The Daily Signal - From Israel: Yael Eckstein Says ‘Even ISIS Didn’t Do Things Like This'

Episode Date: October 19, 2023

“Israel is a country who cherishes life,” Yael Eckstein says, “and our enemies know that." Those enemies use that fact as a tool against Israel, adds Eckstein, president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, who is today's guest on "The Daily Signal Podcast."   Hamas killed 1,300 Israelis and took hostage about 200 “elderly, babies, children, women, [and] handicapped” in its surpise attack Oct. 7 on Israel, she says, and the situation is “unfathomable.” “Even ISIS didn't do things like this,” Eckstein says, adding that when Hamas describes its aim as “to wipe Israel off the map and kill every man, woman and child, we have to take that seriously.” Speaking as a wife, mother, and global ministry leader living in Israel, Eckstein explains that Israelis are living in a paradox right now.  “On one hand, we are as broken as I can ever remember the people of Israel being. And on the other hand, we are stronger than we've ever been,” she says on the podcast.  On the podcast, Eckstein describes the work in Israel of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, as well as Israel's response to the surprise terrorist attack by Hamas.  Learn more about the Internationals Fellowship of Christians and Jews here: https://www.ifcj.org/ Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As far as how anyone is doing here in Israel, it's from minute to minute. I am very aware and listening for the sirens, in which case I would have to leave this interview and go to my bomb shelter. And so we've been going between life, whatever that looks like, in our bomb shelter. This is the Daily Single Podcast for Thursday, October 19th. I'm Virginia Allen. And that was Yale Eckstein, president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Yale lives in Israel and she and her team have been delivering food, water, basic necessities to those in bomb shelters and providing support to Israeli people. Yale says that the atrocities that Hamas has committed in Israel even go beyond the brutality of ISIS.

According to Yale, Israel is a country that cherishes life and right now its enemies know that and they're using that against the Jewish people. Yale is joining me on the show today to share about not only the work that the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is doing there on the ground in Israel, but to also explain how the Israeli people are doing and how they're responding to this attack from Hamas. Stay tuned for our conversation. But first, I want to tell you all about another great podcast that comes right here from the Daily Signal. Conservative women, we are problematic women. Why is that? Well, it's because we don't adhere to the agenda of the radical left.

Every Thursday morning, mornings just like this one, on problematic women. Kristen I-Cammer, Lauren Evans, and me, Virginia Allen, are joined to play other conservative women to break down the big issues and news that you care about. Whether you're interested in hot takes and conversations on pop culture or what Congress is up to, problematic women has you covered. We sort through the news to keep you up to date on issues of particular interest to conservative or problematic women. This week, for example, we're talking about Israel, and we're also talking about the news that Britney Spears had an abortion more than 20

years ago and still calls it one of the most painful experiences of her life. Make sure that you catch every new edition of problematic women wherever you like to listen to podcasts. We're across all podcast platforms, and be sure to follow us on Instagram. It's my privilege, today, it's my honor to welcome back to the Daily Signal podcast. Yale Eckstein. Yale serves as president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Yale, thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for having me on. It's an honor. You live in Israel. Talk a little bit about how you're doing personally, how your community is doing, and how people in your community are coping amid the ongoing war right now. Wow. Well, I think,

think as far as how anyone is doing here in Israel, it's from minute to minute. I am very aware and listening for the sirens, in which case I would have to leave this interview and go to my bomb shelter and come back in a few minutes. Always know where my children are. None of the kids in Israel had school already for over 10 days. And so we've been going between life, whatever that looks like, in our bomb shelter. For me, it's working around the clock. I look at, I work with international fellowship of Christians and Jews as my service to my country right now. And we've seen even in the past 11 days how it saved so many lives in a tangible way. So I guess we're all going between extreme grief and extreme gratitude. The grief is both personal. We just had a funeral of somebody from

our community just two hours ago, a teenager who was killed at the festival, dance festival that happened last Saturday where they were targeted by terrorists. Everyone has someone who was kidnapped, killed, who they know, who they feel close to. So it's a country, on one hand, an extreme grief, but there's also a feeling of gratitude that there's a unity in Israel that I've never experienced. And people abroad who are standing with Israel and finally understand kind of our predicament and the evil that we're fighting and how we are fighting for our survival, just that voice of support has been so inspiring. You mentioned those sirens. How many times a day are you hearing them usually? Wow. So it matters where you are in Israel. And my staff is in every city in Israel.

We have staff and volunteers, of course, down south right now. So for them, it's every few minutes. As they're going bomb shelter to bomb shelter delivering food, they're seeing elderly who haven't left the bomb shelter in 11 days, that their only way to get food and water is by our volunteers going, but our volunteers are going with bulletproof vests and helmets and find themselves often in the middle of attacks as they're completely vulnerable. Where I am in central northern Israel, it's not as often, but it's often enough that my bomb shelter is ready with water and we are there too often to feel comfortable with. I was on a call yesterday with leaders of the humanitarian work happening now in Israel along with different government officials, and we

started off with a call of around 16 people and in the middle there were sirens going off across Israel that there were only three or four people left on the Zoom call. So it's just become a part of our reality. For those who aren't familiar, talk a little bit about the work of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You've mentioned taking food to those who are in bomb shelters, supplies, but explain what your mission is. Well, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is the largest organization in Israel. We focus on three specific areas. One is welfare and poverty,

so that's basic needs of bringing food to the hungry, clothing to the naked. We bring medicine to the elderly. We focus on immediate basic needs for the poorest populations. The second area is security. So we've built over 3,000 bomb shelters. We provide first responders kits to people on the front lines,

bulletproof ambulances, bulletproof vehicles, which actually in the attack last Saturday, saved the lives of every single security official on the Gaza border, except for one who was killed when he was not in the bulletproof vehicle that the fellowship provided. And the third is Aliyah, that we take Jews from at-risk locations and bring them to Israel. So, for example, Ukraine and across the former Soviet Union. So we've definitely been focused on, in the past 11 days, on mobilizing. the infrastructure that we've built over the past 40 years, that we have our partners on the ground, our soup kitchens in every single city, our security leaders. We don't work directly with aid for

military aid for the Israeli army, of course, but it's that civil side of the firefighters who are volunteering now to go and put out fires when homes are hit by rockets, but they're doing it under rocket attack. And so we're providing them with the bulletproof vests, anything we could do to help protect the people, which it also should be recognized as is mostly Jews, but not all Jews. Israel's 21% non-Jews, Muslims, Bedouin, Drues, who are targeted the same way as the Jewish people here. How big is your team? I mean, as you lift off all the things that you're doing, it sounds like it would take an army to do all of that. Well, we are, I would say, the leaders in creating partnerships. And so last year in 2022, the fellowship helped over 2 million people.

And we have a staff in Israel that's responsible for that of under 70 people. And so we have a huge network of volunteers. And we really utilize all the government officials on the ground. For example, there are municipal social workers and there's the Ministry of Welfare. And they're the one that actually have the data and the people who need it most. And so the fellowship has a system where we create the criteria for everyone that we want to help. And then we work in partnership with the government who has the data for that so that we can be most effective and strategic and pinpointed in the aid that we need. For example, one of our flagship programs is called Indignity and Fellowship, where we identified the 17,000 poorest elderly in Israel.

And we created criteria that they're over 80 years old. They live on under $1,000 a month. They don't have family support. The government gave us a list of who meets those criteria. and then they came into the fellowships program where we said we're bringing you food and volunteers every week for the rest of your life. And so it's an incredible program.

We become their family. Christians and Jews around the world become their family. And so we've obviously been in touch with our recipients of this aid since the war began, and we already have many in this program who have been killed, a few who have even been kidnapped and are now in Gaza. So when you talk about kind of the infest,

structure that set up, the partnership that we have, it's worked incredibly up until now and, you know, under 70 staff being able to distribute aid to over 2 million people in the most effective way possible. But what we're seeing now is that the responders have become the victim. So there's been a need to create a whole new line of aid distribution in the past 11 days. Yeah, I did want to ask you about the hostages. I think that's something I know it's been on my mind constantly, and on so many Americans' minds, you mentioned that you do know some of those who have been taken hostage. How are you processing that? How are both those in Israel and specifically with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews processing that,

praying for those who have been taken hostage? Wow. So Israel is a country who cherishes life, and our enemies know that. They kidnapped many years ago. You might have been taken hostage. You might remember the name Gilad Shalit, who was prayed for and spoken about all around the world because he was one captured soldier in the Gaza Strip, and we did everything to get him back. And now they have over 200 elderly, babies, children, women, handicapped. It's something that's, I mean, unfathomable, and when you try to think about it, I, for me personally, when I think about it, I just can't stop crying. to imagine these little children, who's putting them to sleep at night, who's feeding them,

who's waking up in the morning with them when it's just too much to handle. And I think it shows that the enemy Israel is fighting right now is the Nazis. When people talk about what's the proportionate response, I mean, even ISIS didn't do things like this. And Israel is fighting a war for our survival that I think what the world sees right now is, when Israel's enemies are gathering weapons and saying in their mandate that it's to wipe Israel off the map and kill every man, woman, and child, we have to take that seriously. And so the fellowship is doing everything we can. For example, there's a makeshift tent that the Homefront Command set up where they're bringing all of the bodies. Over 1,300 bodies that have been recovered are being brought to there for their family to recognize. and identify them.

And so there are families there, sometimes for days on end. It's still happening now, day 11 of the war, and there's still families there waiting to identify their loved ones. And so the fellowship and coordination with the government of Israel, they asked us to just set up a tent with chairs and mattresses, phone chargers, food, water, basics. And so we set that up on day one. We're now day 11.

It's going to be open for at least another week. And we have volunteers there, day and night, 24-7 over the weekend, three in the morning, just being there for the families and telling them that they're not alone. Wow. How is morale in Israel right now? Right now, I feel like the people of Israel are living, if I had to give one word, living in a paradox. On one hand, we are as broken as I can ever remember the people of Israel being. And on the other hand, we are stronger than we've ever been. on one hand we have this extreme grief that like we said everyone knows someone who is killed everyone knows someone who is kidnapped we're a country the size of new jersey with 10 million citizens i mean this the effect of this i read that if you take per capita what happened in america on 9-11 this is over 25 times that atrocity and that

personal to the people of israel and so and so the people of israel are both an extreme grief and extreme gratitude because we're seeing our friends. We're seeing our neighbors come and help with whatever is needed. We're seeing our friends abroad, Muslims, Christians, everyone that you could imagine, people who aren't religious at all look at Israel and say, oh, I get it. I stand with them. There have been so many Muslims in Israel, one of actually the most public ones, Nasdaily, if you follow it, who said, okay, so I used to be Arab-Israeli. I am now Israeli-Arab. Israeli first. I want to live under an Israeli government. I don't want to

live under that. And so I think there's this kind of awakening that sometimes when you put a mirror in front of people's faces, I feel God saying I lay before you life and death, choose life. What side are you standing on? You can no longer

be neutral. If you believe there are good people on both sides, which of course there are, then freeing the Gaza Strip from Terror Hamas rule, you're doing a favor to those innocent Palestinians as well. And so I just feel like everyone is realizing what's life, who stands for life, what's death, who stands for death, what's light and what's darkness.

And so I think that's giving Israel on one hand a lot of strength that, okay, our mission is clear, the world stands behind us. And it's also terrifying when you finally realize what the price of God forbid losing is. It's one that you can't afford. When you're watching the mainstream media coverage of what is happening in Israel between Israelites and Hamas, what do you think the mainstream media is missing in their reporting? Wow. So I'm not a political expert by any means. As far as politics, I'm the same as any other regular person who's following and watching. I'm an expert in humanitarian aid. I'm an expert in building systems during times of crisis to distribute that humanitarian aid. I'm an expert in partnerships and immediate mobilization in order to save lives during crisis. And so I think that as somebody who cherishes

life and dedicates my life to this humanitarian plight of everyone in Israel, all of the innocent people and distributing aid dependent on the needs, period, I would say that what's being missed in so many ways is just how deep Israel has these values of cherishing life. How deep Israel is fighting for freedom in a sense that whoever doesn't get behind it is simply on the side of darkness. There is no moral equivalency here. I was watching an interview where someone said, do you think that Israel is using disproportionate measures?

And the person said, well, we try. We would have tried, if you were very into proportionate measures, to find a music festival in the Gaza Strip where there were young people dancing, but that doesn't exist. And we refuse to go and take innocent captive. So regarding proportionate measures, we're seeking out the Hamas terrorists and we'll do anything to wipe them out. And I think that within all of the noise is the most important thing to realize, Israel is seeking out the terrorists. Israel is seeking out those who seek to distress, and we won't stop until it's done, and it won't be a one or two-day fight, and unfortunately, those terrorists are hiding in hospitals, in UN schools,

underneath civilian buildings. And so I think it's important for people to realize in Israel, we're watching this with just as much heartbreak as you are. We don't want the loss of civilian lives, but we cannot handle anymore living our cities less than half a mile from Chimas terrorists. What do you think, just seeing a little bit in historical context, what would be a couple of things that specifically Americans really need to understand about the history between the Jews and the Palestinians? Well, I think every single war that Israel has ever fought has been one in response to being attacked. In 1948, we were given a tiny sliver of land to live side by side with our Muslim neighbors, and we accepted it. We were attacked within one

day. In 1967, we weren't occupiers of Jerusalem or any, and we were attacked by numerous, every single Arab army surrounding us, and miraculously we won. We are in a fight for our survival that Israel has always been happy with the tiny sliver of land that we have, and yet that tiny sliver of land has always been a source of conflict for our neighbors that simply don't want the Jewish people here. My family also goes back 11 generations in Jerusalem. I think it's important for people to realize there's always been a Jewish presence in Israel, going back to biblical times. There's never not been a Jewish presence. And the same way as before 1948, there was the British Empire, there was the Ottoman Empire. There's been Jews living here throughout that. So as President Biden

said the other day, and as we learned very clearly after the Holocaust, as the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor from Germany whose family was all wiped out in Auschwitz, we have nowhere else to go. We're not just fighting for the survival of the people here. We're fighting for the survival of the Jewish people. We don't have any other country. We have one sliver of land the size of New Jersey that has almost half the world's Jewish population here. We have nowhere else to go. Yeah, tell us how we should be praying right now. for those across the world who support Israel, who are standing with Israel,

who want to do something and who are followers of Jesus, how do we pray? Well, I think the first thing to realize is we all want to see the good. Love your neighbor like yourself. We want to love. We want to see the good. And it's so important to live our lives in that respect of seeing the good in the world and being, as we say in Hebrew Dam Vikavskut, giving the benefit of the doubt. But we also have a biblical verse.

that says, O'Avah Shem Sinura, lovers of the Lord despise evil. And right now we are seeing evil. I believe that we are in redemptive times and the end of days. And I believe that was happening now. God is saying, you can't say you didn't know what was good and what was bad.

You can't say that you didn't know what was happening to the Jewish people. And so I think right now we have to follow that biblical mandate. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. These are the scriptures that are the roots of Christianity. Of course, Jesus lived in Jerusalem. These were his people.

These are the words that he studied. And as Christians who believe that they are grafted onto the rich olive tree of Israel, I think it's so important to realize this isn't just a fight on the Jews in Israel. This isn't just a fight about land. This is a spiritual war. And we have to respond accordingly. I believe in any spiritual. war. It's responding with the prayers of our lips and the prayers of our hands. The prayers of our lips

have to be for the safety, of course, of all innocent people. But I think right now is the time to focus on Israel and Israel's survival, to look at those scriptures that tell us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, to pray for God's children, to knock out the evil that wants to destroy God's children, which is God's word. And to pray with our feet is also now at the time that the people of Israel are in need. So much of our first responders' gear have been destroyed by these terrorists. Ambulances have been stolen and brought back into the Gaza Strip. There are people who are in their bomb shelters for 11 days already waiting for food. I think it's the prayer of the lips and look at the scriptures for how you should pray for Israel and Jerusalem. And then there's also

the prayer of action, which is needed now more than ever. Your website is IFC. CJ.org, standing for International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. What is your biggest need right now? How can we support you? Thank you so much. The biggest need is what the fellowship is always focused on, is that we look in the scriptures and God says, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the poor, focus on the widows and the orphans, which unfortunately now the numbers of widows and orphans has grown substantially in the past 11 days. And so that's where we are. We're in the basic needs for survival. And I believe that the message when the fellowship delivers that food to the bomb shelter, or is there to comfort the family who's waiting to identify the body of their loved ones? There was just a mother and her 10-year-old daughter. They were at our center that we set up at the place where you identify the bodies. They were there for five days straight. The mother refused to leave.

Her husband and her son were both killed. Her husband wasn't identified until just a day or two ago. Her son was identified immediately. And her and her 10-year-old daughter, she said, we are not leaving until we identify my husband's body. And for five days, she was there with our staff and with food and with everything they needed to play with the child, to love the child, to bring the child's favorite meal to the center.

And when we said that this is donated from Christians around the world who love you and stand with you, what I'm saying is I don't know if the food is bringing them more life or just that message of not being alone. Wow, so powerful. Yale X-Steen, the president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Again, the website is IFCJ.org. We'll put that in our show notes. Yale, thank you so much for your time today.

Our hearts and our prayers are with you, with those on your team who are serving. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much. And to everyone listening and caring and praying, may God bless. soon. And with that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for being with us here on the Daily Signal Podcast. If you have not had the chance, make sure you check out our evening show. It's right here in the same podcast feed where we keep you up to date on the news of the day, like the developments in Israel, what is happening on a daily basis as we're

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