Crosstalk: January 25, 2018

David Rubin is the former mayor of Shiloh, Israel, that's in the region of Samaria, known to much of the world as the West Bank. He's founder and president of Shiloh Israel Children's Fund, established to heal the trauma of terror victim children after he and his three year old son were seriously wounded in a terror attack. He's the author of five books including, 'The Islamic Tsunami', 'Peace for Peace in the New Middle East' and 'More Sparks From Zion'.

Jim began by playing a portion of President Trump's statement from last month when he announced the moving of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. According to David, people in Israel were very excited by this news. He went on to note that when you don't recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and do what Mahmoud Abbas did and claim that there's no Jewish history in Jerusalem, it's like saying Abraham Lincoln never lived in the White House or that Washington, D.C. isn't named after George Washington.

Vice President Mike Pence has been in Israel. David indicated that he was welcomed very warmly and his speech to the Israeli parliament was wonderful. He spoke of the commonality in regard to the biblical heritage our two nations share.

Pence has indicated the move of the embassy will happen in 2019. David recognizes that President Trump knows how to get things done quickly when necessary and there's no reason why he shouldn’t be able to do what Vice President Pence promised.

The vice president's trip has been publicly boycotted by the Palestinians. Even Palestinian President Abbas shouted, 'May his house be destroyed!' To David, this sounded like an Arab curse, but if it was a threat, what was he threatening to do? In the end, for David this comment by Abbas was a clarification, letting us know what they really believe.

Since the president's announcement concerning the moving of the embassy (which came with the blessing of Congress), the Palestinian Authority has stopped any formal communication with the Trump administration. That brings up this question: Did the president throw an opportunity for peace out the window?

David asked, 'What kind of opportunity for peace are we talking about?' He believes peace has to be based upon realism. If that's not there, there will be no peace. It's like saying that President Trump should sit down and have a chat with Kim Jong Un and there will immediately be peace. It doesn't work that way.

He believes that sometimes you have to look evil in the face and confront it. These are evil people. Abbas is an arch terrorist and successor to Yasser Arafat who was the father of modern terrorism. He's been giving thousands of dollars to every terrorist that wounds or kills an Israeli. On the other hand, if a terrorist is captured by Israel and put in jail, that funding goes to the family of that terrorist.

As Vice President Pence began his speech, there was turmoil from the Arab members in the chamber. David comments on that along with the Iran nuclear deal, the turmoil within Iran, Abbas' visit to Brussels, Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to Switzerland, and more.