have you back on some town, sometime down the line.

We could talk about East coast versus West coast and some food debates, um, but best of luck with the event until then. And, uh, hope to talk to you guys again soon. Thank you. Thanks a lot. And to all our listeners out there, be sure to like and subscribe to all of our AMAC channels so that you don’t miss out on any of our great content.

I’m Matt Kane. Until next time.

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