Time to Pray for Netanyahu
In January 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. At the time, there were about 8 million Jews living in Europe, and Hitler, driven by an ideology, had a plan to kill them all.
At the time, the Jewish people were powerless, had no representative to speak on their behalf, and there was no one in Washington or any other enlightened capitol that could care less about what happened to “the Jews.” Two months after Hitler took power, the ovens of Dachau were being prepared to incinerate Jewish men, women, and children. Eight years later, Nazi Germany and its Jew-hating partners in Poland, Ukraine, and elsewhere had slaughtered over 6 million innocent Jews.
Today, barely a century later, once again there is a regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran, driven by a different ideology, Jihad, that has a plan to annihilate 7.3 million Jews, this time in Israel. Iran and its partners like Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and the Houthis, have been planning and working for years to execute their execution. October 7th was part of that plan. Since that unprecedented mega-atrocity, their plans have suffered a setback, but for them, that setback is temporary. Their goal and plan remain the same: Kill the Jews. And for its part, the Islamic Republic of Iran is developing the nuclear capability to lead the charge.
This time, however, we Jews aren’t helpless.
This time we have a Jewish country, an army, a remarkable nation, countless heroes emerging from tanks, tunnels, and music festivals, and we also have a representative, the prime minister of Israel. Today, literally today—2/3/2025—our prime minister is preparing to represent the nation of Israel to the president of the United States.
Whatever anyone may think about Benjamin Netanyahu or Donald Trump, in this moment, it’s completely irrelevant. You may hate the fact that Netanyahu is still prime minister and is advancing various policies that make your stomach turn. That’s fine, and today, it’s also irrelevant. You may cringe at the sight of Donald Trump and deplore his stance on climate change, the Mexican border or tariffs. That’s fine, and today, and tomorrow, and for the days and weeks to follow, if you’re a Jew, then none of that matters. In the face of the Gazan monsters and a Jihadi coalition led by Iran, all that matters is the freedom of our precious hostages, and the security of the State of Israel and its 7.3 million Jews.
At this moment in history—today, tomorrow, and beyond—the Jewish people have a representative. Also, at this moment in history, the most powerful leader in the world, the man in the White House, is welcoming the representative of the Jewish people to discuss the most sensitive and important issues that go to the heart of the very existence of Israel. Diplomatically, for the Jewish people, Tuesday, Feb. 3rd, 2025—6 Shvat, 5785—is the most significant and fateful day since Egyptian president Anwar Sadat came to Israel in 1977. Sadat’s visit was a historic turning point. It’s no understatement to say that with Tuesday’s meetings between the prime minister of Israel and the president of the United States, Israel’s future, and the future of the Muslim Middle East, hang in the balance. The fate of 79 innocent Jewish hostages being tortured every day by everyday Gazans, hangs in the balance. The potential use of a nuclear weapon against Israel, hangs in the balance.
In this moment, let us pray that God grants our representative, and the representative of the free world, the wisdom and courage to make the right choices.