Trump’s deep love for us ‘brings fresh air to Israel’ after we felt so ‘betrayed’ after Oct 7, Israeli Opposition member tells ALL ISRAEL NEWS
WASHINGTON — Born in November 1979, Israeli Knesset Member Michal Shir didn’t simply enter the world in the year that the radical Islamist Revolution took place in Iran.
The year that the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Tehran.
And the very month that Khomeini’s jihadist forces seized control of the American embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
Shir has been fighting and confronting the forces of Iranian terror for her entire life.
She joined the right wing Likud party to take a strong stand against Iranian terror and subversion when she was only 14 years old.
She served in the IDF after graduating high school.
She earned her undergraduate degree in political science.
And then entered politics, becoming a Member of Knesset in the Likud party.
Today, as a married mother of two, she is a member of the Israeli Opposition, serving as a right wing member of Yesh Atid, the centrist party led by former Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
She is fiercely committed to fighting anti-Semitism and defending Israel from Iran’s seven-front onslaught.
And she came to Washington this week to build a stronger alliance with American Evangelicals.
She attended — and was deeply moved by — the National Prayer Breakfast and a special dinner that ALL ISRAEL NEWS and The Joshua Fund helped organize for Evangelical leaders to hear from Shir and from Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel.
More on that dinner soon.
But after the breakfast and before she departed back for Israel, I asked Shir for her reaction to President Donald Trump’s deeply pro-Israel address to some 4,200 Evangelicals and business and diplomatic leaders from 120 countries.
Trump’s love for Israel was a deep breath of “fresh air,” she told me.
“Being at the prayer breakfast this morning was something really special, especially to see the warm feeling that President Trump has towards Israel and the Jewish people,” Shir said.
“Hearing him talking about the hostages and how we must bring everybody back home — and inviting one of the hostages who returned [to be recognized] — was something truly special, especially to the ones who participated in this event.”
“Since the October 7th event, I think that most Israelis felt a little bit betrayed by the international community,” Shir explained, referencing the bitter anti-Israel rhetoric at the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and through so much of the global media.
“Hearing President Trump this morning — well, this entire week, not only this morning, but this morning in the prayer breakfast — praying for Israel and talking about Israel and expressing his big support towards the State of Israel and the Jewish people and the hostages was something that I think most Israelis needed to hear.”
“After a year and a half where we battled on seven fronts, after everything that the Israelis have been through since October 7th, having the President’s great support, and having him express it in such fearless way, was something that Israel really needed to hear. This is good news.”
“We still need to study exactly what he meant about Gaza. But again, the way that he says things and his support towards the Israeli people and towards Israel is something that really brings fresh air to Israel.”
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
