House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the only Republican Jewish member of Congress, spoke to the Christians United for Israel conference Monday night. Here’s the brief:
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told Christian Zionists that U.S. policies in the Middl East must be "firmly grounded" in Judeo-Christian principles.
"Reaching out to the Muslim world may help in creating environment for peace in the Middle East, but we must insist as Americans that our policies be firmly grounded in the beliefs of the Judeo-Christian tradition upon which this country was founded," said Cantor, the House minority whip and the only Jewish Republican in Congress, in a speech to the Christians United For Israel annual conference in Washington, D.C.
Cantor’s ten-minute speech mostly focused on the importance of U.S. support for Israel and the threats to the Jewish state from Iran and terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, telling the group that "now, more than ever, it is vital you’re here, at a critical moment in history."
"Critics say the stumbling block" to peace in the Middle East "is settlements or Jerusalem or refugees," said Cantor. "We all know the real stumbling block to peace is posed by those who vehemently deny the nation of Israel’s historical right to the land of Zion."
On Tuesday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to deliver a message via satellite to the more than 4,000 delegates, and Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren and CUFI founder and national chairman Pastor John Hagee will address the group on Tuesday evening.
In addition to Cantor, radio-talk show host Michael Medved also spoke on the Monday night program, which was a special event for top donors to the organization. Medved attacked "Three Big Lies About Israel," including that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the "center" of the fight against terrorism, that "Israel was created by driving Palestinians from their homeland" and that Israel was "international compensation for the Holocaust.
After the speeches, country music star Randy Travis performed a concert.
