Jerusalem Summit

I am honored to speak to you tonight on behalf of Israel's Christian Allies Caucus.

MK Dr. Yuri Shtern, (Alav Hashalom. May he rest in peace,) the first Chairman of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, was in his youth a Russian Jew, an activist, who joined the brave souls who raised their voices in protest, in defiance of the KGB. "Let our people go", they demanded. It was a bold act in the land of the Gulags, but these brave souls drew international attention and support, and so opened the door for millions of Jews to return to their homeland, the land of Israel. He was a man of faith and a public servant. He passed away last month, and was mourned in Jewish and Christian homes all over the world.

Yuri Shtern had what the first President Bush famously called, "the vision thing". He founded the Caucus to bring Christians and Jews together, so we would be united to face the gathering storm.

"This is a working caucus, not a ceremonial one." He was fond of saying. The members of the Caucus and its staff have met with Christian politicians, and Church leaders and their congregations in dozens of countries on five continents, and hundreds have come to the Knesset in Israel to meet with the Caucus, among them your previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carrey. Our message was one of reconciliation between Jews and Christians, who have been estranged, since we parted company 2000 years ago.

Today, the people of Israel are more aware than ever before, that it is Christians who have stood by our side through thick and thin, not countries, and Christians all over the world are more aware than ever before of what is at stake in the battle for Jerusalem that is now taking place. It is nothing less than our way of life, and the Judeo-Christian values upon which western civilization was built.

Benjamin Netanyahu, a former PM of Israel, summed up the situation the world finds itself in today, when he warned, "It is 1938, and Iran is Nazi Germany." The parallels are striking:

Like Adolf Hitler, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a list of grievances designed to confuse, perplex and divide us. That is what all the talk of root causes, Palestinian occupation, cycles of violence, and all the rest is all about.

Like Hitler, Ahmadinejad is not interested in aggression, only the righting of historical wrongs. If only we give them the Sudetenland or Gaza things will improve. If only we let them annex Austria or Iraq, they will be satisfied. If only we give up the West Bank or Czechoslovakia, all will be well.

Like Hitler before him, Ahmadinejad is going after the Jews, ------- first! Ahmadinejad is just as explicit and just as sincere as Hitler when he speaks of "wiping Israel off the map". It is not hyperbole. He means what he says.

Like Hitler and his henchmen, Ahmadinejad and his mullahs say one thing to us and another to their own people.

Like Hitler, Ahmadinejad speaks of peace while he prepares for war.

Winston Churchill said that "the further back we look, the farther ahead we can see. Well we don't have to look back that far. All of us here tonight learned the lessons of appeasement in school. All that is gained by feeding others to the crocodile first, is that it will eat you last.

So where do things now stand. How far advanced is the cancer of Islamo-fascism which is spreading through the world. Well let's take stock. Israel the sole independent democracy in the region has been the bulwark against Islamic fascism in the Middle East since its rebirth as a nation in 1948. It has fought six wars to defend its life and liberty, but it is now in disarray. The world's great powers, the self styled quartet, which includes Great Britain and America, wants to feed it piecemeal to the enemy. There is even a menu, called the roadmap, listing the courses in the meal.

Far from being the obstacle to peace, Israel is the obstacle to a caliphate ruled by Islamic fascists that encompasses the entire Middle East. While others can withdraw, Israel cannot. The Middle East is its home. Its government is in disarray, and its people are reeling from the constant barrage of terrorist rockets and bombs exploding in the midst of the civilian population. Iran's puppets Hezbollah and Hamas are at its doors front and back, and one sixth of its population, the Israeli Arabs, is a fifth column in its midst.

The Islamo-fascists also have fifth columnists in all the countries of the west, in Europe, Canada, Australia and America. Saudi Arabia has funded the establishment and operation of thousands of Madrassas and houses of worship preaching hatred and teaching treachery in every country in the free world, and beyond. Remember, the bombs that exploded in London were planted by British subjects in the service of the terror masters. And the planes that struck the world trade center and the pentagon took off inside America.

Iran sits on the straits of Hormuz and so has its knife at the West's jugular. The flow of oil in the world is as critical to its health as the flow of blood is to the health of a man's body. A great American general Douglas Macarthur famously said, "The history of failure in war can be summed up in two words, "Too late." Well is it too late?

It is not. But if we are not at the abyss we are the merest step away. Iran is in a frenzied race to get the atomic bomb before the west wakes up. If they succeed they will use it to destroy Israel. They will use it to intimidate its neighbors and then conquer them. They will seize control of the world's greatest oil reserves and the countries that produce it. They will establish the Caliphate of one billion Muslims. Just imagine what Adolf Hitler and his Nazis would have done with atomic weapons and ballistic missiles.

There is precious little time left -a year perhaps - if we are to stop them before it is too late. We cannot allow Iran to get atomic weapons. I would venture to say that when I speak to you I am preaching to the choir, but that is because I am speaking to men of faith, children of the book that we share. But that does not mean that these facts are universally appreciated.

An election was lost in Spain because of fear of the terrorists. An election was lost in the United States because of dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq which cost the country 3,000 lives. Prime Minister Blair, who obviously has read his history, and done his duty, is leaving soon. The Russians and Chinese are arming Iran and supporting it diplomatically.

Until today, the Christian Allies Caucus has been dedicated to reconciliation between Christians and Jews, but the time for laying the groundwork for cooperation and coordinated action is up. It has passed and gone. Now we must act, and to act we need a method and a plan. There are Christians and Jews in every country of consequence to our cause, and our immediate plan can be summed up in one sentence. We must warn our fellow citizens and enlist them in the cause of convincing our respective governments to deny Iran atomic weapons, whatever the cost.

Christians and Jews together must put this at the top of our agendas. We must march. We must demonstrate. We must raise our voices and use whatever influence each of us has earned to sound the trumpet, and we must do it together, in unison.

The House of Representatives in the United States, the peoples house as it is called, several months ago established the Israel Allies Caucus through the efforts of Christians and Jews. Within the next several months some ten new sister caucuses are scheduled to be set up in parliamentary democracies in Europe and Asia. In the next few days we will be in Ottawa and then Washington to carry this same urgent message.